Clinical Trial Research Nurse New Employee Onboarding 30- 60 -90 Day Checklist

Problem: The clinical trials research management team was plagued with high nurse turnover and poor clinical documentation due to a lack of seasoned clinical research nurses. Context: A regional clinical trials team serving 22 hospitals within a Northern California not-for-profit health system. Interventions: Mixed methods were used to inform the development of new employee onboarding for novice clinical trial nurses utilizing a structured 30-60-90-day checklist, improved communication channels, and continuous mentor support. Measures: Monthly quality queries and quarterly staff turnover rates were tracked. Employee feedback was collected to assess the interventions' impact. Results: The number of quality queries was reduced by 62.9% from 786 to 495, and the turnover rate decreased from 30% to 20% within the intervention period. Conclusions: Structured and standardized onboarding and training for new clinical trial nurses can significantly increase knowledge, resulting in improved clinical trial documentation and reduced staff turnover rates. This project's success suggests that similar strategies can benefit other organizations facing high turnover and documentation quality issues. The interventions are scalable and adaptable, potentially leading to broader improvements in operational efficiency within a shorter timeframe.