Nicole

Clinical Research Associate in acute care and surgical safety

Nicole is a research associate at a hospital and part of a research group that focuses on improving patient outcomes and experience with surgery. While working on a project about having an audio recording device placed into the operating room, Nicole learned how important it is to work with patients on research that will directly affect patient groups. Through a co-ordinator, the research team was connected with patients with experience as surgical patients, who then applied to be patient advisors on the project. These patients became partners on the project and helped the research team understand how patients may feel about having a recording device used during their surgery (e.g., how the recorded information would be used, and how patient privacy would be protected). Without the patient perspective, the research team would not have fully understood how and when to approach patients when recruiting for the project. Nicole is a strong believer in the importance of patient engagement and hopes that more guidance and resources will be made available to support both patients and researchers interested in partnerships on research projects.

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• Measuring Impact of Partnership – Nicole
  Nicole’s research group used a survey to capture feedback from team members about how they were working together
• Impact on Research – Nicole
  Patient partners were key to designing the timing and format of patient information, says Nicole.
• Balancing time and commitments – Nicole
  As a researcher, Nicole arranged meetings around patients’ availabilities
• Advice to others – Nicole
  Researchers should prioritize true partnerships and genuinely listen to patients suggests Nicole
• Relationship building – Nicole
  Nicole suggests having a team lead to act as the point person for patient partners
• Role determination – Nicole
  Co-designing the terms of reference worked really well for Nicole’s research team
• Developing partnerships – Nicole
  Posting an ad on a hospital website was one way that Nicole’s team searched for patient partners