A practical first step to integrating genetics into the curriculum

We conducted a systematic literature review to identify tools that could be used to measure faculty and undergraduate nursing students' genetic literacy, and we assessed the utility of one of those tools, the Genetic Literacy Assessment Instrument (GLAI), with faculty and students at a college of nursing in a large public university. No significant differences were noted between faculty and students in terms of their overall scores on the GLAI. On average, faculty answered 76% of the questions correctly and students answered 73% of the questions correctly. Both groups scored highest in the genetics and society domain (93% and 85% correct answers for faculty and students, respectively) and lowest in the evolution domain (52% correct for both groups). The GLAI may be used to evaluate curricula for strengths and deficiencies, as well as to identify students and faculty in need of additional instruction.