Employee Health nurse tells me MANY nurses have Hep. C....

Nurses General Nursing

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Specializes in NICU, Peds, Med-Surg.

Curious....have you heard this before? And, the employee health nurse also told me that like MANY Americans, many nurses and/or other health care employees have NO idea they have Hep C ....how scary!!?? She also added that many do not know HOW they got it? (meaning, if not from a needle-stick or other workplace accident involving blood, they have NONE of the typical history of Hep C patients, and don't know how they got it) :no:

I'm also VERY curious how your facility handles PATIENTS with Hep C. At two diffeent places I've worked, many people freak OUT when we've had patients with Hep C.....one place had Isolation carts, and the other place place didn't.....what is the policy with Hep C + patients where YOU work?

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universal precautions - same in both hospitals I worked at and both I did clinical at

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Specializes in Critical Care.

It is surprisingly common. About 3.2 million Americans have hep C, or about 1 out every 100.

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Specializes in Emergency & Trauma/Adult ICU.

As a healthcare professional, the appropriate response is not to "freak out" or be "scared", but to educate yourself. Good info available from reliable, easily accessible sources such as the CDC, and your hospital's infection control nurses.

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Specializes in Emergency; med-surg; mat-child.

I only know I don't have it because I got stuck and had to have bloodwork done. Whee?

Altra's right, though, universal precautions and education are key.

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Specializes in Infusion Nursing, Home Health Infusion.

It is called "standard precautions". The CDC changed the name quite awhile ago and added to the recommendations.

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Specializes in NICU, Peds, Med-Surg.

I agree about people NOT needing to "freak out"....I have reminded countless coworkers that

ANYONE can have AIDS, Hep C, etc....that's why we use Standard Precautions. It always

amazes me how much a patient with Hepatitis C makes everyone so uncomfortable. And,

the fact that one place I worked had to haul out the big yellow cart and the other didn't

makes no sense!

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That's weird. I've seen providers appear a bit more nervous with a patient with HIV but not Hep C.

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Specializes in Case mgmt., rehab, (CRRN), LTC & psych.

I wrote about hepatitis C over a year ago: https://allnurses.com/infectious-disease-nursing/hepatitis-c-more-742594.html

170 million people worldwide are infected with HCV. 4 million of these people live in the US. The majority are unaware that they carry the virus because many years elapse before symptoms arise. HCV carriers outnumber HIV carriers many times over.

I wouldn't be too surprised if I was a carrier of hepatitis C since I shared living quarters with my infected parents for many years. They're both diabetics and occasionally used their lancets to stick my fingers.

My mother had end stage liver disease secondary to HCV+ infection and required a liver transplantation in 2002. She contracted HCV from a tainted blood transfusion in the early 1980s. She did not display any signs or symptoms until the late 1990s.

HCV is a smaller and hardier virus than HIV and survives on surfaces a lot longer.

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Isolation?? carts?? Serious overkill.

As has been said, standard precautions only. So you know that Patient Bob has Hep C, ok....how about Patient Sam and Patient Dan that also have it, but you don't know? Gloves, people.

We oftentimes have such patients, and I work endoscopy. People come in with HIV, pick-a-Hep, you name it. MRSA is everywhere; we certainly don't test for it before a colonoscopy. We occasionally are sending a sample for c.diff; people carry that too. I just assume everyone has something I don't want to catch!

Just today a patient tried to hand me a phlemmy, sticky Kleenex wad. I didn't have gloves on, and said "hold on a minute" while I grabbed for the box. Patient was indignant, saying "I don't have cooties". Really? Would that be clinically-defined cooties you do (or don't) have? Sigh.

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Specializes in Trauma-Surgical, Case Management, Clinic.

It amazes me how healthcare professions freak out with hep c, HIV, ect pts. Think about how many ppl you care for everyday who are carriers of these viruses and have not been tested.

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Specializes in NICU, Peds, Med-Surg.

Commuter....I will read your article, thank you.

RNsRWe....yes, the big YELLOW carts, signs, everyone MUST gown and glove---seriously!?? (to clarify....this doesn't happen where I work now!) Sheesh, I'd always think to myself "I'm going in there to do an assessment ---I'm not going to exchange BLOOD with these HepC patients!!!!" ...and I also refused to wear a gown when ALL I was going to do was a head-to-toe assessment!

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