Research nurse coordinators, how do you stay organized?

[mika_sf]

Hi Everyone,

I have been working part-time for the last few years as a clinical research coordinator and will be starting a new full time Research Nurse Coordinator position in a few weeks.

My new position does not have direct patient care, so my duties will be very similar to my previous coordinator duties (phone calls/informed consent/study follow-up/project management/etc). In my previous job, I used this kind of cheesy, but very helpful book to help me organize my files and emails. I also used outlook calendar a lot to help me stay on top of deadlines.

I am wondering what tools other research nurse coordinators use to stay on top of the chaos? I really want to make a good impression and feel that this new job will be an opportunity to try out some new methods for keeping up with all of the day to day stuff of the job.

Thanks in advance for sharing :-)

[sib101]

Hi. I am in the same boat as you. Its a shame no one replied to this post. I assume you have long taken up this new post... is there any advice you can offer on how to stay organised?

[mika_sf]

Hi Sib101,

I see that a lot of people have viewed this thread, but no one has had any suggestions so far, which leads me to believe that we are all in the same boat :-)

I have continued to use some of the GTD methods to help maintain some sanity and have started to use some other tools as well.

I use Evernote to collect documents like study newsletters and other study related documents that do not contain PHI. Evernote is free and searchable, so it's great when you need to go back and look for that monitoring checklist that you were sent, but can't find in your outlook mailbox.

I have also been experimenting with two free project management tools, both of which have iphone apps. One is called Azendoo, which is good for creating individual tasks that can let you set dates and then check them off. The other is called Trello which is better for big picture project management, as you can create a project and then individual cards within that project. I'm sure there are a million and one tools that could be used to stay on track, but the trick is finding something that is free and flexible to help you manage the million and one incoming tasks!

[ameliamaern]

Outlook was one big way I stayed organized. I utilized the calendar, obviously, and color coded different trials. I also used their tasks for my checklists.

Another way I stayed organized with my patients was this: whenever I was done with a patient visit, I did everything I could to get ready for the next visit and keep it with the chart; whether it be a visit the next day or a year from now. That was really helpful, especially on the days where I was so busy I didn't have much time to prepare for a visit.

I will say that staying organized was EXTREMELY difficult for me. I am not an organized person by nature, and you really have to be organized in this field.

Haven't been doing research for a year now... and boy, do I miss it!!!