PROCESS

First, you will be assigned as one of a team of 3 students who are portraying outpatient clinic nurses. You will pick one of three expert roles within the team.

• Clinical practice expert – the team member who serves as the clinical practice, evidence-based guidelines expert.
• Diversity expert – the team member who serves as the cultural, ethnic, and diversity expert.
• Patient education expert – the team member who serves as the patient education expert.

Once you've selected an expert role to play, you may pursue your role individually until you have collected the information needed to prepare the materials as a team for completion of this task. You are encouraged to share the resources you accumulate during your search with your team members, as this will facilitate completion of the group patient education materials and PowerPoint presentation. Here are the individual components of each expert role:

Clinical Practice Expert – Using journal articles and web resources, research the clinical aspects of Hepatitis C Virus. Answer the following questions. Your answers should be of sufficient detail – somewhere between 4 to 8 sentences in length – and should be documented on the web page that will be made available for your team.

1. What additional laboratory tests are necessary to verify the findings from the blood bank? Explain why these tests are necessary.
2. Identify common risk factors for Hepatitis C infection.
3. Discuss the signs and symptoms of Hepatitis C infection.

Diversity Expert – Using journal articles and web resources, research the cultural/ethnic aspects of Hepatitis C Virus. Answer the following questions. Your answers should be of sufficient detail – somewhere between 4 to 8 sentences in length – and should be documented on the web page that will be made available for your team.

1. Discuss ethnic differences regarding the incidence of Hepatitis C infection and the subtype of Hepatitis C that may be found.
2. Discuss the impact of ethnicity on response to treatment with interferon and ribavirin. Provide a possible rationale for these differences.
3. Discuss the impact of gender on response to treatment with interferon and ribavirin. Provide a possible rationale for these differences.

Patient Education Expert – Using journal articles and web resources, research the patient education aspects of Hepatitis C Virus. Answer the following questions. Your answers should be of sufficient detail – somewhere between 4 to 8 sentences in length – and should be documented on the web page that will be made available for your team.

1. Where can the patient get quality information related to Hepatitis C (i.e. risk factors, symptoms, treatment options)?
2. What information do patients need to know about the spread of Hepatitis C? In particular, include information so the patient will know what precautions must be taken in the home to prevent a family member from contracting Hepatitis C and what should they tell their family and friends.
3. Discuss possible side effects associated with interferon and ribavirin treatment.

Organizing Information As You Go

Type your individual role questions into a Microsoft Word document so that you can add information to them as you explore journal articles and websites.

Keep your desired products in sight and organize your work around these things:

• Individual answers to the three questions based on your role
• Individual 2-3 relevant and high quality journal articles in APA format
• Individual 2-3 relevant and high quality web resources in APA format
• Group patient education handout/brochure
• Group Microsoft PowerPoint presentation for colleagues

Visit the RESOURCES section next to view some web, library, and collaboration resources that will launch you in completing your task!