Patient Care Information
Each principal investigator is directly responsible for the daily medical care of patients admitted to the General Clinical Research Center at Children's Hospital Medical Center of Cincinnati under his/her protocols.
The investigator and/or his/her designated associate(s) is responsible for the admission history and physical examination, a daily progress note, and a discharge summary for each patient on the inpatient unit or scatter bed. This function may be assigned to a fellow or resident on the investigator's service, with the investigator serving in a supervisory capacity.
The investigator's team is responsible for night and weekend coverage of patients. In addition, the medical or pediatric resident on call for emergency consultations at night and on weekends must be available, as needed.
The research center nurses must have access to investigators through pagers or phone numbers at all times. The program director is available for calls in case of an emergency.
Upon admission, all patients are scheduled through the research center Charge Nurse. Priorities are always given in the following order:
- Research A (strictly research)
- Research B (research combined with treatment/diagnostic)
- Research D (industry-sponsored studies)
- Category C (medical) patients
If the inpatient unit is not filled with research patients, non-research patients are admitted to the remaining beds. Priority is given to patients requiring specialized nursing care, such as timed urine and stool collections, pharmacokinetics, and other special care needs.
The inpatient unit is also used for admission of children with newly diagnosed diabetes mellitus. Because of the intensive educational needs of these patients, the inpatient unit is ideally suited for them.
A research protocol has never been preempted or compromised by non-research patients on the unit since l989, when the research center began to share resources with the Diabetes Center.
How to Reach Us
For more information, please contact Amy Hartkemeyer, administrative manager, 513-636-4273.
