High Institute of Nursing [HIN] graduates' awareness regarding genetic counseling

ABSTRACT

The aim of this study is to assess graduate nurses awareness about genetic counseling. The sample consisted of 100 nurses from the University Maternity and Pediatric hospitals. A questionnaire was designed to collect the necessary data about the study subjects as well as about their awareness regarding genetic counseling, its definition, objectives, types, who seek help through genetic counseling, the proper time to diagnose genetic defects, where genetic counseling should be done, high risk groups, and role of the nurse in preventive intervention. The findings revealed that the H.I.N. graduates lacked the basic and essential information about genetic counseling as none of them had fair scores and 70% of nurses had poor scores. The lack of knowledge was great in certain aspects such as the objectives of genetic counseling, settings, high risk groups and finally the role of the H.I.N. graduate in preventive intervention. The factors that were significantly related to the H.I.N. nurses knowledge were age, occupation, marital status and years of experience. Discussion of results was done in the light of current literature and recommendations were made