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Detailed Needs and Requirements: Clinical Studies Unit
3. Residents and Interns
Residents in internal medicine may be directly involved in carrying out
study programs and analyzing the results. Much of the routine work
involved in arranging and managing studies and providing necessary
medical care to the patients will be done by these residents.
Interns are not normally assigned to the clinical studies unit as a
normal part of their rotation through the hospital. They may, however,
come to the unit during rounds to receive instruction.
4. Nursing Staff
The nursing staff is responsible for providing the nursing care required
by each of the patients; and has the additional responsibility of carrying
out programs of observation, measurement, and sample collection.
Records must be maintained by the nursing staff detailing precise
results of various observations and tests as well as information
concerning routine care and patient condition.
The nursing staff assumes a significant responsibility for the education
and supervision of patients. This requires close contact between
patients and nurses. Patients should be free to approach the nursing
staff to ask questions or seek assistance. The nursing staff, on the
other hand, should be able to observe and control patient activities to
the extent required by the studies being conducted. The nursing staff
should have a thorough understanding of the nature and requirements
of the studies being conducted. This may require frequent meetings of
the unit staff, discussion of cases with physicians, and observation and
assistance of physicians on rounds. Ideally, the clinical studies unit
should have a separate, specially trained nursing staff assigned to it.
5. Medical Students
A significant number of medical students can be expected to
accompany doctors on unit rounds.
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