The Virtual Clinical Podcast

In this episode, we chat with Kevin Gardner. Kevin is a close friend and colleague and has a unique background to learn from. We discuss why Kevin became a nurse, what was his first nursing job and why he chose such a specialty. His eventual departure from emergency medicine and into heart and vascular nursing and finally into his current role as a clinical research trials coordinator. Kevin has a passion for positivity and also brings with him his experiences of leadership with a unique strategy shared in which he learned from the Boy Scouts. Finally, Kevin goes into the levels of evidence (https://libguides.winona.edu/c.php?g=11614&p=61584) and why they are so important for nursing. Other notes include the importance for a nursing model of research within the hospital; utilizing a healthy amount of clinical inquiry; why the Institutional Review Board matters when doing a project of any type; what to possibly expect with your first trauma patient; why it is important to learn how to handle death and more. Kevin Gardner is the Manager of Clinical Research Operations for Heart and Vascular Trials. Focusing of the advancement of heart and vascular medicine and patient safety, Gardner oversees two teams of clinical research professionals who prepare, direct, and coordinate over 60 clinical research projects (over 25 investigator-initiates studies and over 35 sponsored clinical trials). Gardner is a certified emergency nurse by the Board of Certification for Emergency Nursing and certified clinical research coordinator Academy of Clinical Research Professionals. Gardner has served two terms as President of Central Northeast Pennsylvania Chapter of the Association of Clinical Research Professionals and served as Chair of the Nursing Research and Evidenced-Based Practice Council at Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center. As Chair, Gardner introduced a journal club that allows the council to provide evidenced-based practice recommendations. Gardner co-authored an article in Applied Nursing Research, “Implementing and Sustaining Evidence Based Practice through a Nursing Journal Club,” (2016) to share the success of the journal club. Gardner is currently working on a master’s degree in clinical research operations and management.

Laura is a certified pediatric nurse who currently works as a school nurse in a large elementary school with a population of 416 children. She attended Delaware County Community College and graduated with her nursing degree in 2017. She has a total of about 15 years’ experience in healthcare including working for CHOP for 7 years. Five of those years were as a medical assistant, one year as a staff nurse and lastly as a nurse manager. She wanted to branch out to a different sub-specialty within pediatrics and found school nursing to be a good fit especially with her 10 year old son. Pediatrics is a rewarding field and where she's found her home in nursing. In this episode, I ask Laura questions pertinent to her nursing career to find out more. My students ask questions as well. Originally recorded on zoom, this episode offers an inside look at what it's like to be a pediatric nurse in a clinic, as a nurse manager of a clinic and also as a school nurse. Enjoy!