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Sample Answer for NURS 6512N Assignment: Assessing the Ears, Nose, and Throat Included After Question
Most ear, nose, and throat conditions that arise in non-critical care settings are minor in nature. However, subtle symptoms can sometimes escalate into life-threatening conditions that require prompt assessment and treatment.
Nurses conducting assessments of the ears, nose, and throat must be able to identify the small differences between life-threatening conditions and benign ones. For instance, if a patient with a sore throat and a runny nose also has inflamed lymph nodes, the inflammation is probably due to the pathogen causing the sore throat rather than a case of throat cancer. With this knowledge and a sufficient patient health history, a nurse would not need to escalate the assessment to a biopsy or an MRI of the lymph nodes but would probably perform a simple strep test.
In this Case Study Assignment, you consider case studies of abnormal findings from patients in a clinical setting. You determine what history should be collected from the patients, what physical exams and diagnostic tests should be conducted, and formulate a differential diagnosis with several possible conditions.
To Prepare
- By Day 1 of this week, you will be assigned to a specific case study for this Case Study Assignment. Please see the “Course Announcements” section of the classroom for your assignment from your Instructor.
- Also, your Case Study Assignment should be in the Episodic/Focused SOAP Note format rather than the traditional narrative style format. Refer to Chapter 2 of the Sullivan text and the Episodic/Focused SOAP Template in the Week 5 Learning Resources for guidance. Remember that all Episodic/Focused SOAP Notes have specific data included in every patient case.
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.
The Assignment
Use the Episodic/Focused SOAP Template and create an episodic/focused note about the patient in the case study to which you were assigned using the episodic/focused note template provided in the Week 5 resources. Provide evidence from the literature to support diagnostic tests that would be appropriate for each case. List five different possible conditions for the patient’s differential diagnosis and justify why you selected each.
By Day 6 of Week 5
Submit your Assignment.
Submission and Grading Information
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A Sample Answer For the Assignment: NURS 6512N Assignment: Assessing the Ears, Nose, and Throat
Title: NURS 6512N Assignment: Assessing the Ears, Nose, and Throat
Patient Information: Initials: Lily Age: 20 years Sex: Female Race- White
S.
CC (chief complaint): “Sore throat.”
HPI: Lily is a 20-year-old White female presenting with a chief complaint of a sore throat. She states that the sore throat started three days. She took the symptom seriously after she found out that there was a flu outbreak in their college two weeks ago. She is worried that her symptoms could be linked to the flu outbreak. Lily also states that she has a reduced appetite, headache, and pain when swallowing. Some of her classmates have been treated in the clinic after presenting with similar symptoms.
Current Medications: None
Allergies: None
PMHx: No history of chronic medical illnesses or surgeries. The last TT was 4 years ago; my Last Flu shot was 15 months ago.
Soc Hx: Lily is a student at a local community college pursuing a Diploma in Culinary Arts. She lives with her parents and has one older and younger brother. Her hobbies include baking and trying new recipes. She admits to taking alcohol on weekends and using recreational marijuana but denies smoking.
Fam Hx: No history of chronic illnesses in the family.
ROS:
GENERAL: Reports appetite disturbance. Negative for fever, weight changes, or increased fatigue.
HEENT: Head: Reports headache. Negative for head injury. Eyes: Negative for vision changes, excessive lacrimation, or eye pain. Ears: Denies ear pain, discharge, tinnitus, or hearing loss. Note: Reports runny nose. Negative for nasal congestion or sneezing. Throat: Reports sore throat, slight hoarseness, and pain when swallowing.
SKIN: Denies itchiness, rashes, or lesions.
CARDIOVASCULAR: Denies chest pain, edema, dyspnea on exertion, or palpitations.
RESPIRATORY: Negative for SOB, cough, wheezing, or sputum.
GASTROINTESTINAL: Negative for nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, diarrhea, or constipation.
GENITOURINARY: Negative for urinary or vaginal symptoms.
NEUROLOGICAL: Reports headache. Negative for dizziness, tingling sensations, or paralysis.
MUSCULOSKELETAL: Negative for muscle pain, joint pain, or stiffness.
