EDUCATION OF NURSES IN GENETICS

Abstract

The need for education of nurses in genetics was articulated more than 25 years ago. This article reviews the knowledge of practicing nurses about genetics as well as the content of genetics in nursing curricula. Implementation of federal legislation that mandated increased availability of genetic services and genetics education provided support for the examination of genetics content in curricula for health professionals, including nurses, and for the development of model programs to expand this content. Recent efforts to begin to develop a pool of nurse faculty who are well prepared in genetics will be described, as well as programs to provide the necessary content through continuing-education efforts. These efforts are expected to substantially improve the capability of nurses to contribute more effectively in the delivery of genetic services.