Acute Care Research Competencies for Clinical Research Professionals

The Acute Care Research Council (ACRC) at the Cincinnati CTSA hub was created in 2015 to develop a community of researchers engaged in pre-hospital, emergency and critical care settings with a common focus on accelerating clinical and translational research by reducing systems barriers and generating economics of scale through process improvement, resource sharing and development of best practices.

From the onset, the ACRC recognized the importance of highly trained CRPs that can ensure rapid and proper research subject identification, consent, enrollment, and conduct of study procedures. Because of the constraints of ACR, the ACRC determined that ACR-CRPs required additional competencies beyond those of CRPs engaged in other types of clinical research. Moreover, developing such competencies is timely given the current focus on CRP workforce development.

The 28 competencies developed for ACR can serve as a training guide for CRPs to be prepared for the challenges of conducting research within this vulnerable population. The competencies suggest a combination of competency-based training, behavioral-based hiring practices and continuing professional development will be essential to ACR success. Hiring, training, and supporting the development of this workforce is foundational to clinical research in this challenging setting.

Priority among the eight domains differed in ACR from traditional settings with increased emphasis on Communication and Teamwork, Clinical Trials Operations, and Data Management and Informatics.  Within each domain, distinct proficiencies and unique personal characteristics essential for success were identified.

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Learning Objectives

Abstract

Introduction. Acute care research (ACR) is uniquely challenged by the constraints of recruiting participants and conducting research procedures within minutes to hours of an unscheduled critical illness or injury. Existing competencies for Clinical Research Professionals are gaining traction but may have gaps for the acute environment. We sought to expand existing CRP competencies to include the specialized skills needed for ACR settings.

Methods. Qualitative data collected from job shadowing, clinical observations, and interviews were analyzed to assess the educational needs of the acute care clinical research workforce. We identified competencies necessary to succeed as an ACR-CRP, then applied Bloom’s Taxonomy to develop characteristics into learning outcomes that frame both knowledge to be acquired and job performance metrics.

Results. There were 28 special interest competencies for ACR-CRPs identified within the eight domains set by the Joint Task Force of Clinical Trial Competency. The priority among the eight domains differed in ACR from traditional settings with increased emphasis on Communication and Teamwork, Clinical Trials Operations, and Data Management and Informatics.  Within each domain, distinct proficiencies and unique personal characteristics essential for success were identified. The competencies suggest a combination of competency-based training, behavioral-based hiring practices and continuing professional development will be essential to ACR success.

Conclusion. The competencies developed for ACR can serve as a training guide for CRPs to be prepared for the challenges of conducting research within this vulnerable population. Hiring, training, and supporting the development of this workforce is foundational to clinical research in this challenging setting.

Competencies
Scientific concepts and research design
Ethical and participant safety considerations
Medicines development and regulation
Clinical trial operations
Study and site management
Data management and informatics
Leadership and professionalism
Communication and teamwork

Organization
University Of Cincinnati

Level
Advanced

Fee
No

Availability
On demand

Delivery Method
Other

Documents
ACRComps-Domains-SSchuckman2019.pdf
ACR-Competencies-2018-Poster-4-2-18.pdf
References.pdf