LAUSR

Research is a fundamental component of the nursing profession and as such, nurses (including nursing students) need to be research competent. The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the importance of clinical research and its position in cultivating positive health outcomes, and over the last decade, the role of the CRN has grown. CRNs play a pivotal role in the delivery of high quality safe and effective research (Roberts et al., 2016). However, compared with most specialities, it is still in its infancy which is evidenced by the professional ambiguity across the profession (Kunhunny and Salmon, 2017). This paper was written with the intention to analyse the impact of developing resources to educate nursing students on the role of the Clinical Research Nurse (CRN). Being passionate about the role of the CRN, I was interested in reading the results of this research study. I was not surprised that participants found it difficult to distinguish between the nurse researchers and the CRN roles – when I had a clinical placement at a clinical research facility (CRF), I also was unaware the CRN role existed. However, I am pleased to see that after undertaking the International Association of Clinical Research Nurses (IACRN) module, 70% of participants would seek to gain additional information about a career in clinical research. During the pre-registration nursing programme, there is little to no mention of the CRN as a viable career pathway. Only when undertaking the CRF placement, did I understand more about their role and the valuable contribution they make to the research process. To ensure the speciality is sustainable and continues to develop, education at a grassroots level is vital. Nursing students are taught that research should underpin their practice and it is a nurse’s professional obligation to be able to critically assess the evidence (The Nuring andMidwifery Council, 2018). Therefore, I would question why students do not have more exposure to the role of the CRN as being research confident is integral to nursing profession. Personally, my time at the CRF developed my understanding of the some of the key elements of a research paper as I was able to learn experientially. For example, I was