Semester

Spring

Date of Graduation

2020

Document Type

Problem/Project Report

Degree Type

DNP

College

School of Nursing

Department

Adult Health

Committee Chair

Sandra Cotton

Committee Member

Kayleigh Burner

Committee Member

Kesheng Wang

Committee Member

Emily Baldwin

Abstract

Background: West Virginia (WV) is second in the nation for cases of Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) per capita – meaning more than 24,000 residents are living with HCV. Most new cases are in young persons who inject drugs (PWID). However, the no-call, no-show rate for HCV patients coming to clinics in Morgantown is about 50%, indicating the need to do a better job engaging them in care. Literature suggests that integrating HCV clinics with harm reduction and addiction treatment programs increases uptake of HCV treatment.

Objective: The overall objective was to establish an integrated HCV clinic where harm reduction and addiction treatment programs are offered to promote uptake of curative treatment by decreasing the number of no-call/no-show occurrences.

Methods: A 12-week pilot study was planned with three aims for evaluation: 1) establish the clinic and evaluate rollout with an educational presentation pre/post-test and staff satisfaction survey followed by an implementation/feasibility survey near the end of the pilot 2) track and analyze the number of appointments made and kept using an Excel log to compare with other local clinics’ no-call/no-show rates 3) discover why patients historically have not kept appointments by use of a questionnaire.

Results: Staff knowledge was significantly increased; the clinic was started; and staff satisfaction questionnaires returned exclusively positive results, as did implementation/feasibility follow-up surveys. There was a 10% decrease in the no-call/no-show rate. However, a national pandemic and seasonal constraint may have affected enrollment, leaving only one patient eligible to complete the survey.

Discussion: While the clinic startup was successful, clinic attendance was low and reasons for lack of patient engagement remain largely unknown. However, the clinic is poised to further explore reasons for lack of engagement to halt the rising rate of HCV transmission in WV.

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