Roles of Advanced Practice Nurses (APNs)
Thread: What are the roles of APNs employed by health care organizations in your community in quality
improvement activities? Are APNs leaders of quality improvement teams? What significant contributions
have occurred as a result of APN involvement on QI teams? Do you know of any EBP activities in your
area that APNs have spearheaded?
The role of Advanced practice nurse my field of nursing research is highly vital and significant. Nurse
practitioners in research nurses serve as assistant investigators for all phase one studies conducted in
our clinic. Advanced practice nurses function as Safety Officer (SO) for the clinic, ordering and
administering medications, administering histories and physical exams, monitoring laboratory results
and adverse events (AEs) for study volunteers; participating in community outreach and education, and
participating in staff training and education.
APN’s serve as the leaders of quality improvement teams in my clinic. They are responsible for making
substantial contributions to the conception, design, or conduct of a study, to the acquisition of data, or
to the analysis and interpretation of data. APN’s have contributed significantly to my clinical teams by
developing memos to file that addressed issues such as investigational drug dosages which are not
spelled out in a study consent in other to ensure accuracy and improve quality of a study. APN’s also
provide the day-to-day oversight in ensuring that the regulatory requirements associated with human
research are met.
When a research nurse is consenting a volunteer to participate in a phase one study, the APN are
responsible for ensuring that the volunteers meet the eligibility criteria as stipulated in a consent. The
perform quick updated history and physical exams before a subject receives and investigational product.
APN’s have made significant contributions to the QI team but ensuring that essential documents that are
Good Clinical Practice(GCP) approved are maintained. For every clinical trial, certain essential
documents must be maintained. Essential documents are those that permit evaluation of the conduct of
