NURS 6512 Week 4 Assignment 1- Differential Diagnosis for Skin Conditions
NURS 6512 Week 4 Assignment 1- Differential Diagnosis for Skin Conditions
NURS 6512 Assignments – Properly identifying the cause and type of a patient’s skin condition involves a process of elimination known as differential diagnosis. Using this process, a health professional can take a given set of physical abnormalities, vital signs, health assessment findings, and patient descriptions of symptoms, and incrementally narrow them down until one diagnosis is determined as the most likely cause.
In this Assignment, you will examine several visual representations of various skin conditions, describe your observations, and use the techniques of differential diagnosis to determine the most likely condition.
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To prepare:

Review the Skin Conditions document provided in this week’s Learning Resources, and select one condition to closely examine for this Assignment.
Consider the abnormal physical characteristics you observe in the graphic you selected. How would you describe the characteristics using clinical terminologies? NURS 6512 Week 4 Assignment 1- Differential Diagnosis for Skin Conditions.
Explore different conditions that could be the cause of the skin abnormalities in the graphics you selected.
Consider which of the conditions is most likely to be the correct diagnosis, and why.
Download the SOAP Template found in this week’s Learning Resources.

To complete:

Choose one skin condition graphic (identify by number in your Chief Complaint) to document your assignment in the SOAP (Subjective, Objective, Assessment, and Plan) note format, rather than the traditional narrative style. Refer to Chapter 2 of the Sullivan text and the Comprehensive SOAP Template in this week’s Learning Resources for guidance. Remember that not all comprehensive SOAP data are included in every patient case. NURS 6512 Week 4 Assignment 1- Differential Diagnosis for Skin Conditions.
Use clinical terminologies to explain the physical characteristics featured in the graphic. Formulate a differential diagnosis of three to fivepossible conditions for the skin graphic that you chose. Determine which is most likely to be the correct diagnosis and explain your reasoning using at least 3 different references from current evidence based literature.

Submission and Grading Information
Comprehensive SOAP Template
This template is for a full history and physical. For this course include only areas that are related to the case.
Patient Initials: _______ Age: _______ Gender: _______

Note: The mnemonic below is included for your reference and should be removed before the submission of your final note.

