Nursing

The nursing staff of the GCRC is led by Nurse Manager Nancy Flemmons, R.N., M.S. Current staff include registered nurses (RN), certified medical assistants (CMA), and station secretaries. GCRC nursing staff are available to conduct specialized research procedures for investigators either in the GCRC or elsewhere in the Fairview-University Inpatient and Outpatient facilities. The expectations for nursing staff are to provide exemplary patient care, accurate patient assessments, and technical expertise and precision in the collection of specimens for research purposes. In addition, a GCRC nurse is assigned to each protocol as the protocol nurse. The protocol nurse works with investigators to implement the study and is responsible for development of a reference manual which includes a summary of the protocol, a description of the patient population, patient education materials, flowsheets, and pertinent literature references. The role of the CMAs is to assist the nurses with procedures such as frequent blood sampling and basal metabolic rate determinations, assist physicians with procedures such as kidney biopsy, and process research samples. The station secretary serves as a receptionist, manages the desk area, schedules research tests, coordinates off-unit testing, orders and maintains protocol specific supplies and equipment, maintains protocol files and informational resources, and provides assistance to investigators and nursing personnel.