Discussion: Genes and Gene Environment Interaction
Discuss:
The implications of mapping out the human genome are far reaching. Clinical, ethical, legal, and social issues are impacted and nurses are central to care. The implications of the human genome mapping, and how nursing care may be impacted has led to the development of the “Essential Genetic and Genomic Competencies for Nurses with Graduate Degrees” (GradGenomiccompetencies.pdfActions ). Please review this document to understand the implications to your practice and provide a background to your discussion.
Choose ONE of the following topics to discuss:
1. Describe a genetic/genomic nursing situation that reflects on a nursing competency.
2. Describe a real or hypothetical nursing situation that shows how genetics/genomics is an important consideration to disease, diagnosis, or treatment.
3. Review 2 articles and discuss how knowledge and work around telomeres can impact nursing care. How caring for telomeres can impact disease and aging?
4. Discuss a holistic application or problem that relates to an aspect of cellular health, DNA, epigenetic environment. Examples can be energies/frequencies/harmonics/vibration, effect of electromagnetic frequencies and how that might impact nursing care etc. as just a few thoughts. This is an example of an article: Kandaswamy R. Application of Sound Frequencies as an Epigenetic Tool in Reversing the Limiting Symptoms of Autism. J Clin Epigenet. 2017, 3:1. doi: 10.21767/2472-1158.100038).
Sample Paper
Hypothetical Nursing Situation
In a clinical setting, I encountered a patient who was suffering from sickle cell anemia, which the patient was diagnosed before birth during the routine mother and baby screening tests at the hospital. Sickle cell anemia is a class of genetic red blood cells sickness, and the cells die too soon, which create a continuous shortage of red blood cells (Persaud & Bonham, 2019). Individuals who have this type of disease acquire the sickle cell genes from each of the parents, and it is a severe form of illness. The patient had been in and out of hospital for many years.
The patient’s early diagnosis of sickle cell anemia was fundamental in giving proper preventive healthcare for some of the possible catastrophic complications. The use of genetic testing also helped identify the particular type of sickle cell disease of the patient and the unique genetic variations. The early diagnosis through the genetic test helped in treatment by controlling symptoms like the patient’s pain episodes by providing pain medicine during crises and giving vaccines to prevent bacterial infections.
When treating the patient, the medical practitioners only had to look at the patient’s medical history, physical examinations, symptoms and laboratory test results in order to ensure the sickle cell disease had not become severe. This shows how genetics/genomics is an essential consideration to disease, diagnosis or treatment as the patient was now aware of the genetic disorder and how to take precautions.
This hypothesis shows how it is necessary for nurses to gain essential competencies in genetics and genomics as it is now crucial in nursing practice (National Human Genome Research Institute NHGRI, n. d.). It helps gather individual health and histories that are considered genetic and genomic effects and threats to help develop healthcare services (McClauley & Derse, 2017). This also shows substantial growth in genetic knowledge that has improved the ability for health analysts to map and plan genes for diagnosis treatment and take preventive measures of sickle cell disease and other chronic diseases.
Reference
McCauley, M. P., Marcus, R. K., Strong, K. A., Visotcky, A. M., Shimoyama, M. E., & Derse, A. R. (2017). Genetics and Genomics in clinical practise: the views of Wisconsin physicians. WMJ, 116(2), 69-74.
(n.d.). National Human Genome Research Institute NHGRI.
<<https://www.genome.gov/Pages/Health/HealthCareProvidersInfo/Grad_Gen_Comp.pdf>>
Persaud, A., Desine, S., Blizinsky, K., & Bonham, V. L. (2019). A CRISPR focus on attitudes and beliefs toward somatic genome editing from stakeholders within the sickle cell disease community. Genetics in Medicine, 21(8), 1726-1734.
<https://www.nature.com/articles/s41436-018-0409-6>
