Genetics in the Real World: Resources for Pediatric Nurses Using Monogenic Diabetes as an Exemplar

Abstract

Some researchers (Collins, 2009; Hudziak, 1998) postulate that all disease is genetic on at least some basic level. The pediatric nurse may not be familiar with the details of recent advances in genetics and how those advances might play a role in helping children or understand the implications of a genetic diagnosis. For those nurses who have been practicing for more than a decade, their exposure to genetics in their initial nursing education may have been limited to the basics of Mendelian inheritance (Anderson, 1996). Since the mapping of the entire human genome in 2003, much more information is available (Collins, 2009). How the nursing profession will integrate this information into future nursing education is being actively discussed at a national level (Consensus Panel, 2008; Jenkins, Dimond, & Steinberg, 2001). The issue of how to make genetic information available and practical for pediatric nurses who currently practice is less clear. Therefore, it is important for all pediatric nurses to understand how genetics applies to patient care. This article will use monogenic diabetes as an example to describe the genetic aspect of a common disorder to engage pediatric nurses in genetics and to illustrate how nurses can incorporate basic genetic skills into their daily nursing assessments.