INTRODUCTION

You are nurses working in a large primary care practice where you are responsible for general patient care (which includes patient history and assessment) and patient education. One morning, a patient comes up to the front desk. This 50 year old African American man has recently received a letter from the local blood bank informing him that he is no longer able to donate blood. The reason for this is the blood bank found that he had a positive Hepatitis C antibody. The patient feels fine and is very angry and upset about this letter. He thinks the blood bank made a mistake so he brought the letter to his primary care provider for further information. In particular, he is interested in knowing whether he really has hepatitis C and if so, how he may have gotten this virus, what he needs to do to get rid of this infection, and what should he tell his family and friends.

What will your team do ... What evidence will you find ... to provide this patient with the information he needs about Hepatitis C?

This patient is depending on you and your team so that he may find out more about Hepatitis C and what it means for his life!