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page 1 | page 2 | page 3 | page 4 | page 5 | page 6 | page 7 | page 8 | page 9 | page 10 | page 11 | table of contents | references | test National Coalition for Health Professional Education in Genetics (NCHPEG) NCHPEG is a coalition of more than 100 professional organizations joined together to promote professional education about advances in genetics. Initiated in 1996 by the American Nurses Association (ANA), the American Medical Association, and the National Human Genome Research Institute, NCHPEG identified goals of the coalition. An initial goal to develop recommendations for core competencies in genetics essential for all health professionals was identified as important to the membership. An ISONG representative chaired the Working Group, which capitalized on collective expertise and cross-disciplinary collaboration to achieve this initial goal. Other goals identified by membership as important are: to influence integration of genetics into certification and licensing exams; to develop useful and accessible web information; and to develop potential clinical tools such as a family history collection tool to influence the availability of useful genetic resources. Each of these goals requires extensive work and collaboration among the diverse NCHPEG disciplines and has the potential to influence education of all health professionals about genetics. The goals are described at the NCHPEG website. Implications for Education Historically, the profession of nursing has been slow to recognize the need to make curriculum changes or offer continuing educational programs related to genetics. Scanlon and Fibison (1995) reported in their summary of a national survey on 1000 nurses the limitations of training, knowledge, and experience of nurses related to management of genetic information. Only 15% reported that genetics courses had been offered as part of their basic education. Nurses did not feel prepared to meet the potential ethical dilemmas resulting from utilization of genetics information in practice. Findings suggested a need to strengthen fundamental courses and genetic experiences in the clinical training of nurses and the establishment of continuing education programs on genetics at local and national settings. Academia Although academia focuses on meeting the needs of tomorrow's nurses, the nursing literature continues to document the lack of genetics content as part of basic nursing education programs (Anderson, 1996). Two surveys of basic nursing preparatory programs indicated that the mean number of hours in curriculum devoted to genetic conditions was 6.9 hours in 1980 and 6.2 hours in 1996 (Monsen, 1984; Hetteberg, Prows, Deets, Monsen. & Kenner, 1999). Both surveys reported that respondents felt that genetics content was not included in the curricula because of time constraints. Some faculty have explained to this author that schools of nursing may not include genetics in the curriculum until it is tested on State Board exams. State Boards do not test content areas until they are included in practice. The dilemma is that genetics care will be limited in practice by nurses' lack of knowledge. A proactive response is needed. Awareness of the need to develop skill in genetics care is a necessary first step, but more steps are needed. Additionally, some respondents continued to feel that genetics was not essential, applicable or relevant. Even more concerning is that less than 1% of programs listed ethics as a course that included genetics content. It is essential that academia become proactive in recognizing the challenges that nurses and consumers will encounter as genomic discoveries emerge in clinical practice, and incorporate into curriculum an ethical framework to assist in the difficult decision making ahead.
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