Abstract
In practice nurses play a key role in genetic services provided for patients or counselees in and out of hospitals in Japan. But in the present medical system, it is not evident what position should be given to nurse among other medical professionals. And the ethical, legal and social issues relevant to genetic nursing are not yet analyzed and settled sufficiently.
The author argues that it is quite necessary to empower nurses by reforming the Public Health Nurse, Midwife and General Nurse Law established in 1948 and not fully accommodated to the recent highly developed nursing, although it has been revised several times in minor items. Also he discusses about the differences between genetic counseling and genetic nursing and maintains that Clinical Nurse Specialist (CNS) in genetic nursing should be established by the Japanese Nursing Association.
