Filipino-American Nurses' Knowledge, Perceptions, Beliefs and Practice of Genetics and Genomics.

Introduction: There is limited information on the knowledge, perceptions, beliefs, and practice, about genetics and genomics among Filipino-American nurses. The National Coalition of Ethnic Minority Organizations (NCEMNA), in which the Philippine Nurses Association of America (PNAA) is a member organization, conducted an online survey to describe the genomic knowledge, perceptions, beliefs, and practice of minority nurses. This study reports on responses from Filipino-American survey participants, which is a subset analysis of the larger NCEMNA survey.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to explore the knowledge, perceptions, beliefs, practice and genomic education of Filipino-American nurses.

Method: An online survey of 112 Filipino-American nurses was conducted to describe the knowledge, perceptions, beliefs, and practice of genetics/genomics. Survey responses were analyzed using descriptive statistics.

Results: Most (94%) Filipino-American nurses wanted to learn more about genetics. Although 41% of the respondents indicated good understanding of genetics of common diseases, 60% had not attended any related continuing education courses since RN licensure, and 73% reported unavailability of genetic courses to take. The majority (83%) of PNAA respondents indicated that they would attend genetics/genomics awareness training if it was offered by their national organization during their annual conference, and 86% reported that the national organization should have a visible role in genetics/genomics initiatives in their community.

Conclusion: Filipino-American nurses wanted to learn more about genetics and were willing to attend genetics/genomics trainings if offered by PNAA. The study findings can assist PNAA in planning future educational programs that incorporates genetics and genomics information.