NURS 6512 Assignment 1: Digital Clinical Experience: Assessing the Heart, Lungs, and Peripheral Vascular System
NURS 6512 Assignment 1: Digital Clinical Experience: Assessing the Heart, Lungs, and Peripheral Vascular System
Week 7: Assessment of the Heart, Lungs, and Peripheral Vascular System
Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the largest cause of death worldwide. Accounting for 610,000 deaths annually (CDC, 2017), CVD frequently goes unnoticed until it is too late. Early detection and prevention measures can save the lives of many patients who have CVD. Conducting an assessment of the heart, lungs, and peripheral vascular system is one of the first steps that can be taken to detect CVD and many more conditions that may occur in the thorax or chest area.
This week, you will evaluate abnormal findings in the area of the chest and lungs. In addition, you will appraise health assessment techniques and diagnoses for the heart, lungs, and peripheral vascular system.
Learning Objectives
Students will:
- Evaluate abnormal cardiac and respiratory findings
- Apply concepts, theories, and principles relating to health assessment techniques and diagnoses for the heart, lungs, and peripheral vascular system
- Evaluate chest X-Ray and ECG imaging
Learning Resources
Required Readings (click to expand/reduce)
Ball, J. W., Dains, J. E., Flynn, J. A., Solomon, B. S., & Stewart, R. W. (2019). Seidel’s guide to physical examination: An interprofessional approach (9th ed.). St. Louis, MO: Elsevier Mosby.
- Chapter 14, “Chest and Lungs”This chapter explains the physical exam process for the chest and lungs. The authors also include descriptions of common abnormalities in the chest and lungs.
- Chapter 15, “Heart”The authors of this chapter explain the structure and function of the heart. The text also describes the steps used to conduct an exam of the heart.
- Chapter 16, “Blood Vessels”This chapter describes how to properly conduct a physical examination of the blood vessels. The chapter also supplies descriptions of common heart disorders.
Colyar, M. R. (2015). Advanced practice nursing procedures. Philadelphia, PA: F. A. Davis.
- Chapter 107, “X-Ray Interpretation: Chest (pp. 480–487) (specifically focus on pp. 480–481)
Chapter 107, “X-Ray Interpretation: Chest (pp. 480–487)
Dains, J. E., Baumann, L. C., & Scheibel, P. (2019). Advanced health assessment and clinical diagnosis in primary care (6th ed.). St. Louis, MO: Elsevier Mosby.
Credit Line: Advanced Health Assessment and Clinical Diagnosis in Primary Care, 6th Edition by Dains, J.E., Baumann, L. C., & Scheibel, P. Copyright 2019 by Mosby. Reprinted by permission of Mosby via the Copyright Clearance Center.
Note: Download the Student Checklists and Key Points to use during your practice cardiac and respiratory examination.
Shadow Health Support and Orientation Resources
Use the following resources to guide you through your Shadow Health orientation as well as other support resources:
Document: DCE (Shadow Health) Documentation Template for Focused Exam: Chest Pain (Word document)
Use this template to complete your Assignment 1 for this week.
Optional Resource
LeBlond, R. F., Brown, D. D., & DeGowin, R. L. (2020). DeGowin’s diagnostic examination (11th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw Hill Medical.
- Chapter 8, “The Chest: Chest Wall, Pulmonary, and Cardiovascular Systems; The Breasts” (Section 1, “Chest Wall, Pulmonary, and Cardiovascular Systems,” pp. 263-377)Note:Section 2 of this chapter will be addressed in Week 10.This section of Chapter 8 describes the anatomy of the chest wall, pulmonary, and cardiovascular systems. Section 1 also explains how to properly conduct examinations of these areas.
Required Media (click to expand/reduce)
Advanced Health Assessment and Diagnostic Reasoning
Thoughtful, reasoned questioning leads from initial complaint to diagnosis in these three scenarios.
Note: Close the viewing window after the intro segment and after each diagnosis segment to view the menu. (12m)
Photo Credit:Provided courtesy of the Laureate International Network of Universities.
Assessment of the Heart, Lungs, and Peripheral Vascular System – Week 7 (28m)
Online media for Seidel’s Guide to Physical Examination
In addition to this week’s media, it is highly recommended that you access and view the resources included with the course text, Seidel’s Guide to Physical Examination. Focus on the videos and animations in Chapters 13 and 14 that relate to the assessment of the chest, heart, and lungs. Refer to Week 4 for access instructions on https://evolve.elsevier.com/
Assignment 1: Digital Clinical Experience: Assessing the Heart, Lungs, and Peripheral Vascular System
Photo Credit: [Squaredpixels]/[E+]/Getty Images
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 DCE Assignment, you will conduct a focused exam related to chest pain using the simulation too, Shadow Health. Consider how a patient’s initial symptoms can result in very different diagnoses when further assessment is conducted.
