Uncertainty and the Treatment Experience of Individuals With Chronic Hepatitis C

• Nurse practitioners play an important role in the care of patients with hepatitis C.
• A patient’s level of uncertainty may be altered by credible sources of information.
• As health care authority figures, nurse practitioners are viewed as credible sources of information.
• Social network may positively or negatively alter patient’s level of uncertainty.

It is estimated that 75% of those individuals infected with hepatitis C are not aware of their infection. Uncertainty surrounding illness events has been described as the ultimate psychological stressor. The aim of this research study was to examine the correlation, both direction and strength, between uncertainty and the antecedents of Mishel’s uncertainty in illness theory. Convenience samples of 134 individuals diagnosed with hepatitis C were recruited. Findings indicate that those unique resources available to the individual in the form of their social network and health care authority figure have the greatest influence on their perception of uncertainty surrounding illness events.