HEMATOLOGIC: Negative for bruises or bleeding.
LYMPHATICS: Negative for lymph node swelling.
PSYCHIATRIC: Negative for anxiety, depression, or suicidal symptoms.
ENDOCRINOLOGIC: Negative for excessive perspiration, heat/cold intolerance, excessive hunger/thirst, or polyuria.
ALLERGIES: No history of eczema or hives.
Physical exam:
Vital Signs: BP- 122/76; HR- 84; Temp- 98.4; Resp- 16
GENERAL: Female patient in no acute distress. She is neat and appropriately dressed and maintains eye contact. The patient is alert and oriented.
HEENT: Head is symmetrical and normocpehalic. Eyes: White sclera, Pink conjunctiva, PERRLA. Ears: TMs are shiny and patent bilaterally. Nose: Runny nose. The mucous membranes appear glistening and glassy. Throat: Slight voice hoarseness; Pharynx appears normal, without ulceration, signs of inflammation, or exudates.
RESPIRATORY: Smooth and effortless respirations. The lungs are clear on auscultation bilaterally.
CARDIOVASCULAR: Regular heart rate and rhythm. S1 and S2 are present. S gallop and systolic murmurs are absent.
Diagnostic results: No diagnostic tests were ordered.
A.
Differential Diagnoses (list a minimum of 3 differential diagnoses).
- Common Cold/ Upper Respiratory tract infection (URI): Pappas (2018) explains that URI is an acute, self-limited upper airway viral infection that often involves the lower respiratory tract. The characteristic symptoms include rhinorrhea, nasal congestion, and sore or scratchy throat. Other clinical features include headache, cough, facial and ear pressure, loss of sense of smell and taste, and voice hoarseness (Jaume et al., 2020). The patient has a runny nose, sore throat, pain when swallowing, headache, and hoarseness making this a presumptive diagnosis.
- Vasomotor rhinitis: Clinical features include headache, rhinorrhea, nasal congestion, sneezing, postnasal drip, facial pressure, coughing, and throat clearing (Crisci & Ardusso, 2020; Agnihotri & McGrath, 2019). The patient has positive symptoms like rhinorrhea and headache, making this a differential diagnosis.
- Influenza: This is a highly contagious acute viral respiratory infection. Clinical manifestations of influenza include severe headache, sore throat, fever, chills, cough, rhinorrhea, red-watery eyes, muscle aches, severe fatigue, and general body weakness (Phetcharakupt et al., 2021). GI symptoms include nausea, vomiting, loss of appetite, abdominal pain, and diarrhea (Chow et al., 2019). The patient has positive symptoms of influenza, like headaches, sore throat, rhinorrhea, and suppressed appetite.
- Acute Sinusitis: Acute sinusitis is characterized by facial pain, frontal headache, nasal discharge, nasal blockage, persistent cough, maxillary dental pain, and hypersomnia (Patel & Hwang, 2018). It is a differential based on positive findings of rhinorrhea and headache.
- Tonsillitis: The clinical features include sore throat, fever, difficult and painful swallowing, foul breath, tender cervical lymph nodes, and swollen tonsils with purulent exudates (Pérez et al., 2020). The patient has a sore throat and painful swallowing consistent with Tonsillitis. However, she has no fever or inflamed Tonsillar glands ruling out Tonsillitis as the primary diagnosis.
This section is not required for the assignments in this course (NURS 6512) but will be required for future courses.
