Aim: To elucidate community residents’ needs for, the significance of, and the role of public health nurse in, genetics counseling services from the perspective of clinical geneticists.

Methods: Three clinical geneticists who have been involved in genetic counseling services were interviewed. Study participants were recruited through snowball sampling, and consent for participating in this study was obtained from all participants. Interview data were analyzed using a qualitative, descriptive method.

Results: The analysis indicated the following eight needs of community residents for genetic counseling services: needs changed to arise with developments in genetic and genomic medicine, changes in opportunities for genetic counseling accompanying developments in the systems of genetic and genomic medicine, anxiousness that are unlikely to change regardless of developments in the discipline, decrease in the number of genetic counseling, the familiar environment for community residents, needs for asking simple questions and discussing compelling gene-related issues, for private discussion of gene-related concerns, and discussing anonymously. The following aspects were also identified as explaining the significance of the services themselves: They provide opportunities for genetic counseling offering a wider range of content areas than that offered by medical organizations, for obtaining second opinion consultations, for determining whether a service user should visit a medical organization, for effectively linking consultation services to treatment at a medical organization, they play significant role as forming part of local health services, and they also provide opportunities for clinical geneticists to gain experience. Moreover, seven categories were extracted for the role of, and issues with, public health nurses who are responsible for identifying the potential needs of community residents and referring them to genetics counseling services.

Discussion: Community residents’ needs for genetic and genomic medicine vary. Certain needs change in accordance with developments in the medical discipline, whereas others remain relatively unchanged. Genetics counseling services are deeply embedded in the local community. Their importance in the community is that they address community residents’ need to ask simple questions and discuss concerns in a familiar environment, and that they determine whether a service user should visit a medical organization. Findings suggested that local nurses (including public health nurses) play an important role in identifying potential needs of community residents.

Purpose: The study aimed to qualitatively analyze nursing activities in clinical nursing tasks for Certified Nurse Specialists in women’s health who participated in a Perinatal Genetic Nursing Education Program, and to evaluate the educational effectiveness of changes in nursing practice.

Methods: A total of 50 Certified Nurse Specialists in women’s health, who were registered with the Japanese Nursing Association and listed on the JNA website, were asked to participate in the study. Fifteen nurses agreed to participate. The participants completed the perinatal genetic nursing education program, consisting of 1) learning about the relevant tasks using DVDs and educational materials prior to group training, 2) group training, and 3) clinical nursing practice and reflection for three months after the group training. The participants chose one nursing practice task they wanted to address in their future clinical nursing, reviewed a nursing plan during the group training, and put it into practice in clinical settings after the training. A semi-structured individual interview was conducted three months after the group training using an online meeting system. The data were analyzed using qualitative summarizing content analysis (Mayring, 2000).

Results and Discussion :The participants chose one nursing task and carried out it in clinical settings. The number of participants by task was eight for Task 1 (care for women at an early stage of pregnancy), two for Task 2 (care for mothers diagnosed with a fetal abnormality), three for Task 3 (providing support for rearing children who have/are suspected to have a congenital anomaly), and two for Task 4 (grief care). The participants completed nursing practice activities consisting of 5 categories and 14 subcategories for Task 1, 4 categories and 6 subcategories for Task 2, 6 categories and 9 subcategories for Task 3, and 3 categories and 5 subcategories for Task 4. The nursing activities conducted by the participants in the program with the aim of changing their nursing practice can be grouped into four activities: 1) understanding the feelings and experiences of mothers to clarify their care needs, 2) implementing genetic nursing in maternal nursing practice, 3) improving the perinatal care system, and 4) evaluating nursing care by others.

By receiving education for realizing nursing practice, the program participants were able to review traditional perinatal nursing and utilize their new knowledge and perspective of genetics nursing in their nursing practice. Future study is needed to examine instructional design based on the nursing experiences of the participants.