The CRU is staffed around the clock by registered nurses with nearly 70 years of combined research experience. The majority of our nurses have backgrounds in intensive care as well as general medicine, neurology, and pediatrics. The entire nursing staff is certified in chemotherapy administration as well as the use of central venous catheters. In addition to organizing the nursing care, providing for individual patient needs, and scheduling procedures, the research nurses obtain research data and carry out many experimental procedures. The CRU nursing staff prides itself in thorough and well documented data collection. We gladly assist investigators in designing flow-sheets and providing patient education necessary for specific research protocols. Nurse Manager, Mike Bosch, RN, oversees the nursing staff.
You can reach him at: (319) 353-6250
michael-bosch@uiowa.edu
Mike Bosch, RN, BA, describes his role as Clinical Research Unit (CRU) nurse manager and explains the CRU’s purpose.
In July, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) selected University of Iowa Health Care to serve as the lead site for one of several National Institutes of Health H1N1 vaccine studies.
Flex nurses provide specialized nursing support for protocols requiring subject participation outside the CRU inpatient and outpatient units.
Flex nurse participation in research projects has been especially important in the emotionally-charged intensive care setting where opportunities to enroll patients come and go quickly. Despite this, flex nurses have achieved a high success rate with consenting subjects (60-80%). This is largely attributable to their success in earning the trust of patients, families, and staff.
The CRU of the University of Iowa ICTS provides the infrastructure and physical setting necessary to perform both inpatient and outpatient clinical and translational research. This facility provides a 24-hours-per-day technical and nursing staff as well as a Flexible Nursing Service that aids investigators working in other parts of the hospital, including the Intensive Care Units, Radiology, and the Emergency Department.
The CRU provides dedicated space for research participants, as well as clinical research nodes to facilitate the recruitment of research subjects who are unable to visit the CRU. The CRU also supports investigators by assisting in study design and coordinating research activities, and aids in different types of interaction with research subjects, such as scheduling, gathering patient information, monitoring vital signs, collecting samples, and assisting with study protocols.
The goal of the Regulatory Knowledge and Support Key Function is to help investigators and trainees using the CRU comply with institutional and federal regulations by:
We can help investigators and trainees prepare:
