1357 Report of a research nurses’ experience in immunotherapy. Collaboration between an intensive care unit and an oncology center

In recent years, the participation of the nurses in clinical trials has become necessary and a new role has developed. In the Immunotherapy Unit, patients with metastatic renal cancer or metastatic melanoma receive Interleukin-2 or Interferon infusion following complex research protocols. The clinical research nurse or clinical research assistant does the link between patients, principal investigators, medical doctors, nursing staff and ali the other health care professionals. She is responsible at 3 main levels: patients, protocol and staff. (1) She has to welcome, inform, teach patients and family, obtain sig nature of inform consent., contribute to the improvement of the well being and quality of life of the patient during the treatment, as well as to give psychological support and comfort, then follow-up those patients. (2) She is responsible for running the study following ethical aspects, the Good Clinical Practice, the written protocol obligations in order to ensure the quality of care and the security of patients, ensuring the availability of the biotherapy drugs, and management of stocks in relation with the chemistry unit, for organizing specifie blood samples collection and try to reduce the amount of blood collection with the laboratory, for running specifie nursing or medical protocols to deal with adverse events (vomiting, fever, veinous catheter…) and report toxicity due to treatment, for collecting data and data management, for participating to the evaluation of results. (3) Relations with health care professionals: with the nurses, she contributes to the information and teaching about follow up of patients, results of the study, specifie care; with the medicai doctors, she has to be the link between the Cancer Institute with the principal investigator responsible for the inclusion and follow up of patient, and the Intensive Care Unit responsible for the administration of treatment and care of the patients. In general, she tries to implement meetings between all participants of the study, to participate in decisions taken about protocols, for writing articles and developing new functions, to motivate the staff nurses. As clinical research and clinical trials are becoming more and more complex, the role of the research nurse becomes criticai and essential in order to improve the quality of care and quality of life of patients; and therefore to assure consistency and reliability of the study.