NursingResearch paperGenetics

DNP 810 Week 4: the genetic counseling paper

The findings have to come from the family history tool you completed, and the counselling section has to be written as though you were delivering it — seven domains, in a voice a patient could follow.

Aug 15, 2026

Editorial process

Last reviewed · August 15, 2026

Written by

Aaron Bishop

MA, Education

assignment interpretation and research-methods coaching across disciplines

Reviewed by

Dr. Nathan Cole

PhD, Rhetoric & Composition

Argumentation and thesis development

On this page

Interpret the task
Assignment instructions
Deliverables
Proposed outline
Research plan
Reference shortlist
Final review

You are writing as the counsellor, not about counselling

Two instructions shape the whole paper. First, the reason for counselling must come from what your completion of the Surgeon General's tool actually showed, so complete it before you decide what the case is. A real three-generation entry will usually surface something worth counselling about — early-onset cardiovascular disease, clustered cancers, type 2 diabetes across generations, or a known single-gene condition — and letting the tool produce the case keeps the paper honest rather than retrofitted. Second, you are asked to imagine giving the counselling. That is a register instruction: the seven domains should read as things you would say to a patient, in language they could follow, rather than as headings in a literature review. Write the counselling, in other words, rather than a paper about how counselling ought to be done — the difference is visible in the first sentence of the section and it is what the imagine instruction is asking for.

The reactions section is where clinical judgement shows. Anticipate the real ones — guilt about having passed something on, fear that a result will be used against them, relief that turns into complacency about modifiable risk, anger at being told about a risk they cannot change, and the family conflict that follows when one relative wants to know and another does not. Avoiding negative reactions is mostly about sequence and consent: establish what the patient wants to know before you tell them, separate risk from certainty explicitly, and address the implications for relatives as their decision rather than as your instruction. Then work the seven domains — health, prevention, screening, diagnostics, prognostics, treatment selection and monitoring of treatment effectiveness — in order and separately. Prognostics and monitoring are the two most often collapsed into the others, and separating them is easy marks. Both instructions push the same way: toward a paper that reads like an encounter rather than an essay about encounters.

Likely learning objectives

Inferred from the brief — check these against your own rubric.

01
Derive a counselling case from a completed family history tool.
02
Anticipate patient reactions and sequence a conversation to manage them.
03
Cover seven counselling domains distinctly and in a patient-facing register.
04
Separate risk from certainty when communicating genomic information.

Assignment instructionsQuoted verbatim

Read the full question

Review every instruction before using the planning guidance that follows.

Details: With the increase in knowledge around genetic issues, it is important that all health care providers are prepared to have thorough genetic-based discussions now with their patients. In this assignment, you will synthesize your knowledge into a client case with a real or potential genetic health-related illness. General Guidelines: Use the following information to ensure successful completion of the assignment: This assignment uses a rubric. Please review the rubric prior to beginning the assignment to become familiar with the expectations for successful completion. Doctoral learners are required to use APA style for their writing assignments. The APA Style Guide is located in the Student DNP 810 W4 Assignment Genetic Counseling Success Center. This assignment requires that at least two additional scholarly research sources related to this topic, and at least one in-text citation from each source be included. You are required to submit this assignment to LopesWrite. Please refer to the directions in the Student Success Center. Use the Surgeon General’s Family History Tool at (http://www.hhs.gov/familyhistory/portrait/index.html) to complete this assignment. Directions: Write a 1,000-1,250 word paper addressing a client case that might benefit from the process of genetic counseling. Describe the reason for the genetic counseling based on the findings from your completion of the history tool. Discuss the possible reactions the patient may have to your counseling and how to avoid negative reactions. Imagine this assignment as if you are giving this counseling to a patient. Discuss the following: Health. Prevention Screening Diagnostics Prognostics Selection of treatment Monitoring of treatment effectiveness Portfolio Practice Hours: Practice immersion assignments are based on your current course objectives, and are intended to be application-based learning using your real-world practice setting. These assignments earn practice immersion hours, and are indicated in the assignment by a Portfolio Practice Hours statement which reminds you, the student, to enter in a corresponding case log in Typhon. Actual clock hours are entered, but the average hours associated with each practice immersion assignment is 10. You are required to complete your assignment using real-world application. Real-world application requires the use of evidence-based data, contemporary theories, and concepts presented in the course. The culmination of your assignment must present a viable application in a current practice setting. For more information on parameters for practice immersion hours, please refer to DNP resources in the DC Network. To earn portfolio practice hours, enter the following after the references section of your paper: Practice Hours Completion Statement DNP-810 I, (INSERT NAME), verify that I have completed (NUMBER OF) clock hours in association with the goals and objectives for this assignment. I have also tracked said practice hours in the Typhon Student Tracking System for verification purposes and will be sure that all approvals are in place from my faculty and practice mentor. Genetic Counseling

