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 Member Highlight
Noriko Fujiwara RN, MHSc
IACRN Leadership is grateful to our membership for their unwavering commitment towards having clinical research nursing recognized as a specialty practice. We wish to thank you by highlighting a member in each newsletter. This month we would like to recognize Noriko Fujiwara.
Noriko Fujiwara is currently a clinical research nurse (CRN) and a member of palliative care team for Research Hospital, Institute of Medical Science, The University of Tokyo (IMSUT). IMSUT Hospital is a hub of translational research in Japan. Noriko has experience in early phase clinical trials, translational research, especially in the oncology field. After obtaining her BSN, she started her career at IMSUT. Last year, she completed the course of Advanced Practice Nurse (APN) in oncology and obtained the Master's degree in health sciences. Noriko believes that there are two approaches to relieve and prevent suffering of patients and their families: one is providing palliative care, and the other is developing novel treatments through clinical trials. Therefore, she takes part in palliative care as well as supporting both patients and investigators in clinical trials.
Another important part of Noriko's activities is the education of next-generation research nurses. Noriko runs an educational program on translational research nursing for students from the graduate school of nursing. She gives lectures on practices of "bench-to-bedside research" to graduate school students who major in medical genome science.
Supporting her role as a Clinical Research Nurse, Noriko also became a member of the Clinical Trial Nurse-Special Interest Group of the Japanese Society of Cancer Nursing. This group aims to enlighten nurses about Clinical Research Nursing, especially in oncology. Additionally she has been a member of the Japan Society of Clinical Trials and Research since 2009.
Noriko joined IACRN in 2010 after finding the IACRN web site which was highlighting the 2nd Annual IACRN Conference. Noriko attended this conference because it highlighted two important perspectives in the role of a nurse: research focus and clinical focus. Noriko believes that CRNs need a well-balanced insight among both standpoints. After attending the 2nd and 3rd conferences she made the following statement about them and IACRN "I was very excited to gain new knowledge and to meet many clinical research professionals. I am looking forward to attending the 4th conference with my fellows. I would like to disseminate the goals of IACRN throughout Asia. I would like to be a CRN and an APN who can assist or conduct appropriate clinical research to make both participants of trials and future patients happy."
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Education Corner Elizabeth Ness, MS, RN
There are 2 web courses that might be of interest to IACRN members. The first course offers targeted education for direct care nurses, guiding them to provide appropriate care to patients who are participating in or eligible for clinical trials. Learners have 4 weeks to complete the course. The course cost is $25.00 which includes CEUs and can be found at: www.ons.org/Education.
The second web course offers 12 credit bearing modules targeted to the Clinical Trials Nurse (i.e., Research Nurse Coordinator). These modules were designed to reflect the unique background and contribution of clinical trials nurses to clinical trials. Learners will have 6 weeks to complete the course. The cost is $119 for ONS members and $159 for non-members; 12.6 contact hours are provided. The course was designed to complement the ONS Oncology Clinical Trials Nurse Competencies. For more information, vi sit the ONS website. The next course starts on September 5th and registration deadline is August 29th.
Though they are sponsored by the Oncology Nursing Society (ONS) and do contain some oncology specific content, both courses provide fundamental clinical trial content for clinical research nurses. For full course module outline click here.
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Greetings!
I remember distinctly sitting in a conference room four years ago with the founding board members of IACRN discussing what we would name our new organization. Nicole, our Immediate Past President, threw out the name "International Association of Clinical Research Nurses". I thought for a moment that she was crazy. How would we ever accomplish such collaboration? Here we are four short years later realizing this vision. We have members in the US, Japan, Ireland, England, Scotland and South Africa. This newsletter highlights our international presence, specifically the work that our membership is doing in the UK and Japan to support specialized nursing practice.
Fully supporting the charge of an international association, this past July I had the honor of representing IACRN at the 8th Annual UK Clinical Research Facilities Network Conference in Dublin Ireland. I was able to share with our colleagues in the UK, Ireland and Scotland the work being done in the United States by IACRN membership on the Scopes and Standards for Clinical Research Nurses. Even more exciting was the information that I was able to bring back from the Clinical Research Nurses in the CRF Network. They are doing amazing work in their Facilities. Many will be attending our conference this fall and sharing some of this work. Be sure to check out the posters and breakout sessions highlighting this work at our conference. Jennifer Allison from the UK, last year's Distinguished Clinical Research Nurse, has shared a complete summary of the meeting in this newsletter.
