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IRB offices have evolved in the past 15 years. Early IRB offices often had limited support staff. But as the field of human subjects protection evolved, IRB offices' staffing needs increased, creating IRB office leadership roles and the need for more IRB coordinators and other support staff.
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Like many institutions, Dana-Farber/Harvard Cancer Center (DF/HCC) uses audits of studies to find areas in human subjects protection that need improvement and to educate researchers to address them.
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IRB offices seeking to create a sustainable leadership role might need to re-organize, examining their current processes and culture, experts suggest.
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Researchers and IRBs should pay close attention to informed consent comprehension among all research participants, but this is especially true of people from a high-risk population.
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Add another voice to the national conversation on improving protection of research participants: The Presidential Commission for the Study of Bioethical Issues, which recently released its recommendations for reforming federal oversight of human subjects research.
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The Presidential Commission for the Study of Bioethical Issues offered 14 recommendations for improving oversight of human subjects research:
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IRB offices that have more than one employee should also create a career track that helps staff develop leadership and other skills, experts say.A career track also can improve staff morale and improve retention by giving employees a way to move up without moving out.
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Beginning in July 2012, The Joint Commission will require hospitals to improve influenza rates annually and to work toward a national goal of 90% flu vaccination of health care workers.
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It takes a team to create a safe workplace not just a committee, but an ongoing collaboration between employee health, safety, risk management, and other professionals. That is the most important advice for reducing workers' compensation claims, says Lori Severson, MS, HEM, ASP, loss control consultant with Lockton Companies of Denver.
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The status of employee health is rising, but so are the expectations. As part of a heightened focus on reducing hospital infections, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) is developing a national survey program that will include interviews with employee health professionals.
