Concept Analysis: Awareness of Discrimination Based on Genetic Information

Abstract

All nurses have the responsibility to deliver nondiscriminatory genetic health care. Patients perceive discriminatory nursing practices when they are being treated differently and unfairly. Nurses are expected to integrate genetic information about their patients into their clinical decision making. Thus, it is both timely and imperative that nurses have an operational definition of the concept "awareness of discrimination based on genetic information." An operational definition of the concept was derived and Wilson's method of concept analysis was utilized to show how the operational definition may be applied in three different case models. Awareness of discrimination based on genetic information can be operationally defined as "to know differences against people or distinguish between people based on the ancestral, heritable, communicated facts or knowledge". This concept analysis of words and terms used in genetic health care may serve as a framework for further genetic/genomics healthcare concepts under exploration.