Strategic Plan for Genomic Competencies into Undergraduate Nursing Curriculum

Problem: As genomics research continues to grow in medicine and in popular culture, an educational gap in nursing is inevitable. Nurses must have a strong understanding of genetics and genomics to effectively integrate them into current practice.Objectives: The objective is to identify gaps in the current undergraduate curriculum and build threads that may be incorporated into the current curriculum to fill the identified gaps. Methods: The foundation of this project was the Essentials of Genetic and Genomic Nursing: Competencies, Curricula Guidelines, and Outcome Indicators, 2nd Edition (Consensus Panel on Genetic/Genomic Nursing Competencies, 2008). A strategic plan was created to increase the genomics and genetics competencies in the current undergraduate nursing curriculum at the School of Nursing in the University of Nevada, Las Vegas to meet the nine essentials of Baccalaureate education set forth by the AACN (2008). A strengths, weakness, opportunities, and threats (SWOT) analysis was included to identify and analyze the strengths and weaknesses of the project and be given the opportunity to address and eliminate any threats. The syllabi of the undergraduate nursing core courses were analyzed course by course for baseline genetics and genomics content. The content was found in five out of 16 core courses. Utilizing the gap analysis tool based on Essentials of Genetic and Genomic Nursing, 23 possible curricular thread ideas for genetics and genomics content were identified. Implications: This project demonstrated that the development of a strategic plan utilizing the Essentials of Genetic and Genomic Nursing can be used to identify gaps in the undergraduate nursing curriculum and build genetics and genomics competencies to incorporate into the curriculum. This allows for the opportunity for nursing faculty to improve the current undergraduate nursing curriculum to meet the essentials set forth by the AACN