Center for Clinical and Translational Science

The 2012 Beatrice Renfield Lecture in Research Nursing was held at The Rockefeller University on Tuesday, March 20, 2012.  The program was devoted to recognizing the critical role of clinical research nursing science in the increasingly complex world of research. The audience consisted of nurses from Rockefeller and other New York institutions. Clare Hastings, R.N., Ph.D., FAAN, discussed the past, present, and future of Clinical Research Nursing.

Clare Hastings is Chief for Nursing and Patient Care Services at the NIH Clinical Center in Bethesda, Maryland. As the Clinical Center Chief Nursing Officer, she directs patient care services that support intramural research activities conducted by the National Institutes of Health at its 240-bed research hospital and ambulatory care facility in Bethesda, Maryland. Dr. Hastings represents the Clinical Center in defining the roles of clinical nurses within the national clinical research infrastructure and in setting standards for integrating patient care and management of the clinical research process. She provides executive leadership for the nursing research program at the Clinical Center with portfolio strengths in quality of life, symptom management, health disparities reduction and research career development.

The evening was hosted by Barry S. Coller, M.D., vice president for medical affairs at The Rockefeller University and physician-in-chief of The Rockefeller University Hospital. Rockefeller’s Hospital, which celebrated its centennial last year, is the nation’s only private hospital devoted exclusively to clinical investigation. Research nurses at the Hospital are experienced R.N.s, rigorously trained on site in the specialized practices of clinical research nursing. Since the Hospital’s founding in 1910, research nurses have played an essential role in studies aimed at improving the understanding and treatment of cancer, heart disease, diabetes, infectious diseases, addictive disorders, HIV/AIDS, and a wide range of other conditions.

Dr. Hastings’s presentation, entitled The Past Present and Future of Clinical Research Nursing was timely and thought provoking.  The audience included individuals from varied fields of nursing and medicine, from universities and medical centers, as well as students, faculty, and university friends.  Dr. Hastings provided a compelling description of the origin of the movement to establish clinical research nursing as a specialty practice, the progress that has been made, and the remaining challenges to full recognition.

The Beatrice Renfield lecture is made possible by a generous contribution from the Beatrice Renfield Foundation, which created this lecture series in 2007 to advance clinical research nursing education and clinical medicine at The Rockefeller University Hospital.  A longtime supporter of research in the Hospital, Mrs. Beatrice Renfield was one of New York City’s leading philanthropists in the area of nursing.  Since their inception, the lectures have attracted a wide audience of nurses from the New York area and beyond.

The Renfield Lectureship is an initiative of The Rockefeller University Hospital’s Heilbrunn Family Center for Research Nursing. The Center provides support for the nurses who, through their participation in clinical studies at The Rockefeller University Hospital, make essential contributions to the advancement of scientific knowledge for the benefit of humanity. The Center serves as a resource for the development of programs and collaborations to promote research nursing as a profession on a local, national, and international level. Through these efforts, the Center raises public awareness of research nursing as an integral component of clinical and translational science.

Dr. Hastings visit to Rockefeller also included meeting with the nursing staff during a luncheon held in her honor.  The nurses are excited about their nursing practice and look forward to continuing to work together with clinical research nursing colleagues at the NIH and other research organizations.