GENOMIC-BASED NURSING CARE FOR WOMEN WITH TURNER SYNDROME

Milena Flória Santos

Mariana Machado Silva

Ester Silveira Ramos

Biologic and technologic advances generated from The Human Genome Project are having a dramatic impact on the expanding role of nurses in current health care practice. New genetic researches need to be transformed rapidly into clinical protocols with recommendations for delivering care to targeted populations. Nurses can contribute significantly, as part of an interdisciplinary approach, to translate genome-based knowledge into benefits for health care and society. In this context, we describe a clinical-genetic investigation protocol, and some aspects of a geneticist nurse practice as a member of a Brazilian multidisciplinary clinical and research team, carrying out genetic counseling process and genetic test, using molecular biology techniques for individuals with Turner Syndrome at risk for gonadal tumors, due the presence of a normal or abnormal Y chromosome. Nursing diagnosis identified during genetic counseling process for individuals with TS and a normal or abnormal Y chromosome and/or their families were: knowledge deficit, social isolation, altered family process, decisional conflict, and altered growth and development. Therefore, nurses use several nursing-sensitive outcomes to monitor the effectiveness of genetic counseling in meeting individuals' psychosocial needs as related to the genetics aspects of their health. Even nurses, without a huge knowledge in genetics field, can incorporate specific aspects of the genetic counseling process into their clinical practice. The nursing focus is on the identification and prioritization of strategies to promote a desirable outcome for clients manifesting or at risk for developing a genetic condition. Supported by Capes

Correspondência para: Milena Flória-Santos, e-mail: mfloria-santos@uiowa.edu