Genetic and Genomic Nursing Development: First Experience in Queen Mary Hospital of Hong Kong

Queen Mary Hospital, 102 Porkfulam Road, Hong Kong

Corresponding author: Chan Lai Hung, Queen Mary Hospital, 102 Porkfulam Road, Hong Kong; Email: [email protected]

Received Date: January 24, 2024

Published Date: February 5, 2024

Citation: Chan LH, et al. (2024). Genetic and Genomic Nursing Development: First Experience in Queen Mary Hospital of Hong Kong. Mathews J Nurs. 6(1):40.

Copyrights: Chan LH, et al. © (2024).

INTRODUCTION

Rapid advances in the field of genomics are affecting nearly all areas of healthcare. Genetic and genomic medicine plays a pivotal role in personalized care treatment. The global trend of healthcare systems is moving towards integrating genetics and genomics into mainstream clinical practices to facilitate personalized and precision medicine. Development in genomics and its implementation in the healthcare system worldwide has been steadily increasing [1,2]. Although knowledge of the clinical application of genetic and genomic practices is widely practiced, the knowledge practice gap towards genetic and genomic practices is known [3]. In this regard, the Hospital Authority (HA) will work towards achieving the following vision. The HA Strategic Service Framework for Genetic and Genomic Services underpins the guiding, planning, and development of human genetic and genomic services in HA over the next five to ten years. It aims to improve the service quality by building up of a service model to outline the directions and strategies for genomic medicine [4].

Queen Mary Hospital (QMH) of the Hong Kong West Cluster (HKWC) is the only cluster in HA with well-established two clinical genetic comprehensive services for breast and colorectal hereditary disease. In 2018, being one of the partnering centers with the Hong Kong Genome Project (HKGP), the HKGP catalyzed to advance further development and paved the way for clinical implementation of genomic medicine in QMH as well as Hong Kong. In alignment with the HA strategic planning on genetic and genomic service, and to maximize the patient’s benefit from the widespread genetic / genomics science, nurses must be competent to obtain comprehensive family histories or identify the family members at risk [4]. It isn’t just specialist nurses who are, and will be dealing with genomics, all nurses need to have an understanding of genomics and the enhanced standard of proficiency and competency [5,6]. Hence, a commissioned training program is needed in the Hong Kong West Cluster to nurture a skilled and competent genetic and genomic workforce and to address widely acknowledged deficits in nurses’ genomic literacy [7,8].