The Role of the Clinical Trial Nurse

Posted on by

It takes a team to complete a clinical trial. An essential member of that team is the clinical trial nurse. MSK’s Elizabeth Panora, Clinical Trials Nurse Practitioner, recently discussed her work at the 38th Annual Chemotherapy Foundation Symposium. Oncology Nursing News featured her presentation.

Clinical trial nurses are essential to coordinating the care of research participants. They manage the consent process, ensure protocol guidelines are followed, and maintain accurate documentation.

Want to learn more about clinical trial nursing at MSK? Read this feature.

medRxiv – Preprint Server for Health Sciences

Posted on by

First launched only about a year and a half ago in June 2019, preprint server medRxiv has enjoyed a super-sharp uptick in the number of manuscripts posted since February 2020, largely due to COVID-19 related submissions. medRxiv is not a journal publication or journal publisher – rather it is a preprint server or outlet for “the distribution of preprints that are complete but unpublished manuscripts describing health research”.

The pandemic has certainly put preprints on the fast-track to acceptance by the clinical research community, despite the fact that they are “preliminary reports of work that have not been certified by peer review”. As part of their COVID-19 response, the National Library of Medicine took the lead among database service providers and made the rather significant decision to index COVID-19 related preprints from specific preprint servers in PubMed, thereby enhancing their discoverability (and potential citations in new research) further.

That said – the debate about the benefits/challenges of preprints in the health sciences is still ongoing. However, it is becoming clear that preprints can no longer be ignored.

For a nice overview of where things stand with medRxiv (and other preprint servers) and where they may headed, be sure to check out the November 10, 2020 issue of JAMA, which includes these noteworthy papers:

Krumholz HM, Bloom T, Sever R, Rawlinson C, Inglis JR, Ross JS. Submissions and Downloads of Preprints in the First Year of medRxiv. JAMA. 2020;324(18):1903–1905. doi:10.1001/jama.2020.17529 

Flanagin A, Fontanarosa PB, Bauchner H. Preprints Involving Medical Research—Do the Benefits Outweigh the Challenges? JAMA. 2020;324(18):1840–1843. doi:10.1001/jama.2020.20674

Malički M, Jerončić A, ter Riet G, et al. Preprint Servers’ Policies, Submission Requirements, and Transparency in Reporting and Research Integrity Recommendations. JAMA. 2020;324(18):1901–1903. doi:10.1001/jama.2020.17195 

For more information on preprints – be sure to Ask Us at the MSK Library! 

New eBook – Health Equity and Nursing: Achieving Equity Through Policy, Population Health, and Interprofessional Collaboration

Posted on by

The Library has added a new title to our collection, entitled Health Equity and Nursing: Achieving Equity Through Policy, Population Health, and Interprofessional Collaboration. This text focuses on how nurses can improve the health of all populations they serve, the significance of interprofessional collaboration, and the economic, environmental, personal, social, and structural factors that impact health status and outcomes.

Along with principles, pathways, and imperatives pertinent to achieving health equity, this book “discusses the evolution of thinking from eliminating health disparities to achieving health equity, and examines population-based and population-specific inequities in health status and outcomes.”