References
Agnihotri, N. T., & McGrath, K. G. (2019). Allergic and non-allergic rhinitis. Allergy and asthma proceedings, 40(6), 376–379. https://doi.org/10.2500/aap.2019.40.4251
Chow, E. J., Doyle, J. D., & Uyeki, T. M. (2019). Influenza virus-related critical illness: prevention, diagnosis, treatment. Critical care, 23(1), 1–11. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13054-019-2491-9
Crisci, C. D., &Ardusso, L. (2020). A Precision Medicine Approach to Rhinitis Evaluation and Management. Current treatment options in allergy, 7(1), 93–109. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40521-020-00243-1
Jaume, F., Valls-Mateus, M., &Mullol, J. (2020). Common Cold and Acute Rhinosinusitis: Up-to-Date Management in 2020. Current Allergy and asthma reports, 20(7), 28. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11882-020-00917-5
Pappas, D. E. (2018). The Common Cold. Principles and Practice of Pediatric Infectious Diseases, 199–202.e1. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-323-40181-4.00026-8
Patel, Z. M., & Hwang, P. H. (2018). Acute Bacterial Rhinosinusitis. Infections of the Ears, Nose, Throat, and Sinuses, 133–143. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-74835-1_11
Pérez, R. P., González, F. Á., Baquero-Artigao, F., Cañete, M. C., i Bru, J. D. L. F., Landaluce, A. F., … & Fernández, J. S. (2020). Diagnosis and treatment of acute tonsillopharyngitis. Consensus document update. Anales de Pediatría (English Edition), 93(3), 206-e1. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anpedi.2020.05.004
Phetcharakupt, V., Pasomsub, E., & Kiertiburanakul, S. (2021). Clinical manifestations of influenza and performance of rapid influenza diagnostic test: A university hospital setting. Health science reports, 4(4), e408. https://doi.org/10.1002/hsr2.408
Grading Rubric
Performance Category | 100% or highest level of performance
100% 16 points |
Very good or high level of performance
88% 14 points |
Acceptable level of performance
81% 13 points |
Inadequate demonstration of expectations
68% 11 points |
Deficient level of performance
56% 9 points
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Failing level
of performance 55% or less 0 points |
Total Points Possible= 50 | 16 Points | 14 Points | 13 Points | 11 Points | 9 Points | 0 Points |
Scholarliness
Demonstrates achievement of scholarly inquiry for professional and academic topics. |
Presentation of information was exceptional and included all of the following elements:
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Presentation of information was good, but was superficial in places and included all of the following elements:
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Presentation of information was minimally demonstrated in all of the following elements:
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Presentation of information is unsatisfactory in one of the following elements:
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Presentation of information is unsatisfactory in two of the following elements:
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Presentation of information is unsatisfactory in three or more of the following elements
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16 Points | 14 Points | 13 Points | 11 Points | 9 Points | 0 Points | |
Application of Course Knowledge
Demonstrate the ability to analyze and apply principles, knowledge and information learned in the outside readings and relate them to real-life professional situations |
Presentation of information was exceptional and included all of the following elements:
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Presentation of information was good, but was superficial in places and included all of the following elements:
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Presentation of information was minimally demonstrated in the all of the following elements:
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Presentation of information is unsatisfactory in one of the following elements:
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Presentation of information is unsatisfactory in two of the following elements:
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Presentation of information is unsatisfactory in three of the following elements
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10 Points | 9 Points | 6 Points | 0 Points | |||
Interactive Dialogue
Initial post should be a minimum of 300 words (references do not count toward word count) The peer and instructor responses must be a minimum of 150 words each (references do not count toward word count) Responses are substantive and relate to the topic. |
Demonstrated all of the following:
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Demonstrated 3 of the following:
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Demonstrated 2 of the following:
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Demonstrated 1 or less of the following:
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8 Points | 7 Points | 6 Points | 5 Points | 4 Points | 0 Points | |
Grammar, Syntax, APA
Points deducted for improper grammar, syntax and APA style of writing. The source of information is the APA Manual 6th Edition Error is defined to be a unique APA error. Same type of error is only counted as one error. |
The following was present:
AND
AND
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The following was present:
AND/OR
AND/OR
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The following was present:
AND/OR
AND/OR
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The following was present:
AND/OR
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The following was present:
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The following was present:
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0 Points Deducted | 5 Points Lost | |||||
Participation
Requirements |
Demonstrated the following:
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Failed to demonstrate the following:
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0 Points Lost | 5 Points Lost | |||||
Due Date Requirements | Demonstrated all of the following:
A minimum of one peer and one instructor responses are to be posted within the course no later than Sunday, 11:59 pm MT. |
Demonstrates one or less of the following.
A minimum of one peer and one instructor responses are to be posted within the course no later than Sunday, 11:59 pm MT. |