On 25, November 2010 at a meeting of the Irish Research Nurses Network, the first group of nurses to complete the Postgraduate Certificate in Nursing (Clinical Research) programme were presented with their certificates by Professor Dermot Kelleher, Clinical Director of the Dublin Centre for Clinical Research.

The clinical research nurse is a pivotal member of the clinical research team, whose activities help to ensure that the needs of the patient is respected and prioritised, and that research is conducted to the highest possible quality. There was no programme of education for research nurses available in Ireland prior to 2009, when the first formal programme of education for clinical research nurses commenced in the Faculty of Nursing and Midwifery, RCSI.

This was the culmination of efforts over a number of years to meet the need to prepare a cohort of clinical research nurses who had the knowledge, attitudes and skills to participate in an area of nursing practice that falls outside of the traditional nursing specialities. The provision of this course was made possible due to collaboration of a consortium of interested parties, including the Dublin Centre for Clinical Research (DCCR), the Irish Clinical Research Infrastructure Network (ICRIN) and Molecular Medicine Ireland (MMI), supported by funding from the Health Research Board (HRB).

This programme is accredited by the National University of Ireland (NUI) as a minor award at level 9.