L =location
O= onset
C= character
A= associated signs and symptoms
T= timing
E= exacerbating/relieving factors
S= severity
SUBJECTIVE DATA:Include what the patient tells you, but organize the information.
Chief Complaint (CC):In just a few words, explain why the patient came to the clinic.
History of Present Illness (HPI):This is the symptom analysis section of your note. Thorough documentation in this section is essential for patient care, coding, and billing analysis. Paint a picture of what is wrong with the patient. You need to start EVERY HPI with age, race, and gender (e.g., 34-year-old AA male). You must include the seven attributes of each principal symptom in paragraph form not a list.If the CC was “headache”, the LOCATES for the HPI might look like the following example: NURS 6512 Week 4 Assignment 1- Differential Diagnosis for Skin Conditions
Location: head
Onset: 3 days ago
Character: pounding, pressure around the eyes and temples
Associated signs and symptoms: nausea, vomiting, photophobia, phonophobia
Timing: after being on the computer all day at work
Exacerbating/ relieving factors: light bothers eyes, Aleve makes it tolerable but not completely better
Severity: 7/10 pain scale
Medications:Include over-the-counter, vitamin, and herbal supplements. List each one by name with dosage and frequency.
Allergies:Include specific reactions to medications, foods, insects, and environmental factors. Identify if it is an allergy or intolerance.
Past Medical History (PMH):Include illnesses (also childhood illnesses), hospitalizations.
Past Surgical History (PSH):Include dates, indications, and types of operations.
Sexual/Reproductive History: If applicable,include obstetric history, menstrual history, methods of contraception, sexual function, and risky sexual behaviors.
Personal/Social History:Include tobacco use, alcohol use, drug use, patient’s interests, ADL’s and IADL’s if applicable, and exercise and eating habits. NURS 6512 Week 4 Assignment 1- Differential Diagnosis for Skin Conditions
Immunization History:Includelast Tdap, Flu, pneumonia, etc.
Significant Family History: Include history of parents, grandparents, siblings, and children.
Lifestyle:Include cultural factors, economic factors, safety, and support systems and sexual preference.
Review of Systems:From head-to-toe, include each system that covers the Chief Complaint, History of Present Illness, and History (this includes the systems that address any previous diagnoses).Remember that the information you include in this section is based on what the patient tells you so ensure that you include all essentials in your case (refer to Chapter 2 of the Sullivan text).
General:Include any recent weight changes, weakness, fatigue, or fever, but do not restate HPI data here.
HEENT:
Neck:
Breasts:
Respiratory:
Cardiovascular/Peripheral Vascular:
Gastrointestinal:
Genitourinary:
Musculoskeletal:
Psychiatric:
Neurological:
Skin:
Hematologic:
Endocrine:
Allergic/Immunologic:
OBJECTIVE DATA:From head-to-toe, includewhat you see, hear, and feel when doing your physical exam. You only need to examine the systems that are pertinent to the CC, HPI, and History unless you are doing a total H&P- only in this course. Do not use “WNL” or “normal.” You must describe what you see.
Physical Exam:
Vital signs: Include vital signs, ht, wt, and BMI.
General:Include general state of health, posture, motor activity, and gait. This may also include dress, grooming, hygiene, odors of body or breath, facial expression, manner, level of consciousness, and affect and reactions to people and things. NURS 6512 Week 4 Assignment 1- Differential Diagnosis for Skin Conditions
HEENT:
Neck:
Chest
Lungs:
Heart
Peripheral Vascular: Abdomen:
Genital/Rectal:
Musculoskeletal:
Neurological:
Skin:
Include any labs, x-rays, or other diagnostics that are needed to develop the differential diagnoses.
ASSESSMENT:List your priority diagnosis (es). For each priority diagnosis, list at least three differential diagnoses, each of which must be supported with evidence and guidelines. For holistic care, you need to include previous diagnoses and indicate whether these are controlled or not controlled. These should also be included in your treatment plan.
PLAN:This section is not required for the assignments in this course (NURS 6512) but will be required for future courses.
REFLECTION: This section is not required for the assignments in this course (NURS 6512) but will be required for future courses.Reflect on your clinical experience, and consider the following questions: What did you learn from this experience? What would you do differently? Do you agree with your preceptor based on the evidence?
NURS 6512 Week 6 Assignment: Assessing the Abdomen
NURS 6512 Week 6 assignment Assesment 1: Assessing the Abdomen
A woman went to the emergency room for severe abdominal cramping. She was diagnosed with diverticulitis; however, as a precaution, the doctor ordered a CAT scan. The CAT scan revealed a growth on the pancreas, which turned out to be pancreatic cancer—the real cause of the cramping.
Because of a high potential for misdiagnosis, determining the precise cause of abdominal pain can be time-consuming and challenging. By analyzing case studies of abnormal abdominal findings, nurses can prepare themselves to better diagnose conditions in the abdomen.
In this assignment, you will analyze a SOAP note case study that describes abnormal findings in patients seen in a clinical setting. You will consider what history should be collected from the patients, as well as which physical exams and diagnostic tests should be conducted. You will also formulate a differential diagnosis with several possible conditions. NURS 6512 Week 4 Assignment 1- Differential Diagnosis for Skin Conditions.
Abdominal Assessment
SUBJECTIVE:
CC: “My stomach hurts, I have diarrhea and nothing seems to help.”
HPI: JR, 47 yo WM, complains of having generalized abdominal pain that started 3 days ago. He has not taken any medications because he did not know what to take. He states the pain is a 5/10 today but has been as much as 9/10 when it first started. He has been able to eat, with some nausea afterwards.
PMH: HTN, Diabetes, hx of GI bleed 4 years ago
Medications: Lisinopril 10mg, Amlodipine 5 mg, Metformin 1000mg, Lantus 10 units qhs
Allergies: NKDA
FH: No hx of colon cancer, Father hx DMT2, HTN, Mother hx HTN, Hyperlipidemia, GERD
Social: Denies tobacco use; occasional etoh, married, 3 children (1 girl, 2 boys)
OBJECTIVE:
VS: Temp 99.8; BP 160/86; RR 16; P 92; HT 5’10”; WT 248lbs
Heart: RRR, no murmurs
Lungs: CTA, chest wall symmetrical
Skin: Intact without lesions, no urticaria
Abd: soft, hyperctive bowel sounds, pos pain in the LLQ
Diagnostics: None
ASSESSMENT:
Left lower quadrant pain
Gastroenteritis
PLAN: This section is not required for the assignments in this course (NURS 6512) but will be required for future courses.
To prepare:
With regard to the SOAP note case study provided:
Review this week’s Learning Resources, and consider the insights they provide about the case study.
Consider what history would be necessary to collect from the patient in the case study.
Consider what physical exams and diagnostic tests would be appropriate to gather more information about the patient’s condition. How would the results be used to make a diagnosis?
Identify at least five possible conditions that may be considered in a differential diagnosis for the patient.
To complete:
Analyze the subjective portion of the note. List additional information that should be included in the documentation.
Analyze the objective portion of the note. List additional information that should be included in the documentation.
Is the assessment supported by the subjective and objective information? Why or Why not?
What diagnostic tests would be appropriate for this case and how would the results be used to make a diagnosis?
Would you reject/accept the current diagnosis? Why or why not? Identify three possible conditions that may be considered as a differential diagnosis for this patient. Explain your reasoning using at least 3 different references from current evidence based literature. NURS 6512 Week 4 Assignment 1- Differential Diagnosis for Skin Conditions