Nursing student and faculty attitudes about a potential genomics-informed undergraduate curriculum

To explore attitudes about adding genomic content to an undergraduate nursing curriculum. Genomic knowledge is essential to nursing education, but challenges exist for curriculum innovation. Few countries have guiding documents from national nursing organizations on genomic competencies for practice or education. Information on attitudes about genomics may provide guidance for curriculum development.

Nineteen undergraduate nursing students and two faculty from a school of nursing with two sites in western Canada participated. Five focus groups and four interviews were conducted using a semi-structured focus group guide. Data were analysed using thematic analysis. Coding was inductive.

Characteristics of participants, eight key themes, and four future focal areas were identified to guide future research and curriculum development.

Global development of genomics-informed curricula will require a focus on increasing knowledge, defining scope and role, increasing visibility of role models, and preparing to implement precision health.