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Suggested components of the curriculum for nurses and midwives to enable them to develop essential knowledge and skills in genetics

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Abstract

Nurses and midwives need to develop specific knowledge and skills in genetics to enable them to offer appropriate healthcare in a range of non-specialist settings. Studies on the topic indicate that while nurses acknowledged the importance of genetics knowledge to their work, both their knowledge and confidence in using such information are poor. Despite the existence of competence frameworks, it appears that educators have struggled with the need to integrate genetics into nursing and midwifery curricula. An expert workshop on genetics education was held to determine the essential components of genetics knowledge and skills that should be incorporated into the pre-registration nursing curriculum in European countries. In this paper we present the essential topics for nurse and midwife pre-registration education and suggest ways in which genetics might be incorporated into the nursing and midwifery curriculum.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Nursing and Midwifery, Faculty of Health, Education and Society, Plymouth University, Wellington Road, Taunton, TA1 5YD, UK

    Heather Skirton

  2. Nursing Department, School of Health Professions, Tel-Aviv University, Tel-Aviv, Israel

    Sivia Barnoy

  3. Faculty of Health Sciences, Kirikkale University, Kirikkale, Turkey

    Yurdagul Erdem

  4. Department for Public Health and Caring Sciences, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden

    Charlotta Ingvoldstad

  5. Oncogenetic Clinic, Linköping University Hospital, Linköping, Sweden

    Rebecka Pestoff

  6. Faculty of Medicine, Ankara University, Ankara, Turkey

    Fulya Teksen

  7. Wessex Regional Genetics Centre, Southampton, UK

    Jessica Williams

Authors
  1. Heather Skirton
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  2. Sivia Barnoy
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  3. Yurdagul Erdem
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  4. Charlotta Ingvoldstad
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  5. Rebecka Pestoff
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  6. Fulya Teksen
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  7. Jessica Williams
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Heather Skirton.

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Skirton, H., Barnoy, S., Erdem, Y. et al. Suggested components of the curriculum for nurses and midwives to enable them to develop essential knowledge and skills in genetics. J Community Genet 3, 323–329 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12687-012-0098-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12687-012-0098-9

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