The darker sides of being a CRA
As much as I do love my job thanks to its´ freedom, when it comes to how I create my days and organize myself, my travel, my work and my private life and time, there are days and moments, when I feel like: Why am I still doing this?! Why do I have to cope with this kind of things?
One of these days was, when I arrived at one of Germany´s biggest hospitals I needed to go to for a monitoring visit. The chair you can see on the picture was my workplace for that specific day. And yes, it was as uncomfortable as it looks. The whole room I was placed in was stuffed under the ceiling with boxes, it was dark and very oppresive. I wanted to upload a video, but the system wouldn´t let me. Hospitals participating in clinical trials sign contracts, most of them contain a passage where they guarantee CRAs an adequate working space. Now I ask you: Do you consider this adequate? Would you like to work there? Would you even accept a working place like that? I don´t think you do. Yet, hospitals expect us to do so. In some way, it shows how they value our work: not at all, as it seems. Despite all the effort we make to support, help and guide the site personnel through sometimes challenging studies, and most of us go way beyond our duties to make things work. You could say, this is because of the hospitals financial situation, but I doubt this is the reason, when I look into the room next door, which is fully equipped with several workspaces, that I would consider adequate for working, but remained empty for that day due to sickness/holiday. Don´t get me wrong, I just want to make you think, how you value other people´s work. If you are as big a hospital I am talking about, you would want to make a good impression to people who come to work with you occasionally, as they will spread word on their experiences. At least, I would say this should be part of your considerations.
This week, I will visit the same hospital and study site again. And I will ask them for an appropriate chair, as the last time, I had a severe back pain for several days. Let´s see if they can provide something more appropriate for my last visit at this site. I would be happy with a good chair, even if the room was the same as the last time. You get used to making small wishes when going to sites 😉