What does a clinical research nurse do?
A clinical research nurse is responsible for conducting research studies on various health conditions, illness treatments, and healthcare methodologies, analyzing existing scientific research to make new reports. Clinical research nurses also communicate with other health professionals and health organizations for their insights and recommendations for a specific medical study, ensuring to report their findings to doctors and medical researchers for further validation and clinical trials. A clinical research nurse must have excellent knowledge of communication, both written and spoken, as well as expertise in the medical industry.
Clinical research nurse responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real clinical research nurse resumes:
- Maintain accountability and compassion while providing care, administering medications, performing procedures and managing emergencies.
- Demonstrate clinical competency and compassion in providing care, using technology, administering medications, performing procedures and managing emergencies
- Command of CPR team until a doctor arrives; defibrillate and assess patients' condition.
- Administer pain medication through intravenous, oral or subcutaneous injection to recovering patients in the immediate post-operative period of surgery.
- Provide complete nursing care for patient populations undergoing procedures relate to abdominal surgery, multiple trauma, oncology, and peritoneal dialysis
- Provide skil nursing care for patients spanning the pediatric medical spectrum including hematology, immunology, oncology, neurology and endocrinology.
- Telephone triage, liaison between doctor and patient.
- Respond to emergency codes throughout the hospital according to ACLS guidelines.
- Instruct staff on nursing needs, delegate responsibilities and teaching CPR.
- Administer prescribed medical and nursing-base treatments as well as triage care.
- Assess conditions of and ensure appropriate patient direct care needs while on the Med/Surg.
- Implement medical management in combine medical and cardiac ICU.
- Develop and lead the orientation program for residents and medical students starting their cardiology rotation.
- Record medical histories, monitor patients, perform diagnostic tests and explain after-care to patients and/or family members.
- Register nurse specializing in endocrinology and thoracic oncology nursing within an ambulatory setting for a leading cancer center.
Clinical research nurse skills and personality traits
We calculated that 28% of Clinical Research Nurses are proficient in Patients, BLS, and Acute Care. They’re also known for soft skills such as Communication skills, Compassion, and Detail oriented.
We break down the percentage of Clinical Research Nurses that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Patients, 28%
Performed therapeutic nursing interventions, such as stabilizing patients, providing basic life support, administering medications and initiating corrective actions.
- BLS, 10%
Certified in Advanced Cardiac Life Support and responsible for BLS certification of staff members and mock codes.
- Acute Care, 5%
Provided quality patient care through development, implementation and evaluation of individual patient care plans in a medical/surgical/acute care hospital setting.
- Acls, 3%
Perform duties of staff nurse; assisted in writing nursing care plans; carried out medical care plans; ACLS certified.
- Surgery, 3%
Provided complete nursing care for patient populations undergoing procedures related to abdominal surgery, multiple trauma, oncology, and peritoneal dialysis
- Quality Care, 3%
Provided quality care to a variety of post-surgical and procedure patients receiving anesthesia using strong observation, assessment and intervention skills.
Common skills that a clinical research nurse uses to do their job include "patients," "bls," and "acute care." You can find details on the most important clinical research nurse responsibilities below.
Communication skills. To carry out their duties, the most important skill for a clinical research nurse to have is communication skills. Their role and responsibilities require that "registered nurses must be able to communicate effectively with patients in order to understand their concerns and evaluate their health conditions." Clinical research nurses often use communication skills in their day-to-day job, as shown by this real resume: "maintained ongoing communication with novartis for fda submission and approval. "
Compassion. Another essential skill to perform clinical research nurse duties is compassion. Clinical research nurses responsibilities require that "registered nurses should be caring and empathetic when working with patients." Clinical research nurses also use compassion in their role according to a real resume snippet: "maintained highest level of patient safety and satisfaction at all times by delivering compassionate and professional care. "
Detail oriented. clinical research nurses are also known for detail oriented, which are critical to their duties. You can see how this skill relates to clinical research nurse responsibilities, because "registered nurses must be precise because they must ensure that patients get the correct treatments and medicines at the right time." A clinical research nurse resume example shows how detail oriented is used in the workplace: "oriented new staff, contractor and lpn students to the unit and to telemetry. "
Emotional stability. clinical research nurse responsibilities often require "emotional stability." The duties that rely on this skill are shown by the fact that "registered nurses need emotional resilience and the ability to cope with human suffering, emergencies, and other stressors." This resume example shows what clinical research nurses do with emotional stability on a typical day: "assessed hemodynamic stability of the patient post-surgical procedure administered medications and educated patients on proper post-op self-care"
Organizational skills. Another common skill required for clinical research nurse responsibilities is "organizational skills." This skill comes up in the duties of clinical research nurses all the time, as "nurses often work with multiple patients who have a variety of health needs." An excerpt from a real clinical research nurse resume shows how this skill is central to what a clinical research nurse does: "facilitated and participated in organizational quality improvement and patient safety activities. "
Physical stamina. While "physical stamina" is last on this skills list, don't underestimate its importance to clinical research nurse responsibilities. Much of what a clinical research nurse does relies on this skill, seeing as "nurses should be comfortable performing physical tasks, such as lifting patients." Here is a resume example of how this skill is used in the everyday duties of clinical research nurses: "completed physical assessments, charted assessments results and medication administrations. "
The three companies that hire the most clinical research nurses are:
- WakeMed169 clinical research nurses jobs
- University of Pennsylvania40 clinical research nurses jobs
- Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center36 clinical research nurses jobs
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Compare different clinical research nurses
Clinical research nurse vs. Nurse
Nurses are medical professionals assigned to a specific department in the hospital and provide their trusted department services. Nurses are in charge of taking patients' medical histories, getting vital signs, preparing patients for checkups or procedures, explaining upcoming practices, answering any questions, and communicating any concerns to the assigned doctor. Nurses should ensure that patients follow the medical advice given to them. They also assist patients in completing administrative requirements, such as filling out forms, validating details, and endorsing payments.
