Faculty Performance on the Genomic Nursing Concept Inventory.

Area of Science:

• Nursing Education
• Genomic Science
• Health Professions Education

Background:

• Genomic concepts are vital for modern nursing practice.
• Assessing faculty understanding of genomics is essential for curriculum development.
• The Genomic Nursing Concept Inventory (GNCI) was developed to evaluate this knowledge.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate nursing faculty's understanding of foundational genomic concepts using the GNCI.
• To identify faculty strengths and weaknesses in genomic knowledge.
• To compare faculty knowledge with that of nursing students.

Main Methods:

• An anonymous online survey was administered to 495 nursing faculty nationwide in Fall 2014.
• The survey included demographic questions and the 31-item GNCI.
• Scores were analyzed for total comprehension and four subcategories: genome basics, mutations, inheritance, and genomic health.

Main Results:

• The average faculty score on the GNCI was 48% correct.
• Faculty performed best on inheritance (59%) and genomic health (58%) concepts, and weakest on genome basics (33%).
• Faculty knowledge levels mirrored those of nursing students; 70% rated their proficiency as fair or poor.

Conclusions:

• Nursing faculty possess foundational genomic knowledge comparable to students, with significant gaps in basic science understanding.
• Genomic literacy is critical for nursing faculty to prepare future nurses for practice.
• Faculty must actively pursue educational opportunities to enhance their genomic knowledge.