IACRN is growing internationally because of the value that our members place on "Enhancing Clinical Research Quality and Safety Through Specialized Nursing Practice". I hope that you will join us in Houston this year to share your passion and learn from your colleagues around the world. I am looking forward to this amazing opportunity. See you in Houston!
Sincerely,
Shaunagh Browning RN, FNP-BC
Your President
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4th Annual IACRN Conference
Brian Beardslee MSN, RN
The 2012 Conference Planning Committee have been busily preparing for our 4th Annual Conference "Helping Tomorrow's Patients Today" to be held October 17th through October 20th at the Omni Houston Hotel in Houston, Texas. Discover strategies to address the challenges to practice, the impact of genetics and genomics and the current roles within clinical research nursing. This year we are offering two pre-conference workshops October 17th on "Financial Management of Clinical Trials" and "From Abstract to Publication". Our keynote speaker will be Dr. Kathleen Stevens, Principal Investigator from the Improvement Science Research Network at the University of Texas at San Antonio. Plenary sessions this year include "Performing a Genetics Assessment", "Working Collaboratively, When 5 Sites Come Together", "Developing an IACRN Research Agenda" and "The Impact of Bioinformatics in Clinical Research".
An updated agenda and conference flyer can be found under the "Events" tab on the IACRN website . Remember IACRN members can take full advantage of reduced registration rates to attend the annual conference. Please share this exciting news with your colleagues and encourage them to attend the 4th IACRN Annual Conference October 17th through October 20th.
See y'all in Houston, Texas!
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IACRN Leader Attends the 8th Annual UK CRF Conference in Dublin, Ireland
Jennifer Allison RN
The historic Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland, hosted the 8th annual UK CRF Conference in July 2012. This year's theme of "International Collaborative Clinical Research and Global Health" was explored by a variety of guest speakers. Plenary sessions and parallel sessions/ workshops on both days showcased the excellent collaborative work taking place by colleagues across Ireland and the UK while reflecting on the interests of multidisciplinary delegates. One such example, Shaunagh Browning, President of IACRN presented an overview of IACRN and an update on the work being done in the USA towards accreditation for Research Nurses .This session was particularly well attended. A similar session on the work towards professionalization of research nursing in Ireland by Prof Seamus Cowman and Deirdre Hyland further highlighted the international links of the Network. Please click here to read more about the UK CRF Conference.
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Grab a Member and Go Campaign
Susan Peterson, MBA, RN, CCRP
Calling all Clinical Research Nurses!! Don't miss this opportunity to Grab a Member & Go. There is still time to win a free conference registration while working to increase our membership numbers. Each new member you refer before September 15th puts your name in this drawing.
Our Grab a Member & Go campaign kicked off on May 3rd and to date we have added 46 new members! So far, 16 member names have been put into the hat to win a paid registration to our 2012 Conference, "Helping Tomorrow's Patients Today".
We want to see YOU win a free conference registration for referring new clinical research nurse colleagues to our association. So call your colleagues, email them, send them our website link, let's get every colleague possible to support their professional organization. Our goal is 75 new members* by September 15th and we are 60 % of the way there.
Click here for campaign details.
For membership campaign ideas or questions please contact Susan Peterson at petersos@ohsu.edu
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AccrualNet offers ways to improve accrual to your clinical trials. Linda Parreco RN
AccrualNet (https://accrualnet.cancer.gov) is a 'one-stop shop' for literature, resources, and tools to inform and support your efforts to identify and recruit participants to clinical trials. You can find templates, sample materials created by others, slide sets for training presentations, checklists ...and more. In addition to finding helpful content, you can also connect with other clinical trial professionals- you can start a new conversation, participate in an ongoing dialog, or share strategies, tools or tips that have worked for you.
AccrualNet is hosted by the National Cancer Institute (NCI) and managed by NCI's AccrualNet Team. The team is composed of government professionals with expertise in oncology, clinical trials, recruitment, education, health communication, social media, evaluation, and communications technology. While the primary focus of AccrualNet is recruitment to cancer trials, the challenges of clinical trial accrual are shared by everyone and we can all learn from each other. We invite and encourage clinical trial professionals across all diseases, conditions, settings, and sponsors to visit AccrualNet.
Visit AccrualNet to find 'just the right thing' to ignite your accrual efforts, and sign up for e-mail notifications of new content-including a 'Wednesday Post' every week and a monthly Guest Expert blog posting.
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