GROWING UP in East Texas in the 1960s and 1970s, I never thought of becoming a nurse. It was not on the radar for me as a young man. I was interested in science, so after graduating from college with a degree in microbiology, I began my career working at research laboratories in oncology and immunology research. Then, in the middle of the 1980s, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) began to devastate my community. It was a visit to a hospitalized friend that shook me to my core and set me on a new course.
My friend was sharing a hospital room at a county hospital with 3 other patients, one of whom was a man too weak to get to the toilet. He needed a bedpan because of severe diarrhea. He called and called for a nurse to help. One nurse stood in the doorway while she was chatting with coworkers and told him to "just go" in the bed and she would clean him up later. I will never forget that incident. That first day I was just shocked. The second day I got angry. By the third day, I knew that I wanted to make a difference. So, after a few months, I put together a plan to go to nursing school. My mission was to make sure that my patients were treated safely, with respect and dignity.
After graduating from the University of Texas Health Science Center in Houston and working as a floor nurse on a liver transplant and abdominal surgery floor at the University of California at San Francisco, I learned about a research nurse position at the AIDS Clinical Trial Unit at San Francisco General Hospital-one of several ground zeros for the AIDS epidemic. I knew that was certainly a place where my skills could be used to meet my goal of making a difference. I was hired, and I coordinated clinical trials for 9 years. During that time, I became an administrative nurse, overseeing a unit of nurses and ancillary staff. I believed that I was able to continue my mission to affect change for patients by providing the best care that I could and also by become a nurse leader. During that time, I worked on about 100 studies and enrolled thousands of patients. The work not only was incredibly rewarding but was also emotionally difficult.
In late 2000, I began work at Kaiser Permanente Program Offices in the area of research ethics and the protection of human subjects in research. Clinical trials and other types of human research undergo review by a research ethics committee commonly referred to as an institutional review board.
These committees are charged with protecting the rights and welfare of the participants enrolled in research studies. Ethics and protection of human subjects are a highly regulated and complex area. Many professionals who work in this field do not have clinical backgrounds. While I am a clinician, I felt I needed to learn more about how I could continue to stay on my mission by learning and implementing the practices that would protect an even wider group of patients. To bring additional depth to my skill set, I earned a master of science in biomedical ethics degree with a focus on research.
My current title is System Director, Human Research Protection Program at the CHI Institute for Research and Innovation, which is a subsidiary of CommonSpirit Health (CSH). As a large system, CSH is committed not only to its mission of direct patient care but also dedicated to changing all health care for the better. We understand that health care is going to transform, and we want to help it develop more holistic methods of caring for patients throughout the continuum. We see research as essential for making that happen. Our organization brings tools and support for research to occur in smaller communities that may not have access to cutting-edge research found at academic medical centers located in larger cities. Contributions to the health care improvement are occurring in these community institutions in the areas of oncology, cardiovascular, pulmonary, orthopedics, and other research.
Many of our hospitals also have nurse researchers who are conducting their own original research, often as part of maintaining their hospital's Magnet status through the American Nurses Credentialing Center. As a nurse, I am especially pleased that the company I work for understands that patient care research is multidisciplinary and that nursing has a part to play in this arena.
I believe that my life and work experiences are one example of how nurses make significant contributions in many areas that do not involve direct patient care. I am sure that the work I do today has a positive effect on patients who participate in all types of research by ensuring that each study is designed and conducted as safely as possible. My nursing background and clinical experience provide me with exceptional tools to keep me on track with my mission. I became a nurse to make a difference and I know that, just as when I practiced my profession at the bedside, I am doing just that.