Background: Genomics has influenced the practice of healthcare professionals through its applications in medicine. With the establishment of genetic and genomic competence guidelines for nurses, competence research has also been conducted globally. However, the ethical dimension, pivotal in both nursing and genomics, remains unexplored in these assessments.
Methods: A systematic scoping review was conducted, covering the period from January 2010 to January 2022, focusing on both qualitative and quantitative research evaluating genetic and genomic competence among practicing nurses. The objective was to elucidate how ethical considerations are reflected in instruments used to measure genomic competence in nursing. A total of 25 articles were identified encompassing 19 different instruments.
Results: Ethics was addressed inconsistently in the articles. While ethics was acknowledged as part of competence, not all instruments incorporated ethical dimensions. Ethics appeared in three forms: visible, hidden, or absent. Three instruments posed direct ethical questions to nurses focusing on nurses' confidence to resolve ethical problems, familiarity with ethical aspects of genetic counseling, and ability to identify ethical dilemmas. Eight instruments revealed ethical themes indirectly, hidden in skills, concerns, advantages, and disadvantages. Notably, ethical competence was often assessed alongside a broader range of genomic issues. Ethics did not receive the proper emphasis within the instruments. The remaining eight instruments did not include visible or hidden ethical questions at all.
Discussion: The consideration of ethical perspectives in the articles and instruments was inconsistent. If ethics is overlooked or overshadowed in genetic and genomic competence of nursing, a vital element contributing to safety and humanity may be missing in care.
Laaksonen, Mari; Airikkala, Elisa; Halkoaho, Arja & Paavilainen, Eija. (2023). A Scoping Review : Do instruments measuring genomic competence in nursing incorporate ethics? Nursing open 10(8): 4932-4947. https://doi.org/10.1002/nop2.1805
Presenter: Mari Laaksonen, Tampere University, Tampere University of Applied Sciences
