CC Nursing Department hosts research nurses from Guam

In July, the NIH Clinical Center Nursing Department hosted a small group of nurses and staff from the University of Guam.

The Nursing Department has previously provided clinical research training to minority populations. Therefore, when the NIH National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities approached the department with a request from the university, they responded enthusiastically.

For the Clinical Center nursing staff, it was an opportunity to relay the knowledge and skills related to clinical research to this group of Guam nursing students and staff.

This was a first for these students – the Guam hospital has not done clinical research before now. They will soon start with one protocol while they prepare the infrastructure to perform clinical research.

The students attended a Fundamentals of Clinical Research Nursing Course, which covered topics such as human subject protection, informed consent, clinical trial design, drug development and the role of a clinical research nurse. For the remainder of the week, the students shadowed nurses in the Oncology Program of Care and observed an Institutional Review Board.

One student, Janna Malig-On, reported, "We will take what we learned at NIH and apply it to the formation of a clinical trial protocol here on Guam. Patients with conditions such as advanced cancer, lymphoma, or leukemia may not have to travel so far to receive experimental medications. Furthermore, clinical trials can help increase the availability of Pacific Islander data in healthcare, allowing our hospitals and clinics to provide better care for the community. We discovered new practices and made connections with new people."

Kathy Feigenbaum, a nurse consultant and one of the facilitators of the visit, said, "This was our first collaboration in this part of the world and we hope to be building our relationship with University of Guam for future events."

- Debbie Accame