How much genetics education are UK nurses getting?
The results of a survey from the Welsh Institute of Health and Social Care show that, although nurse educators regard genetics as important and think that its importance will increase in future years, 73% of diploma-level training courses for nurses in the UK deliver fewer than 10 hours of training in genetics [Kirk, M. (1999) Nurse Education Today 19, 107-115]. 31% teach fewer than 5 hours. The response from institutions offering pre-registration training programmes was high (84%), so the survey results probably give a reliable indication of the current attention given to genetics in nurse education in this country. Other findings from the survey were that, in general, nurse educators delivering training in genetics did not themselves have specialist qualifications in the subject, and that in only 29% of institutions was the genetics knowledge of students formally assessed. Kirk also points out that in most cases the content of the curriculum is slanted towards ‘traditional’ aspects o
