Research Nursing as a Specialty: Roles, Skills & Retention
This paper addresses the national nursing shortage and argues that the shortage is partly driven by increasing specialization within the profession. It focuses specifically on clinical research nursing, presenting a case that this area has evolved into a recognized specialty in its own right. The paper outlines the three most common research nurse roles — clinical research coordinator, clinical research associate, and research nurse — and describes the core competencies required. It then systematically details the research nurse's responsibilities across the three stages of a clinical trial: pre-study, study implementation, and post-study. Advanced responsibilities for experienced research nurses are also covered, alongside the argument that formal recognition of research nursing as a specialty is essential to support retention and professional development.
- Introduction: The Nursing Shortage and Specialization: Nursing shortage context and paper purpose
- Roles and Core Competencies of the Research Nurse: Core skills and roles in research nursing
- Stages of Clinical Trial Involvement: Pre-study, implementation, and post-study duties
- Advanced Responsibilities in Research Nursing: Senior duties, supervision, and academic preparation
- Recognizing Research Nursing as a Specialty: Argument for formal specialty recognition
✍️ How to write this paper — guide, tools & examples ▾
What makes this paper effective
- Grounds the argument in a concrete policy problem — the national nursing shortage — before pivoting to the specialized claim about research nursing, giving the paper clear real-world stakes.
- Uses a well-organized, three-part framework (pre-study, study implementation, post-study) to convey a complex workflow in a logically sequential and reader-friendly way.
- Supports claims with peer-reviewed nursing literature throughout, demonstrating awareness of multiple voices in the field rather than relying on a single source.
Key academic technique demonstrated
The paper demonstrates effective use of classification and enumeration as an organizational strategy. By breaking the research nurse's responsibilities into discrete, labeled categories — pre-study, implementation, post-study, and advanced — the author transforms what could be an overwhelming list of duties into a clear taxonomy. This technique signals analytical thinking: the writer is not simply reporting facts but actively structuring them to build a cumulative argument that research nursing merits formal specialty status.
Structure breakdown
The paper opens with a framing argument about the nursing shortage, then narrows to research nursing as a subspecialty. It moves through role definitions and core competencies, describes trial-stage responsibilities in sequential order, covers advanced roles, and closes by asserting the need for formal specialty recognition. The structure follows a classic funnel-to-argument pattern, moving from broad context to specific claim, ending with a policy-oriented conclusion.
Introduction: The Nursing Shortage and Specialization
One of the most critical strategic challenges currently facing hospitals — now and for the foreseeable future — is the national nursing shortage (Corning, 2002). The current nursing shortage is causing great concern and was expected to peak between the years 2010 and 2015 (Woods & Cardin, 2002). According to Woods and Cardin (2002), "Unlike prior shortages, this one is not cyclical in nature and the solutions will require different and innovative approaches to avert a national public health crisis" (p. 326).
A great deal of attention has been paid to the root causes of the current and future nursing shortage: aging baby boomers, alternative professional opportunities for women (Woods & Cardin, 2002), intense assignments, extra shifts, burnout, and little job satisfaction (Inglis, 2004). In order to fully appreciate this situation, one must understand that the nursing shortage is, in part, also related to the trend toward greater specialization within the profession of nursing. The purpose of this paper is two-fold: (1) to demonstrate that clinical research nursing has evolved into a specialty in its own right, and (2) to provide a strategic plan for ensuring the retention and future development of research nurses as leaders.
References
Ash, C. R. (1998). Cancer nursing research: An international perspective. Cancer Nursing, 21, 225–225.
Baldwin, K. M., & Nail, L. M. (2000). Opportunities and challenges in clinical nursing research. Journal of Nursing Scholarship, 32, 163–166.
Corning, S. P. (2002). Profiling and developing nursing leaders. Journal of Nursing Administration, 32, 373–375.
Grofsik, J. S., & Sauers, J. A. (1997). Career options: A cutting-edge job? Consider research. RN, 60, 55–58.
Inglis, T. (2004). Nursing the trends: Nurses have more employment options than ever. American Journal of Nursing, 104, 25–32.
Miles, K. (2000). Establishing a research nurses' forum. Nursing Standard, 14, 31.
Sauers, J. A., & Grofsik, J. S. (2000). Nurses at the forefront of care. American Journal of Nursing, 100, 24J, 24L.
Woods, D. K., & Cardin, S. (2002). Realizing your marketing influence, part 2: Marketing from the inside out. JONA, 32, 323–330.
Zimmerman, J. F. (1999). Clinical research nursing. Clinical Nursing, 31, 107.
Create your account
Always verify citation format against your institution’s current style guide requirements.