To Prepare
- Review this week’s Learning Resources and the Advanced Health Assessment and Diagnostic Reasoning media program and consider the insights they provide related to heart, lungs, and peripheral vascular system.
- Review the Shadow Health Resources provided in this week’s Learning Resources specifically the tutorial to guide you through the documentation and interpretation with the Shadow Health platform. Review the examples also provided.
- Review the DCE (Shadow Health) Documentation Template for Focused Exam: Chest Pain found in this week’s Learning Resources and use this template to complete your Documentation Notes for this DCE Assignment.
- Access and login to Shadow Health using the link in the left-hand navigation of the Blackboard classroom.
- Review the Week 7 DCE Focused Exam: Chest Pain Rubric provided in the Assignment submission area for details on completing the Assignment in Shadow Health.
- 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?
DCE Focused Exam: Chest Pain Assignment:
Complete the following in Shadow Health:
- Cardiovascular Concept Lab (Required)
- Respiratory(Recommended but not required)
- Cardiovascular (Recommended but not required)
- Episodic/Focused Note for Focused Exam (Required): Chest Pain
Note: Each Shadow Health Assessment may be attempted and reopened as many times as necessary prior to the due date to achieve a total of 80% or better (this includes your DCE and your Documentation Notes), but you must take all attempts by the Week 7 Day 7 deadline.
Submission and Grading Information
By Day 7 of Week 7
- Complete your Focused Exam: Chest Pain DCE Assignment in Shadow Health via the Shadow Health link in Blackboard.
- Once you complete your Assignment in Shadow Health, you will need to download your lab pass and upload it to the corresponding Assignment in Blackboard for your faculty review.
- (Note: Please save your lab pass as “LastName_FirstName_AssignmentName”.) You can find instructions for downloading your lab pass here: https://link.shadowhealth.com/download-lab-pass
- Review the Week 7 DCE Health History Assessment Rubric, provided in the Assignment submission area, for details on completing the Assignment.
- Complete your documentation using the documentation template in your resources and submit it into your Assignment submission link below.
- From the Plagiarism Tools area, click the checkbox for I agree to submit my paper(s) to the Global Reference Database
- Complete the Code of Conduct Acknowledgement.
Grading Criteria
To access your rubric:
Week 7 Assignment 1 DCE Rubric
Submit Your Assignment by Day 7 of Week 7
To submit your Lab Pass:
Week 7 Lab Pass
To participate in this Assignment:
Week 7 Documentation Notes for Assignment 1
To Submit your Student Acknowledgement:
Click here and follow the instructions to confirm you have complied with Walden University’s Code of Conduct including the expectations for academic integrity while completing the Shadow Health Assessment.
Assignment 2: Lab Assignment (Optional): Practice Assessment: Cardiac and Respiratory Examination
It is crucial to diagnose cardiac and respiratory conditions early due to the critical nature of these organs. Before a condition can be diagnosed, an examination must be conducted. Properly conducting a cardiac and respiratory examination requires detailed knowledge of the examination procedure and experience in performing this assessment.
In preparation for the Comprehensive (Head-to-Toe) Physical Assessment due in Week 9, it is recommended that you practice performing a cardiac and respiratory examination this week.
Note: This is an optional practice physical assessment.
To Prepare
- Arrange an appropriate time and setting with your volunteer “patient” to perform a cardiac and respiratory examination.
- Download and review the Cardiac and Respiratory Checklists provided in this week’s Learning Resources as well as review the Seidel’s Guide to Physical Examination online media.
- Ensure that you have a stethoscope to perform the examination.
Optional Lab Assignment
- Perform the cardiac and respiratory examination. Be sure to cover all of the areas listed in the checklist and to use the equipment appropriately.
What’s Coming Up in Week 8?
Photo Credit: [BrianAJackson]/[iStock / Getty Images Plus]/Getty Images
Next week, you will explore how to accurately assess the musculoskeletal system.
Week 8 Required Media
Photo Credit: [fergregory]/[iStock / Getty Images Plus]/Getty Images
Next week, you will need to view several videos and animations in the Seidel’s Guide to Physical Examination prior to completing your Discussion. There are several videos of various lengths. Please plan ahead to ensure you have time to view these media programs to complete your Discussion on time.
Next Week
Rubric Detail
Select Grid View or List View to change the rubric’s layout.
Content
Name: NURS_6512_Week_7_DCE_Assignment_1_Rubric
Description: To complete the Shadow Health assignments, it is helpful to use the text and follow along with each chapter correlating to the area of assessment to assist in covering all the subjective questions and the physical assessment areas. Review the Advanced Health Assessment Nursing Documentation Tutorial located in the Weeks 1 and 4 Resources, the model documentation in Shadow Health, as well as sample documentation in the text to assist with narrative documentation of the assessments. Shadow Health exams may be added to or repeated as many times as necessary prior to the due date to assist in achieving the desired score.
