Epigenetics - personalised medicine becomes more widespread

Epigenetics and personalised medicine is likely to become more widespread. The effects on the nursing workforce are uncertain. A Nursing and Midwifery Professional Advisory Board ‘task and finish’ group recently reported on the future of genetics/genomics in relation to nursing and midwifery, concluding that: ‘Scientific advances in genomics are bringing unprecedented opportunities for a greater understanding of disease mechanisms across the spectrum of disease, from rare to common. They are also leading to more accurate diagnosis of disease, developments in diagnosis of genetic subtypes of common diseases and in developments of new therapies and more targeted therapies. The advances are rapid and have relevance across healthcare services, not just to specialist genetics services. Nurses and midwives represent the largest sector of the NHS professional workforce and are best placed to optimise the potential contributions of genomics for improving health. However, they face significant and complex challenges to integrating genomic healthcare into professional education and practice’ (Task & Finish Group, 2011).

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