title: What nurses need to know about genetics.
abstract: New genetic discoveries are revolutionizing medical approaches to diagnosis, management, and treatment of disease. Because of these changes, nurses need to know basic genetic principles and apply them to clinical nursing practice. This article describes basic genetics and how nurses can incorporate a genetic focus into clinical practice, specifically family history assessment. Ethical principles of genetic healthcare also are discussed.
authors.affiliation: Southern Maine Genetics Services, Foundation for Blood Research, P.O. Box 190, 69 U.S. Route 1, Scarborough, Maine 04070, USA. dlea@fbr.org
authors.forename: Dale Halsey
authors.initials: DH
authors.lastname: Lea
mesh_terms: D002869:Chromosome Aberrations; D005823:Genetics; D006801:Humans; D009729:Nursing; D010375:Pedigree; D011361:Professional Competence