Faculty education to improve integration of genomics education in nursing curriculum

Abstract

Nurses play a crucial role in providing healthcare and need to possess essential knowledge and skill to integrate genomics into practice. Nursing faculty is charged with the education of nurses however, studies show the majority of faculty in the United States is ill-prepared to teach genetics/genomics concepts. Our aim was to increase genetics/genomics content in our college's nursing curriculum by bolstering our faculty knowledge and confidence through the implementation of a face-to-face educational program. Therefore, we launched an intentional, strategic plan in fall 2017. First a comprehensive review of the college's undergraduate nursing curriculum for genetics/genomics content was conducted. Five development workshops on genetics/genomics were delivered over an academic year with knowledge and confidence in genetics/genomics was measured pre- and post-workshops. After the workshops, faculty revised curriculum and added genetics/genomics content to align with the competencies. Participants in the end-of-program survey reported higher confidence levels in all genomics-related tasks and answered more knowledge-based items, as compared to participants in the pre-workshop survey. Changes to the curriculum were made to integrate genetics/genomics in BSN courses and an online genetics course was developed. Genetics/genomics workshops can improve faculty knowledge and confidence and facilitate the integration of genetic/genomic content in undergraduate nursing curricula.

Keywords: Curriculum; Faculty; Genetics; Genomics; Nursing; Teaching strategies.