NURS 6512 Week 6 discussion: Assessing the Heart, Lungs, and Peripheral Vascular System

Take a moment to observe your breathing. Notice the sensation of your chest expanding as air flows into your lungs. Feel your chest contract as you exhale. How might this experience be different for someone with chronic lung disease or someone experiencing an asthma attack?

In order to adequately assess the chest region of a patient, nurses need to be aware of a patient’s history, potential abnormal findings, and what physical exams and diagnostic tests should be conducted to determine the causes and severity of abnormalities.

In this Discussion, you will consider how a patient’s initial symptoms can result in very different diagnoses when further assessment is conducted.

Note: By Day 1 of this week, your Instructor will have assigned you to one of the video case studies in this week’s Learning Resources titled Advanced health assessment and diagnostic reasoning. Also, your Discussion post should be in the SOAP Note format, rather than the traditional narrative style Discussion posting format. Refer to Chapter 2 of the Sullivan text and the Comprehensive SOAP Template in the Week 4 Learning Resources for guidance. Remember that not all comprehensive SOAP data are included in every patient case. NURS 6512 – Advanced Health Assessment and Diagnostic Reasoning – Discussion Essay Papers.

To prepare:

With regard to the case study you were assigned:

Review this week’s Learning Resources and consider the insights they provide.

Consider what history would be necessary to collect from the patient.

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.

Note: Before you submit your initial post, replace the subject line (“Discussion – Week 6”) with “Review of Case Study” identifying the number of the case study you were assigned.

By Day 3

Post a description of the health history you would need to collect from the patient in the case study you were assigned. Explain what physical exams and diagnostic tests would be appropriate and how the results would be used to make a diagnosis. List five different possible conditions for the patient’s differential diagnosis, and justify why you selected each. NURS 6512 – Advanced Health Assessment and Diagnostic Reasoning – Discussion Essay Papers.

Read a selection of your colleagues’ responses.

By Day 6

Respond to at least two of your colleagues on two different days who were assigned different case studies than you. Analyze the possible conditions from your colleagues’ differential diagnoses. Determine which of the conditions you would reject and why. Identify the most likely condition, and justify your reasoning.