Investigació Aplicada en Malalties Respiratòries

Patrícia Fernández

Research nurse
pfernan2(ELIMINAR)@clinic.ub.es

Patrícia Fernández-Vandellòs holds a nursing degree and a degree in anthropology from the University of Barcelona. She holds a master’s degree in public health from UPF and is the study coordinator for 2 European projects carried out in the Eixample Primary Health Care Consortium (CAPSE), which is linked to Hospital Clínic. One of these projects is GRACE, Genomics to combat Resistance against Antibiotics in community acquired LTRI in Europe, in which she participates in workpackages 9 and 10 (WP9 and WP10). The other project is CHAMP, Changing Behaviour of health care professionals and general public towards a more prudent use of anti-microbial agents, in which she participates in WP2 and WP4.

Her job involves administrative, clinical and laboratory tasks. As a research nurse and study coordinator, she plays a crucial liaison role between the different parties involved in each study. She visits the GRACE patients and follows up their diagnostic tests, and, in the CHAMP qualitative study, she interviews the professionals, patients and experts. She also takes part in drafting the protocols for the ethics committees and uploads the CRF and other collected information to the project websites. At the same time, she takes part in the development of a tool for shared decision-making in the treatment of cardiovascular risk in primary care: the PLEGATS study, combining it with the task of advisor to the journal Health Policy Monitor of the Bertelsmann publishing group (www.hpm.org), for which she issues 4-monthly reports on innovative aspects of the Spanish health care system.

A research nurse plays a vital role in a research team and provides a transversal service that provides support for projects that are important to the team. Because research nurses are the liaison between the main heads of a study, they must have communication skills and considerable organizational ability.