Nurses' knowledge and educational needs regarding genetics

Abstract

Background: Nurses now require a basic knowledge of genetics to provide patient care in a range of settings. Objectives: To determine Turkish registered nurses' current knowledge and educational needs in relation to genetics. Design: A descriptive, cross-sectional study. Settings: Turkish registered nurses working in a university hospital in Turkey were recruited. Participants: All registered nurses were invited to participate and 175 completed the study. Methods: The survey instrument, basic knowledge of health genetics, confidence in knowledge and the nurses' need for genetics education were used to collect data. Results: The majority (81.1%, n = 142) of participants indicated that genetics was not taught during their degree program, although 53.1% to 96% of respondents felt confident in defining different genetic concepts. The average genetics knowledge score was 6.89 ± 1.99 of a possible 11 (range 0–11). The majority (70.3%) expressed a strong wish to attend a continuing nursing education program in genetics. Conclusions: The study shows that although Turkish nurses are not sufficiently knowledgeable to apply genetics in practice, they are willing to have more education to support their care of patients. Nurses need to have more education related to genetics in accordance with advances in human genetics to optimize health care.