The growing complexity of clinical trials is stretching research sites to their limits, as they struggle with dwindling resources, recruitment challenges, and the rapid adoption of new technologies. To stay ahead, sites need to pinpoint inefficiencies in their workflows and decide which tasks are best handled in-house versus outsourced. One game-changing solution? Home nursing services.
By bringing care directly to the patient, home nursing not only alleviates the burden on research staff but also boosts patient retention and recruitment, creating a smoother and more efficient trial process. However, outsourcing responsibilities can cause concerns about additional regulatory burdens on staff.
As a Director of Project Management in Nursing, I’m going to share how our team simplifies regulatory compliance, lightens the workload on staff, and ensures trials are executed seamlessly.
The Benefits of Home Nursing for Clinical Trial Sites
- Reducing Site Workload. Outsourcing home nursing services offloads tasks like administration of investigational product, patient monitoring, and sample collection. This allows clinical research teams to focus on core study activities while ensuring that patients receive consistent, high-quality care.
- Enhancing Patient Retention and Compliance. One of the biggest challenges in clinical trials is keeping patients engaged throughout the study. By providing home visits, nurses eliminate the need for frequent site visits, improving patient adherence and reducing dropout rates. This patient-centric approach makes participation more convenient and less disruptive to daily life.
- Expanding Patient Access to Trials. Geographic and logistical barriers often limit patient enrollment in clinical studies. Home nursing enables wider participation by bringing trial-related procedures directly to patients, allowing sites to recruit individuals who might otherwise be excluded due to distance, mobility issues, or personal constraints.
- Fast and Accurate Data Collection. With highly trained and skilled nurses performing regular in-home visits, sites can collect real-time data more efficiently, improving trial timelines and quality of results.
Seamless Integration with Site Teams
Our robust home healthcare team acts as an extension of the site’s staff, offering tailored support to ensure trial efficiency, patient safety, and compliance with regulatory standards.
WEP’s project managers will work closely with research sites to ensure our nurses integrate seamlessly. They will guide sites on the process prior to patient enrollment, to ensure they have the required knowledge to adequately consent patients to opt into home healthcare.
Additionally, they will:
- Support and Coordinate Visits. Our team oversees the planning and execution of home visits, relieving site staff of logistical burdens. We work directly with patients to schedule visits efficiently and ensure all activities align with trial protocols. Our project managers collaborate with sponsors and CROs to ensure home healthcare offerings align with the protocol. They also work with sites to ensure collaborative working and quality services are delivered on time by our mobile nurses.
- Liaise with Sites for Accurate Regulatory and Source Documents. We act as a liaison with the site for all documents associated with the visit. The streamlining of this process reduces the workload on site staff and supports better data compliance.
- Ensure Continuity of Care. Our team ensures continuity of care through consistent monitoring. This makes patients’ lives more convenient and improves engagement, while also allowing sites to focus on managing trial outcomes.
Conclusion
We hope this outline demonstrates the crucial role that home nursing plays in supporting clinical trial sites. At WEP, we work in collaboration with sites to ensure that the work burden is reduced, not increased. Our project managers, patient coordinators, and mobile nurses work together for the best possible outcomes, allowing staff to focus on patient care and meeting trial objectives.
For more information on how our home nursing services can support your clinical trial, contact our team today.