Turn the brief into deliverables

01
A completed Surgeon General's family history and the findings it produced.
02
The reason for genetic counselling derived from those findings.
03
Possible patient reactions and how to avoid negative ones.
04
All seven domains addressed as counselling content.
05
At least two scholarly sources with in-text citations, and the practice hours statement.

Tool findings, reactions, then seven domains

The family history and its findings

Report what the tool showed and why it indicates counselling.

Anticipated reactions

Name likely emotional and relational responses and the sequence that manages them.

Health, prevention, screening

Deliver the first three domains in patient-facing language.

Diagnostics, prognostics, treatment and monitoring

Cover the remaining four domains distinctly.

Two scholarly sources, cited in text

Recommended databases

Surgeon General's My Family Health Portrait
MedlinePlus Genetics
National Human Genome Research Institute
PubMed Central

Search sequence

1.
Complete the family history tool before deciding anything about the case.
2.
Search the condition the tool surfaced AND genetic counselling for the two scholarly sources.
3.
Read one paper on patient responses to risk information before writing the reactions section.
4.
Check what screening or surveillance is actually recommended for that risk level.

Reference shortlist

These are authoritative starting points, not a ready-made bibliography. A qualified reviewer must confirm that each source fits the assignment and supports the claim beside which it is cited.

Nothing here is cleared for citation until you have read it.

01
Why is it important to know my family health history?: MedlinePlus Genetics
MedlinePlus, U.S. National Library of Medicine · 2024
The rationale behind the family history tool, which is what the reason-for-counselling section rests on.
02
Pedigree
National Human Genome Research Institute · 2024
The notation behind what the tool produces, useful for reading your own output correctly.
03
What are the uses of genetic testing?: MedlinePlus Genetics
MedlinePlus, U.S. National Library of Medicine · 2024
The uses of testing set out separately, which maps onto the seven counselling domains.
04
Qualitative research reporting in genetic counseling: A state-of-the-art assessment and recommendations
Journal of Genetic Counseling · 2026
Reporting standards in genetic counselling research, useful for grounding the reactions section in evidence rather than intuition.
05
What are complex or multifactorial disorders?: MedlinePlus Genetics
MedlinePlus, U.S. National Library of Medicine · 2024
How to talk about risk without implying certainty when the condition is multifactorial.

Review before submission

Common mistakes

Inventing a case rather than deriving it from the completed tool.
Writing about counselling instead of writing the counselling.
Collapsing prognostics and monitoring into the other domains.
Treating relatives' testing as your recommendation rather than their decision.
Omitting the Practice Hours Completion Statement after the references.

Submission checklist

Did you complete the tool before choosing the case?
Does the counselling section read as something you would say aloud?
Are all seven domains present and distinct?
Are the reactions anticipated specific rather than generic anxiety?
Are two scholarly sources cited in text, and is the practice hours statement included?

Use this guide to plan and review your own work. Follow your institution's rules and read our academic-integrity policy.