Photo courtesy of University
of Tennessee Health Science Center
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| Ann
Cashion, Ph.D., RN, like many nurses, is discovering
that genetics has a far greater reach than she had
imagined as she works in the lab at the University
of Tennessee Health Science Center. |
Each year, more than 1,300 Type 1 diabetes patients
have the rare opportunity for a life free of insulin
dependence through a pancreas transplant. For one in
five, ultimate liberation arrives only after a difficult
fight against rejection-and sometimes after a second
transplant, if they are fortunate enough to find another
donor.
Clinicians watching for acute rejection depend on blood
and urine tests for early detection, but Ann Cashion,
Ph.D., RN, is looking for a new assessment-one that
can be faster, more accurate and may help prevent the
loss of rare donor organs. Her search is taking her
through the field of genetics, looking for early clues
of donor pancreas rejection from antibody-producing
white cells.
"The earlier we identify people having problems
with a transplant organ, potentially they would not
have acute rejection episodes," said Cashion, who
heads a research team at the University of Tennessee
Health Science Center, College of Nursing in Memphis.
Six months ago, this type of research would have been
impossible for Cashion-not because of a lack of scientific
progress in molecular biology, but because Cashion's
own advancement in knowledge was relatively recent.
After a lengthy 20-year career in ICU nursing, research
and teaching, she had her first strong dose in genetics
just this summer through an accelerated nursing education
program on the campus of the National Institutes of
Health in Bethesda, Md.
"It was a catalyst for my research," Cashion
said. "I could not have even considered doing [research]
without that."
Cashion, like many nurses, is discovering that genetics
has a far greater reach than she had imagined. More
areas and levels of practice are incorporating genetics,
with some fields like oncology or pediatric nursing
requiring the science as a core knowledge competency.
Research is spreading to incorporate genetics into
general nursing education and prepare for expected future
demand for genetic counseling and testing services.
More nurses today also are seeking out continuing education
and recognized credentials in genetics.
After years of promise and possibilities, at a time
when the human genome finally has been mapped, experts
say genetics is likely to become a staple throughout
nursing practice-if it isn't already.
"Genetic nurses are everywhere," said Jean
Anderson, executive director of the International Society
of Nurses in Genetics. "Although someone doesn't
recognize themselves as genetic nurse, they have a responsibility
to keep informed and understand genetics on a basic
level."
"I don't think it's [just] a core competency for
a specialty," said Kathleen Calzone, MSN, APNG,
RN, a nursing research specialist at the NIH-affiliated
National Institute of Nursing Research in Bethesda,
Md. "I think genetics is a core competency for
nursing, just as one would expect somebody to understand
basic physiology as a core to be a nurse at any level,
from an AD to a Ph.D."
The spring 2003 completion of the federally funded
Human Genome Project meant science had identified the
estimated 30,000 genes in human DNA, including a determination
of the sequence of the more than 3 billion chemical
base pairs (known as A,C,G and T) that combine DNA strands.
The announcement coincided with the 50th anniversary
of the Nobel Prize-winning discovery by James Watson
and Francis Crick of the DNA double helix design.
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