Genomics-Based Health Care: Implications For Nursing

Abstract

Abstract:The knowledge derived from the completion of the Human Genome Project is transforming the health care model, with implications for nursing and repercussions in teaching, practice and research. This article aims to reflect and discuss about genomics-based health careand its implications for nursing from the theoretical and conceptual framework of the "Essential Nursing Competencies and Curricula Guidelines for Genetics and Genomics".

Personalized Nursing Care in Precision-Medicine Era

“…In order for patients and their families to fully benefit from the explosion of omics, health professionals, especially nurses, need to incorporate the underlying principles of genomics that have been shaping all health care practice and that will become increasingly pertinent to their clinical practices ( Amorim & Lopes-Júnior, 2021 ; Fu et al, 2019 ; Lopes-Júnior, 2013 , 2015 ; Lopes-Júnior et al, 2017; Regan et al, 2019 ). These principles include, for example, the existence of alternative forms of the same gene (alleles) in the population; the occurrence of similar phenotypes arising from mutations and variations at different loci; the notion that certain diseases in families can arise from genetic variants that cause disease susceptibility through gene-gene and gene-environment interactions; the different types of mutations; the possibility of performing prenatal diagnoses, pre-symptomatic tests and population screenings; that is, unveiling the promise of personalized care to qualify health care ( Fu et al, 2019 ; Lopes-Júnior et al, 2015 , 2016 , 2021 ; Regan et al, 2019 ; Tonkin et al, 2020 ).…”