Assignment 11: Case Study Assignment: Assessing the Head Eyes Ears Nose and Throat

Assignment 1: Case Study Assignment: Assessing the Head, Eyes,

Ears, Nose, and Throat

 

 

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 an

d 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 coll

ected from the patients, what physical

exams and diagnostic tests should be conducted, and formulate a differential diagnosis with several

possible conditions.

 

 

To Prepare

 

 

 

·

 

Y

ou will be assigned to a specific case study for this Case

Study Assignment.

(See below the

case study)

 

·

 

Also, your Case Study Assignment should be in the Episodic/Focused SOAP Note format

rather than the traditional narrative style forma

t.

(see

 

exemplar

 

as a guide and t

he

template

 

to

use

)

 

·

 

Regarding

 

the case

study,

 

you were assigned:

 

·

 

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 diffe

rential diagnosis

for the patient.

 

 

CASE STUDY 2: Focused Thro

at Exam

 

 

Lily is a 20

–

year

–

old student at the local community college. When some of her friends and

classmates told her about an outbreak of flu

–

like symptoms sweeping her campus during the past 2

weeks, Lily figured she shouldn’t take her 3

–

day sore throat

 

lightly. Your clinic has treated a few cases

similar to Lily’s. All the patients reported decreased appetite, headaches, and pain with swallowing.

As Lily recounts these symptoms to you, you notice that she has a runny nose and a slight

hoarseness in her

voice but doesn’t sound congested.

 

 

 

The Assignment

 

 

1.

 

Use the Episodic/Focused SOAP Template and create an episodic/focused note about the

patient in the case study

.

 

2.

 

Provide evidence from the literature to support diagnostic tests that would be appropriate for

each case.

 

3.

 

List five different possible conditions for the patient’s differential diagnosis and justify why you

selected each.

 

Assignment 1: Case Study Assignment: Assessing the Head, Eyes,

Ears, Nose, and Throat

 

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

 

 You will be assigned to a specific case study for this Case Study Assignment. (See below the

case study)

 Also, your Case Study Assignment should be in the Episodic/Focused SOAP Note format

rather than the traditional narrative style format. (see exemplar as a guide and the template to

use)

 Regarding the case study, you were assigned:

 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.

 

CASE STUDY 2: Focused Throat Exam

 

Lily is a 20-year-old student at the local community college. When some of her friends and

classmates told her about an outbreak of flu-like symptoms sweeping her campus during the past 2

weeks, Lily figured she shouldn’t take her 3-day sore throat lightly. Your clinic has treated a few cases

similar to Lily’s. All the patients reported decreased appetite, headaches, and pain with swallowing.

As Lily recounts these symptoms to you, you notice that she has a runny nose and a slight

hoarseness in her voice but doesn’t sound congested.

 

 

The Assignment

 

1. Use the Episodic/Focused SOAP Template and create an episodic/focused note about the

patient in the case study.

2. Provide evidence from the literature to support diagnostic tests that would be appropriate for

each case.

3. List five different possible conditions for the patient’s differential diagnosis and justify why you

selected each.