Excellent | Good | Fair | Poor | ||
Student DCE score
(DCE percentages will be calculated automatically by Shadow Health after the assignment is completed.) Note: DCE Score – Do not round up on the DCE score. |
Points Range: 56 (56%) – 60 (60%)
DCE score>93 |
Points Range: 51 (51%) – 55 (55%)
DCE Score 86-92 |
Points Range: 46 (46%) – 50 (50%)
DCE Score 80-85 |
Points Range: 0 (0%) – 45 (45%)
DCE Score <79 No DCE completed. |
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Subjective Documentation in Provider Notes
Subjective narrative documentation in Provider Notes is detailed and organized and includes: Chief Complaint (CC), HPI, Current Medications, Allergies, Past Medical History, Family History, Social History and Review of Systems (ROS) ROS: covers all body systems that may help you formulate a list of differential diagnoses. You should list each system as follows: You should list these in bullet format and document the systems in order from head to toe. |
Points Range: 16 (16%) – 20 (20%)
Documentation is detailed and organized with all pertinent information noted in professional language. Documentation includes all pertinent documentation to include Chief Complaint (CC), HPI, Current Medications, Allergies, Past Medical History, Family History, Social History and Review of Systems (ROS). |
Points Range: 11 (11%) – 15 (15%)
Documentation with sufficient details, some organization and some pertinent information noted in professional language. Documentation provides some of the Chief Complaint (CC), HPI, Current Medications, Allergies, Past Medical History, Family History, Social History and Review of Systems (ROS). |
Points Range: 6 (6%) – 10 (10%)
Documentation with inadequate details and/or organization; and inadequate pertinent information noted in professional language. Limited or/minimum documentation provided to analyze students critical thinking abilities for the Chief Complaint (CC), HPI, Current Medications, Allergies, Past Medical History, Family History, Social History and Review of Systems (ROS). |
Points Range: 0 (0%) – 5 (5%)
Documentation lacks any details and/or organization; and does not provide pertinent information noted in professional language. No information is provided for the Chief Complaint (CC), HPI, Current Medications, Allergies, Past Medical History, Family History, Social History and Review of Systems (ROS). or No documentation provided. |
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Objective Documentation in Provider Notes – this is to be completed in Shadow Health
Physical exam: Document in a systematic order starting from head-to-toe, include what you see, hear, and feel when doing your physical exam using medical terminology/jargon. Document all normal and abnormal exam findings. Do not use “WNL” or “normal”. You only need to examine the systems that are pertinent to the CC, HPI, and History. Diagnostic result – Include any pertinent labs, x-rays, or diagnostic test that would be appropriate to support the differential diagnoses mentioned Differential Diagnoses (list a minimum of 3 differential diagnoses). Your primary or presumptive diagnosis should be at the top of the list (#1). |
Points Range: 16 (16%) – 20 (20%)
Documentation detailed and organized with all abnormal and pertinent normal assessment information described in professional language. Each system assessed is clearly documented with measurable details of the exam. |
Points Range: 11 (11%) – 15 (15%)
Documentation with sufficient details and some organization; some abnormal and some normal assessment information described in mostly professional language. Each system assessed is somewhat clearly documented with measurable details of the exam. |
Points Range: 6 (6%) – 10 (10%)
Documentation with inadequate details and/or organization; inadequate identification of abnormal and pertinent normal assessment information described; inadequate use of professional language. Each system assessed is minimally or is not clearly documented with measurable details of the exam. |
Points Range: 0 (0%) – 5 (5%)
Documentation with no details and/or organization; no identification of abnormal and pertinent normal assessment information described; no use of professional language. None of the systems are assessed, no documentation of details of the exam. or No documentation provided. |
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Total Points: 100 | |||||
Name: NURS_6512_Week_7_DCE_Assignment_1_Rubric

NURS 6512 Assignment 1 Digital Clinical Experience Assessing the Heart, Lungs, and Peripheral Vascular System
Description: To complete the Shadow Health assignments, it is helpful to use the text and follow along with each chapter correlating to the area of assessment to assist in covering all the subjective questions and the physical assessment areas. Review the Advanced Health Assessment Nursing Documentation Tutorial located in the Weeks 1 and 4 Resources, the model documentation in Shadow Health, as well as sample documentation in the text to assist with narrative documentation of the assessments. Shadow Health exams may be added to or repeated as many times as necessary prior to the due date to assist in achieving the desired score.
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
|
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
AND/OR
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The following was present:
AND/OR
AND/OR
AND/OR
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The following was present:
AND/OR
AND/OR
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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. |
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