Nursing education and genetics. Miles to go before we sleep.

The discoveries of the Human Genome Project (HGP), established in 1990 at the National Institutes of Health and the United States Department of Energy, are bringing important new technologies for genetic diagnosis and treatment to nearly all areas of health care delivery. Nurses, who play an integral role in supporting health consumers as they respond to health and illness, require up-to-date genetic knowledge for conducting clinical practice, engaging in nursing research, and educating a new generation of nurses.

Nursing and genetics: a feminist critique moves us towards transdisciplinary teams.

Genetic information and technologies are increasingly important in health care, not only in technologically advanced countries, but world-wide. Several global factors promise to increase future demand for morally conscious genetic health services and research. Although they are the largest professional group delivering health care world-wide, nurses have not taken the lead in meeting this challenge. Insights from feminist analysis help to illuminate some of the social institutions and cultural obstacles that have impeded the integration of genetics technology into the discipline of nursing. An alternative model is suggested--the transdisciplinary model--which was developed initially by a nurse and introduced in the 1970s into the delivery of health care and social services for children with developmental disabilities. This holistic model enables all health care professionals to have an equal voice in determining how genetic health care will be globalized.

An international agenda for ethics in nursing and genetics.

Nurses who work with families and communities have an obligation to serve as advocates for ethical practices in health care that rapidly encompasses genetic technologies. Commercialization of gene-based diagnostics and therapies by profit-seeking industrial biotech firms is likely to present new dilemmas for professionals and populations seeking control over inherited risks for illness for themselves and their children. This agenda presents the profession with challenges that infuse nursing practice, education, and research, as well as citizenship, on an earth with fading geopolitical boundaries and evolving cultural transitions.

Preparing the nursing profession for participation in a genetic paradigm in health care.

It is critical that nurses be recognized for their ability to deliver genetic services in collaboration with medical geneticists, genetic counselors, physicians, and providers from other disciplines. The purpose of this special communication is to describe progress made by the International Society of Nurses in Genetics toward incorporating genetics into nursing education and practice.

Mothers' experiences of living worried when parenting children with spina bifida.

This study describes the lived experience of mothers of children with spina bifida. Thirteen mothers of children between the ages of 12 and 18 years participated in at-home, audiotaped interviews. Each participant was asked to describe, through narrative, what it is like to be the mother of a child with spina bifida. The researcher used Heideggerian hermeneutical methodology to transcribe and analyze interview texts. Examination of the data revealed the constitutive pattern living worried and its two relational themes: treating them like other children and staying in the struggle. Nurses can use narratives to create supportive relationships with mothers of children with disabilities and to pursue research that extends the understanding of these women and their struggles.

Continuing education for nurses that incorporates genetics.

BACKGROUND: The discoveries of the Human Genome Project are bringing new knowledge of genetics to health and illness arenas. The nursing profession will need to incorporate these new advances into clinical practice, research, and education. METHOD: A survey of 68 nursing specialty organizations was conducted to determine current and future offerings in genetics to members. RESULTS: Responses from 43 organizations' top administrators who are influential in decisions regarding continuing education offerings revealed that 30% were planning to offer content in genetics in future programming. In contrast, none of the respondents had plans to present consumer perspectives of genetic illnesses. CONCLUSION: The results of this survey alert leaders in continuing education to the urgent need for dissemination of genetic advances to inform nurses in basic and advanced roles in health care delivery.