How American Nurses Association Code of Ethics informs genetic/genomic nursing.

Members of the Ethics and Public Policy Committee of the International Society of Nurses in Genetics prepared this article to assist nurses in interpreting the American Nurses Association (2015) Code of Ethics for Nurses with Interpretive Statements (Code) within the context of genetics/genomics. The Code explicates the nursing profession's norms and responsibilities in managing ethical issues. The nearly ubiquitous application of genetic/genomic technologies in healthcare poses unique ethical challenges for nursing. Therefore, authors conducted literature searches that drew from various professional resources to elucidate implications of the code in genetic/genomic nursing practice, education, research, and public policy. We contend that the revised Code coupled with the application of genomic technologies to healthcare creates moral obligations for nurses to continually refresh their knowledge and capacities to translate genetic/genomic research into evidence-based practice, assure the ethical conduct of scientific inquiry, and continually develop or revise national/international guidelines that protect the rights of individuals and populations within the context of genetics/genomics. Thus, nurses have an ethical responsibility to remain knowledgeable about advances in genetics/genomics and incorporate emergent evidence into their work.

Implications of newborn screening for nurses.

PURPOSE: Newborn screening has dramatically decreased the morbidity and mortality associated with a wide range of heritable conditions. Continuing advances in screening technology and improvements in the effectiveness of treatment are driving the rapid expansion of newborn screening programs. In this article, we review issues in newborn screening care and opportunities for nurses and nursing faculty to provide education and conduct research to improve the impact of newborn screening. ORGANIZING CONSTRUCT: This article provides (a) an overview of current newborn screening activities, including how conditions are added to newborn screening panels and how implementation occurs at state and national levels; (b) a description of current controversies and ethical considerations; (c) a description of the roles of nurses in the newborn screening process; (d) suggestions for nursing education and research; and (e) a summary of expected future developments in newborn screening, including genome sequencing. CONCLUSIONS: Nurses are uniquely well suited to address the educational needs and future research in newborn screening because of the role that nurses play in the provision of direct clinical care and in population-based healthcare delivery. CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Newborn screening is a public health approach to the identification of rare but treatable conditions in early infancy. In the United States, as in other industrialized countries, newborn screening is rapidly expanding. Nurses, nurse educators, and nurse researchers are positioned to contribute to the field of newborn screening by assuring programs are implemented safely and effectively, by facilitating education of the nursing work force, and by developing and contributing to research programs in newborn screening.

Laser capture microdissection: understanding the techniques and implications for molecular biology in nursing research through analysis of breast cancer tumor samples.

AIM: The purpose of this paper is to review the techniques and implications of laser capture microdissection (LCM) to isolate tissue and DNA of interest using breast biopsy tissue as an example. BACKGROUND: Tissues are a heterogeneous mix of different cell types, and molecular alterations are often specific to a single cell type. An accurate correlation of molecular and morphologic pathologies requires the ability to procure pure populations of morphologically similar cells for molecular analysis. LCM is a technique for isolating highly pure cell populations of morphologically similar cells from a heterogeneous tissue section. METHOD: Nine invasive, paraffin-embedded breast biopsy specimens were obtained and analyzed. Depending on the size of the lesion, 500-1,000 shots using the 7.5- or 15-µm infrared laser beam were utilized to obtain an average of 2,000 cells. DNA was isolated from normal tissue and carcinomas and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification was examined by agarose gel electrophoresis. The HER2/neu gene was amplified by standard PCR. A second round of PCR using nested primers to re-amplify the HER2/neu fragment was performed. RESULTS: Amplification of the HER2/neu gene with DNA isolated from pure cell populations by LCM was performed. The results indicated that 22% of the cases studied were positive for HER2/neu amplifications, which corresponds to the literature regarding HER2/neu amplification/overexpression. HER2/neu amplification could be detected as early as the ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) stage. CONCLUSION: LCM is an accurate and reliable method to acquire nucleic acid and protein profiles from a specific cell population in heterogeneous tissue.