As a travel nurse, it is your responsibility to ensure the health of your patients. Aside from suggesting regular checkups for children, you may also want to encourage baby boomers to get screened for hepatitis C. Although those you are working with may indicate that they see no reason to do so, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is considering this liver disease to be a "silent epidemic."
Talking to patients
You can explain to your patients that the CDC has recommended all people who were born between 1945 and 1965 be screened for hepatitis C at least once. It is even a greater necessity for those who have used injection drugs or received a blood transfusion before 1992.
"Millions of people in the United States are infected with hepatitis C, and many are unaware of their condition, in large part because they may not have any symptoms," Dr. Kirsten Bibbins-Domingo, member the CDC's Preventative Service Task Force, said in a statement.
The task force's co-chairman Dr. Albert Siu is confident that a one-time screening will help inform numerous baby boomers before they are in serious condition due to infection to their livers. When undiagnosed and untreated, individuals are at risk of cirrhosis in addition to liver cancer and failure.
Explaining the disease
In the most basic terms, hepatitis C is an infection that results when a virus attacks the liver. As a result, there is often inflammation in the area. It's not uncommon for most people who suffer from the disease to be void of any symptoms, which is why it has been considered a silent killer. It can take decades for liver damage to develop, and oftentimes this is when individuals are diagnosed.
However, there can be symptoms present that you may want to inform your patients of as they are minor and often dismissed. The Mayo Clinic lists fatigue, fever, muscle and joint pain, nausea, loss of appetite and tenderness in the area around the liver as possible causes for concern. Talk to your patient about these signs and encourage him or her to get screened if there is the slightest cause for concern.
Screening options
A simple blood test can be conducted on a patient who believes they may be at risk of having developed the disease. Not only will this determine whether hepatitis C is in their body, it can also measure the amount within their blood. By evaluating the virus' genetic makeup, doctors are able to determine the best course of treatment for an individual.
There is also a more invasive option for testing, which requires doctors to do a biopsy on the liver. After removing a small sample of tissue from the area, doctors can assess the severity of liver damage hepatitis C has caused. This procedure is conducted with a thin needle that is inserted through the skin and into the liver. This is how doctors remove the tissue sample for evaluation.
Whether your patients suffer from known liver disease or not, it is suggested they get screened if they are a baby boomer. Although this is completely voluntary, travel nursing professionals should keep their patients informed and encourage individuals to move forward with testing.