The Research Institute
St. Joseph’s Health is committed to providing state-of-the-art patient care. As part of that mission, we are actively researching innovative new treatment options for our patients. This clinical research effort provides our patients with access to cutting-edge therapies and advances the development of future treatments.
The Research Institute is home to the innovative clinical and academic research conducted at St. Joseph’s Heath. Serving as the gateway to investigation at St. Joseph’s Health, The Research Institute is a centralized point of access for those desiring to conduct investigator-initiated protocols, as well as industry-sponsored clinical research trials. We can support St. Joseph’s Health physicians in facilitating the standard start-up activities required to open an industry-sponsored clinical trial.
The Institutional Review Board reviews, monitors, and approves all research involving patients at St. Joseph’s. Meeting monthly, the IRB is comprised of 15 diverse members charged with protecting the safety of our research participants.
Nursing Research
The mission of the Nursing Research Committee (NRC) is to facilitate nursing research that supports the St. Joseph’s vision and strategic plan goals, aligning with our Nursing Practice Model of Watson’s Theory of Human Caring and Relationship-based Care. The NRC assists the researcher in the submission of a proposal and guides them through the approval process.
Contact will be made with the researcher to address questions or discuss issues that may arise and explore the evidence utilizing the Iowa Model of Evidence-Based Practice and Research.
The process within this model guides our discussion of the research question proposed by the nurse to weigh the data or information on hand to decide if this is a performance improvement project, and evidence-based practice concern, or a research study opportunity.
Once approved by the NRC and Chief Nursing Officer, the proposal is forwarded through St. Joseph’s Institutional Review Board (IRB). At this point, depending on the type of research being conducted, the proposal can be granted as one of three reviews; exempt, expedited, or full committee review. Once the research has received approval from the Research Office, he/she may implement their project.
