Nursing care

Octavia Henry

Pharmacogenomics and chronic disorders were most interesting while considering the topics for this week. I looked up the phrase in several literature sources because I was unfamiliar with it. I discovered that pharmacogenomics is the study of a patient’s response to medication depending on their genes by combining genetics and pharmacology (
What Oncology Nurses Need to Know About Pharmacogenomics, n.d.). Having a more individualized, targeted therapy for patients may help lower total expenses, which makes this a crucial idea given the rising cost of healthcare. Mehrian-Shai & Reichardt discovered a significant increase in cost as we approach the end of life, suggesting that a personal preventive approach may be helpful toward a more sustainable future.

In the field of cardiology, there are several chronic illnesses that we help manage daily, so I looked specifically for articles related to them. I was able to find a fascinating article that comprises pharmacogenomics and hypertension. This study aimed to review current hypertensive drugs, their effectiveness, and what’s to come (Oliveira-Paula et al., 2019). The most commonly utilized medications used to treat hypertension are diuretics, beta-blockers, ACE inhibitors, and calcium channel blockers, and these groups were the ones selected. Although we already identified that certain medications are maybe less effective in specific races, this study looked specifically into genetic polymorphisms and blood pressure responses for each group of drugs identified earlier. Overall, the study identified several inconsistencies in the findings but supported the idea that the review comprises valuable genetic information for future research in pharmacogenomics and hypertension (Oliveira-Paula et al., 2019).

I believe this topic is essential in my practice because nurses are also knowledgeable in pharmacology and understand what meds can be suggested because they might work better for the patient. Part of being a good advocate as a nurse for your patient is, at times, offering different options because working as a team and bouncing off ideas may help the patient achieve better results, especially when managing a chronic disease, and so many options might have been used already.

The first thing that comes to mind about the ethical implications of genetic testing has to do with access. Like many healthcare things, new therapies/ procedures such as genetic testing are expensive. Although there are currently online options, those results are sent straight to the client without any provider to review the results. This provides a high risk for misinterpretation of results, privacy, and security concerns (Beery & Smith, 2011). And, if in our days so many patients base their requests based on Google searches, one can imagine what not controlled results of genetic testing can lead to.

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