title: Research nurse manager perceptions about research activities performed by non-nurse clinical research coordinators.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  There has been limited research to document differences in roles between nurses and non-nurses who assume clinical research coordination and management roles. Several authors have suggested that there is no acknowledged guidance for the licensure requirements for research study coordinators and that some non-nurse research coordinators may be assuming roles that are outside of their legal scopes of practice. There is a need for further research on issues related to the delegation of clinical research activities to non-nurses.
  
  
  METHODS
  This study used nominal group process focus groups to identify perceptions of experienced research nurse managers at an academic health science center in the Southern United States about the clinical research activities that are being performed by non-nurse clinical research coordinators without supervision that they believed should only be performed by a nurse or under the supervision of a nurse.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A total of 13 research nurse managers volunteered to be contacted about the study. Of those, 8 participated in two separate nominal group process focus group sessions. The group members initially identified 22 activities that they felt should only be performed by a nurse or under the direct supervision of a nurse.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  After discussion and clarification of results, activities were combined into 12 categories of clinical research activities that participants believed should only be performed by a nurse or under the direct supervision of a nurse.
authors.affiliation: University of Alabama at Birmingham, School of Nursing, Birmingham, AL. Electronic address: jones.5342@osu.edu.
authors.forename: Carolynn Thomas
authors.initials: CT
authors.lastname: Jones
authors.affiliation: National Institutes of Health Clinical Center, Bethesda, MD.
authors.forename: Clare
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Hastings
authors.affiliation: University of Alabama at Birmingham, School of Nursing, Birmingham, AL.
authors.forename: Lynda Law
authors.initials: LL
authors.lastname: Wilson
mesh_terms: D000046:Academic Medical Centers; D000328:Adult; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D015400:Clinical Nursing Research; D005260:Female; D017144:Focus Groups; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D009718:Nurse Administrators; D012108:Research Personnel; D014481:United States
keywords: Clinical research; Clinical research coordinator; Clinical research nurse; Licensure; Nominal group process; Research nurse manager