Progress in genetics has numerous implications for both nurse practitioners and those patients at risk for the hereditary diseases breast cancer and ovarian cancer. Nurse practitioners will be challenged to order and interpret genetic tests and take into consideration the legal, ethical, social, and familial implications.

Nurse practitioners need to be prepared to provide the necessary background information to patients, so that informed decision making by the patient is possible. This project provides guidelines for evaluating family history risk for inherited breast and ovarian cancer and discusses the implications for presymptomatic testing, carrier testing, and susceptibility testing of certain familial disorders. Guidelines for ordering BRCA1 and BRCA2 testing for breast cancer and the implications of these results are explored.

Unlike traditional medical testing performed to evaluate symptoms, genetic treatment is limited. Experts disagree whether genetic testing is justified in families with strong histories of certain disorders (Cho, Sanker, &Wolpe, 1999). For this reason, someone deciding whether to undergo genetic testing must weigh the medical benefits of testing against the psychological and social risks and benefits.

A reference pamphlet for nurse practitioners in ordering the genetic test for breast cancer is implemented in this scholarly project. Testing guidelines, patient counseling, clinical application of test results, and interpretation of test results are included in the pamphlet.

The purpose of this project was to develop an educational web-site for the parents of children with chronic constipation. As the climate of health care continues to change, patient education becomes a greater responsibility for health care providers, assessing and meeting informational needs of patients and their families are integral parts of health care practice (Canobbio, 1996). The nurse practitioner, at the forefront of healthcare, can use this tool to help patient and their families to combat the feeling of powerlessness that so frequently accompanies a health crisis (Davidhizer, 1992).

Chronic constipation in children is a frequent complaint in the primary care setting (Kirchner, 1999). Both a physical and emotional problem, it exacts a huge toll on the psychological well being of the family by eroding the self esteem of the child, and also the parents and their belief that they can effectively parent (Di Lorenzo, 2000). There is a deficit of educational material on this topic, particularly on the Internet. The Internet is the place to which more and more parents turn for medical information and emotional support (Chi-Lum,1999).

An estimated 1 to 5 million Americans develop a deep vein thrombosis (DVT) each year (Kurowski, 1997). Educating patients about this health-related problem is necessary to alter their health behavior and improve their potential for optimal health outcomes (Falvo, 1994). Patient education is constantly changing to meet the demands placed by today’s health care system (Bastable, 1997; Falvo, 1994; Whitman, Gliet, Graham, and Boyd, 1992). The nurse practitioner assumes a vital role in the patient education process (Close, 1988). The use of printed education materials (PEMs) is one method to facilitate the achievement of health.

Using Bernier and Yasko’s (1991) EPEM model for designing and evaluating PEMs, a patient education pamphlet was designed for use with patients diagnosed with, or who are high risk for, DVT. The purpose of the pamphlet is to supplement and reinforce oral instructions given to the patient by the health care provider. After construction, the pamphlet was submitted to a patient education committee in a northwestern Pennsylvania acute care facility for evaluation. Once the recommended changes were instituted, the PEM was relinquished to the committee for publication and distribution throughout the institution.