There are some key differences in the responsibilities of each position. For example, clinical research nurse responsibilities require skills like "patient outcomes," "data collection," "clinical trials," and "research studies." Meanwhile a typical nurse has skills in areas such as "cpr," "emergency situations," "triage," and "medicaid." This difference in skills reveals the differences in what each career does.
Nurses earn the highest salaries when working in the government industry, with an average yearly salary of $63,263. On the other hand, clinical research nurses are paid more in the education industry with an average salary of $61,917.On average, nurses reach similar levels of education than clinical research nurses. Nurses are 2.5% less likely to earn a Master's Degree and 0.1% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Clinical research nurse vs. Nurse clinician
A nurse clinician is a health expert who provides care and assistance to patients in hospitals, clinics, or similar establishments. Among their responsibilities include preparing equipment and documents, administering medication, monitoring the patient's condition, maintaining charts, and regularly reporting to physicians. In some establishments, they may also perform administrative support tasks such as answering calls and correspondence, preparing and processing documents, and organizing records. Moreover, a nurse clinician must maintain an active communication line with fellow medical staff to provide optimal services to patients.
In addition to the difference in salary, there are some other key differences worth noting. For example, clinical research nurse responsibilities are more likely to require skills like "bls," "acute care," "quality care," and "oncology." Meanwhile, a nurse clinician has duties that require skills in areas such as "cpr," "emergency situations," "educational programs," and "staff education." These differences highlight just how different the day-to-day in each role looks.
Nurse clinicians earn a higher average salary than clinical research nurses. But nurse clinicians earn the highest pay in the education industry, with an average salary of $73,633. Additionally, clinical research nurses earn the highest salaries in the education with average pay of $61,917 annually.In general, nurse clinicians achieve similar levels of education than clinical research nurses. They're 2.2% more likely to obtain a Master's Degree while being 0.1% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.What technology do you think will become more important and prevalent for clinical research nurses in the next 3-5 years?
Lisa Rebeschi Ph.D.
Associate Dean of the School of Nursing Professor of Nursing, Quinnipiac University
Clinical research nurse vs. Registered professional nurse
Staff nurses are registered nurses who are usually assigned to work in a care home, a company, or in a clinical setting. They advise the physical assessments of patients, employees, and residents. They also handle the checking of vital signs, providing basic medical procedures, giving first aid, and, if possible, providing over the counter medication. Staff nurses provide medical attention to the people in their place of assignment. They help pave the path to their patients' full recovery. Staff nurses are expected to be patient and have good interpersonal skills.
Some important key differences between the two careers include a few of the skills necessary to fulfill the responsibilities of each. Some examples from clinical research nurse resumes include skills like "quality care," "informed consent," "data collection," and "clinical trials," whereas a registered professional nurse is more likely to list skills in "healthcare professionals," "cpr," "quality patient care," and "ventilation. "
Registered professional nurses earn the best pay in the utilities industry, where they command an average salary of $64,620. Clinical research nurses earn the highest pay from the education industry, with an average salary of $61,917.registered professional nurses typically earn similar educational levels compared to clinical research nurses. Specifically, they're 0.5% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 0.3% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Clinical research nurse vs. Staff nurse
Even though a few skill sets overlap between clinical research nurses and staff nurses, there are some differences that are important to note. For one, a clinical research nurse might have more use for skills like "patient outcomes," "compassion," "data collection," and "clinical trials." Meanwhile, some responsibilities of staff nurses require skills like "cpr," "staff rn," "triage," and "dexterity. "
Staff nurses enjoy the best pay in the health care industry, with an average salary of $58,739. For comparison, clinical research nurses earn the highest salary in the education industry.staff nurses reach similar levels of education compared to clinical research nurses, in general. The difference is that they're 4.1% more likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 0.1% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Types of clinical research nurse
Updated January 8, 2025
