AUTHOR=Alexander Kim E. , Rolfe Melanie , Gabbett Michael T. 

TITLE=Assessing genomics confidence and learning needs in Australian nurses and midwives: an educational program evaluation

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Genetics

VOLUME=15

YEAR=2024

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/genetics/articles/10.3389/fgene.2024.1419302

DOI=10.3389/fgene.2024.1419302

ISSN=1664-8021

ABSTRACT=<p><bold>Introduction:</bold> The mainstreaming of genomics across healthcare specialties necessitates that all nurses and midwives have a high literacy in genomics.</p><p><bold>Methods:</bold> We aimed to design, develop, implement and evaluate a genomics education workshop for nurses and midwives using action research principles.</p><p><bold>Results:</bold> Registered nurses and midwives completed an online survey regarding genomics confidence and learning needs (n = 274). The results of this survey were used to develop the genomics education workshop. The workshop was run three times (n = 105) with evaluation data being collected both before and after each workshop. Significant improvements in confidence across all learning domains was found following the workshops (<italic>p</italic> &lt; 0.001). A desire for more education across all learning domains except for genetics knowledge was also identified (<italic>p</italic> &lt; 0.001).</p><p><bold>Discussion:</bold> Genomics education workshops were found to increase the confidence of nurses and midwives across a range of specialties. Nurses and midwives also expressed a desire for further education in genomics.</p>