advice needed re: job opportunity

Did they give you any indication as to the responsibilities associated with the position. Would be do all of the contracts/budgets, regulatory and clinical coordination? Do they have support personnel to assist with budget negotiations, IRB paperwork prep, data entry and the like? If would basically would be "the show", what is their patient volume like? How many trials would you be recruiting for at any one time? Most research jobs do entail a pretty significant pay cut. Don't let that deter you, research is a really interesting field.

ANC33 makes some good points, you definitely want to know if they have someone to handle all of the regulatory requirements (some jobs have staff for this and some don't), as well as how many studies you would be responsible for. My hesitation for you would be to leave acute care - it would be difficult for you to go back without a full year of experience. If you stick it out for the year, then go to research - you have a back up in case the research thing doesn't work out for you. In this job market I would think twice about leaving the hospital as a new grad, might be tough to get back in... Good luck!

I took a huge pay cut to go into research also. I think it was worth it - the hours are flexible for me and no weekends or holidays is pretty nice. I work from 7:30-3:30. We often take a little extra time off around holidays because most labs won't accept specimens near a holiday..

I too would advise you get more information to know what you will be doing. I don't negotiate contracts, and I hate traveling so right up front we worked out that the other nurse travels to the investigator meetings, etc.. We are very busy and have a LOT of studies and a large patient population to cover,so it's certainly not a cakewalk job. If you are the only study coordinator, depending on the types of studies, you might have to take calls from subjects when at home in emergencies, travel to the investigator meetings, etc. I draw a lot of blood, too.

If you don't have a full year of acute care, I think you should get that first unless you are sure that research is your ultimate goal!

Hi where /how can you find research gigs in texas.
thanks

I interviewed last year for a job with Covance. Didn't get it and the interview was brutal. The position was for a clinical research nurse for drug trials...was mostly weekends and nights because that's when study participants were available.

I think I found that one on careerbuilder.com. Just did a search on research nurse.

Ask about how the job is funded. If it is funded only for one project, you will probably lose your job after the project s finished. Research funding can be complicated -- and sometimes, funding goes away. So you want to be sure you understand how your partcular job is funded and how secure that funding is and for how long.

I worked in research for about 3 years. I agree with a lot of what's already been said. My personal opinion, based on your situation, would be for you to possibly wait out where you are now and get that one year under your belt. It would look better on your resume vs. just being there for a few months and you're right - the schedule isn't that bad. If you're able to just get a job that easily in research then that should tell you how marketable you are and how easily you may be able to transfer over next year. Heck, I'm trying to go to nursing school to increase my chances of getting better research jobs! So I do know that nurses in research are important and wanted.

But go ahead and explore the funding, the job duties etc of the research job. Show interest so that even if you decline at least they know you are a potential for the future.

On a side note, I would ask about the history of the position. Why is it open? Is it new? Did someone leave suddenly? Be careful of jobs that have been occupied by one person after the next (high turnover). Could signal trouble.

Good luck