Genetic and Genomic Competencies for Nursing Informatics Internationally

The majority of health professionals now have genetic and genomic competencies and some are measured by certification standards. Nursing has a proud history of defining roles for nursing in informatics and genetics. In addition, the nursing professional organization, the American Nurses Association, has a Certification Center that has successfully achieved ISO 9001:2008 certification in the design, development, and delivery of global credentialing services which encompasses certification of advanced practice nurses in genetics. ISO 9001:2008 certification is the firmly established global standard for assuring stakeholders of an organization’s ability to satisfy quality-related requirements. However, despite the addition of genomics into the Informatics Scope and Standards of Practice, there is a need to define the integration of the genetic, genomics and other omics competencies into the informatics domain, especially the Electronic Health Record. Currently, there are also international and interprofessional activities and organizations that have established or are identifying competencies in genetics and genomics. There remains a need for more international collaborations to build upon the current resources and strategies implemented by several countries, to learn from each other, support each other, and to collaborate to answer questions and reduce duplication of efforts.