Genome-wide sequencing, multi-gene panels, and other multi-genic tests are replacing single-gene testing for illness diagnosis, prediction, prognosis, and therapy as the field of medicine moves from genetics to genomics. The consideration of the policy changes genomics poses is framed by the shift from genetics to genomics. The switch from genetic to genomic testing opens up new possibilities and complicates existing processes.
Additionally, genomic testing makes a wider range of tests possible, including gene expression analyses that can provide light on a patient’s particular illness process and tumor or pathogen mutation assays that are specific to that person. While genomics includes several gene testing, generally on a massive scale, genetics concentrates on single gene alterations (Neben et al., 2019). As a result, genomic analysis is enabling new responsibilities such as disease prediction and medication selection, whereas single-gene genetic testing has mostly been used for risk assessment, disease diagnosis, and establishing carrier status. The higher duties placed on healthcare professionals by the larger uses of genomic testing compared to genetic testing are undeniable. New medical malpractice and other liability lawsuits and exposure are probably going to result from this.
Health care practitioners must now face new responsibilities and problems as a result of the development of instruments to examine the human genome. The clinicians are already debating how to best use complex new genomic tools, such as gene panel assays and a variety of non-sequencing modalities, such as microarray analysis of gene expression (Marchant et al., 2020). Through the documentation of a rapid risk assessment, family history, ethnicity, prescription delivery and documentation, and evaluation of pharmaceutical adverse responses, nurses may take part in the policymaking process in the field of genomics.
Nurses should identify any rules that required revision, development, or expansion to connect genomics field research to their healthcare setting. The hospital should take part in staff development initiatives, such as providing personnel with books and pocket cards, identifying resources for consultation, and encouraging them to attend seminars (Laaksonen et al., 2022). Finally, relevant agencies should collaborate to create an online toolkit of all efficient techniques employed by administrators and educators. Organizations and institutions like the American Nurses Association, American Medical Association, National Coalition for Health Professional Education in Genetics, National Institutes of Health, and National Human Genome Research Institute are welcoming to nurses in the field of genomics.
References
Laaksonen, M., Airikkala, E., & Halkoaho, A. (2022). The development of education of public health nurses for applying genomics in preventive health care. Frontiers in Genetics, 13. Web.
Marchant, G., Barnes, M., Evans, J. P., LeRoy, B., & Wolf, S. M. (2020). From genetics to genomics: Facing the liability implications in clinical care. Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics, 48(1), 11–43. Web.
Neben, C. L., Zimmer, A. D., Stedden, W., van den Akker, J., O’Connor, R., Chan, R. C., Chen, E., Tan, Z., Leon, A., Ji, J., Topper, S., & Zhou, A. Y. (2019). Multi-gene panel testing of 23,179 individuals for hereditary cancer risk identifies pathogenic variant carriers missed by current genetic testing guidelines. The Journal of Molecular Diagnostics, 21(4), 646–657. Web.