[Impact and Challenges of Genetic Disorders on Nursing]

Genetic disorders greatly impact human life. Nursing staffs should provide counseling and health education before and after patients receive genetic testing. Current attitudes toward women who receive genetic tests emphasize respect patient autonomy and allowing the patient to make her own decisions regarding the tests she wants to take and her reproductive planning. For patients whose results include them in the high-risk group for dementia, providing mental support and counseling to assist them to understand the meaning of these results is important. One issue that deserves particular attention is the supervision of genetic testing agencies. Although the credibility, testing fees, and professionalism of these agencies must be verified, no government agency currently has executive authority in this area. Because genetic disorders often require huge expenditures to help patients live with dementia, health insurance is necessary. As Taiwan currently offers universal healthcare under the National Health Insurance program, dementia is currently and will continue to be an immense challenge to both the government and the nursing profession. Currently, medical knowledge related to genetic diseases and the ability of health professionals to provide effective treatments are still very limited. The nursing profession should be aware of the trends and challenges related to genetic disorders and devise appropriate policies in order to response the challenges.