Date

7-2021

Department

School of Nursing

Degree

Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP)

Chair

Vickie Moore

Keywords

Sickle cell disease bias, management, sickle cell disease, education, care barriers, stigmatization, quality care

Disciplines

Nursing

Abstract

Sickle cell disease (SCD) is an inherited hematological disorder that can have a debilitating impact on those affected. The disease is caused by a mutation in the gene encoding for hemoglobin that alters the formation of the red blood cell to a sickle shape, the source of the term hemoglobin S or sickle hemoglobin. The most common manifestation of this disease state is acute pain due to the effects of vaso-occlusive crisis. The burden of disease can be intense, requiring frequent and prolonged hospitalizations with disruptions in one’s quality of life. Despite the gravity of this disease state, there exist pitfalls in clinical practice that can negatively impact the quality of care one receives. Patients with SCD have been subject to negative perceptions and deep-seated biases from varying health care providers or personnel. Contributing to this care experience is providers’ lack of thorough understanding of the disease state, training, exposure, and suboptimal racial or cultural competence. As a means of improving care practices of clinicians and their preparedness to care for those with SCD, clinician-targeted sickle cell education has been proposed. Related literature on the subject matter has been explored and offers support for the benefits of the implementation of continued clinician sickle cell education in practice.

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