Four Ways To Avoid Clinical Monitor Burnout

By Ed Miseta, Chief Editor, Clinical Leader

Anyone involved with clinical research knows the world of drug trials can be demanding, especially for trial monitors. These individuals spend long hours on the job and are generally required to travel extensively. Lynn King, AVP of clinical operations for contract research firm Rho, understands the stress all too well. King has been involved in clinical research for more than 20 years and has spent some of that time working as a trial monitor. She now works closely with monitors, spending time on-site with them and discussing the challenges they face.

According to King, one of the biggest inducers of stress for monitors is the quality of clinical trial data. “There is a substantial amount of scrutiny of the data, and it only seems to be increasing,” she says. “In the last three to five years there has been a lot of regulatory pressure to ensure the quality of data. Patient confidentiality and appropriate enrollment in clinical trials is increasingly a target of concern for FDA audits. All of this places increased pressure on the monitors assigned to oversee those trials.”