NURS 6540 Course Work Assignments

Week 4 assignment 1: Practicum – Week 3 SOAP Note

In addition to journal entries, SOAP Note submissions are a way to reflect on your practicum experiences and connect these experiences to your classroom experience. SOAP Notes, such as the ones required in this course, are often used in clinical settings to document patient care. Refer to this week’s Learning Resources for guidance on writing SOAP Notes.

Select a geriatric patient that you examined during the last 3 weeks. The patient you select should be currently taking at least five prescription and/or over-the-counter drugs. With this patient in mind, address the following in a SOAP Note:

Subjective: What was the patient’s subjective complaint? What details did the patient provide regarding his or her personal and medical history? Include a list of prescription and over-the-counter drugs the patient is currently taking. Compare this list with the Beers Criteria and consider alternative drugs if appropriate.

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Objective: What observations did you make during the physical assessment? What functional assessments were used?

Assessment: What were your differential diagnoses? Provide a minimum of three possible diagnoses. List them from top priority to least priority.

Plan: What was your plan for diagnostics and primary diagnosis? What was your plan for treatment and management including alternative therapies? What is your care plan for the patient? How would you offer caregiver support?

Reflection notes: What would you do differently in a similar patient evaluation? How might you improve your assessment, diagnosis, and/or plan through interprofessional collaboration?

Refer to this week’s Learning Resources for guidance on writing SOAP Notes.

By Day 7 of Week 4

This Assignment is due. You will submit this Week 3 SOAP Note along with your Journal Entries (from Weeks 1, 2, and 4) by Day 7 of Week 4. NURS 6540 Course Work Assignments

Week 4 assignment 2: Practicum – Week 1 Journal Entry

As a future advanced practice nurse, it is important that you are able to connect your classroom experience to your practicum experience. By applying the concepts you study in the classroom to clinical settings, you enhance your professional competency. Each week, you complete an Assignment such as a Journal Entry or SOAP Note that prompts you to reflect on your practicum experiences and relate them to the material presented in the classroom. This week, you begin documenting your practicum experiences in your Practicum Journal. Please use the Practicum Journal Template, located in this week’s Learning Resources.

To prepare for this course’s Practicum Experience, address the following in your practicum journal:

Select an aging theory to guide your practice.

Develop goals and objectives for the Practicum Experience in this course. Be sure to consider geriatric competencies.

Create a timeline of practicum activities based on your practicum requirements.

By Day 7 of Week 4

This Assignment is due. You will submit this Week 1 Journal Entry along with the Week 2 and Week 3 Journal Entries and Week 3 SOAP Note by day 7 of Week 4.

Assignment: Practicum – Week 2 Journal Entry

To prepare for this course’s Practicum Experience, reflect on implications of age-related changes in geriatric patients. Explain how you might differentiate between normal behaviors/disorders due to aging and abnormal behavior/disorders that are not age related. Include how functional assessments might help distinguish “normal” from “abnormal.”

By Day 7 of Week 4

This Assignment is due. You will submit this Week 2 Journal Entry, the Week 1 and Week 4 Journal Entries, and the Week 3 SOAP Note by Day 7 of Week 4.

Assignment: Practicum – Week 4 Journal Entry

Reflect on medication adherence issues you have encountered with geriatric patients in your practicum setting. Explain implications of these issues on patient health, as well as strategies to improve medication adherence for geriatric patients. If you did not have an opportunity to evaluate a patient with this background during the last 4 weeks, you can select a related case study or reflect on previous clinical experiences.

By Day 7 of Week 4

This Assignment is due. Please submit the Journal Entries (Weeks 1, 2, and 4), and the Week 3 SOAP Note by Day 7 of Week 4 (this week).

Note: Be sure to submit your Assignment to the appropriate submission link below.

Submissions should match the following:

Week 3 SOAP Note: Submit to the Week 4 Assignment – Part 1 submission link.

Weeks 1, 2, & 4 Journal Entry: Submit to the Week 4 Assignment – Part 2 submission link.

For the Journal Entries—which are assessed with a Satisfactory (S) or Unsatisfactory (U) score—the numerical grade will show as 0 points and the “S” or “U” will be posted in the Feedback area by your Instructor. These scores of 0 points do not affect your grade; they simply allow for a placeholder to place the “S” or “U” scoring. This concept also applies to Weeks 7 and 10.

Submission and Grading Information

To submit your completed Assignment for review and grading, do the following:

Please save your Assignment using the following naming convention: WK4AssgnPX+lastname+first initial.

Click the Assignment Week 4 – Part X link.

Next, from the Attach File area, click on the Browse My Computer button. Find the document you saved as “WK4AssgnPX+last name+first initial.(extension)” and click Open. If you are submitting multiple files, repeat until all files are attached.

Click on the Submit button to complete your submission. NURS 6540 Course Work Assignments

Week 6 Assignment 1: Application – PICO Analysis of Dementia, Delirium, and Depression

A PICO analysis is used to pose a focused clinical question to which you find appropriate evidence-based answers. The PICO question should include the patient or population (P), anticipated intervention (I), comparison group or current standard (C), and outcome desired (O). In this Assignment, you develop a question related to dementia, delirium, or depression. Through your PICO analysis, you explore various resources and examine current evidence to answer the question you develop.

To prepare:

Select one of the following disorders as your topic: dementia, delirium, or depression.

Review the guidelines in the “Literature Review Matrix” document in this week’s Learning Resources.

Think about a research question around your issue as indicated in Part I: PICO Analysis of Research Topic.

Consider the resources you will use, search terms and criteria, and Boolean search strings as indicated in Part II: Search Strategy.

Using the Walden Library and other appropriate databases, locate five articles related to your PICO question. At least one article must be a systematic review. All of the articles should be primary sources.

Reflect on the five articles you selected as indicated in Part III: Analysis of Literature. Consider the conceptual framework/theory, main finding, research method, strengths of study, weaknesses, and level of evidence for each article.

Consider how to use the summaries in Part III to create an evidence table. Use this evidence table to determine appropriate treatment options for patients who present with the disorder you selected as your topic.

To complete:

Formulate a question around the disorder you selected as indicated in Part I: PICO Analysis of Research Topic.

Identify the resources you will use, search terms and criteria, and Boolean search strings as indicated in Part II: Search Strategy.

Summarize the five articles you selected as indicated in Part III: Analysis of Literature. Describe the conceptual framework/theory, main finding, research method, strengths of study, weaknesses, and level of evidence for each article.

Create an evidence table based on the article summaries in Part III. Describe appropriate treatment options for patients based on this evidence table.

By Day 7 of Week 6

This Assignment is due.

Submission and Grading Information

To submit your completed Assignment for review and grading, do the following:

Please save your Assignment using the following naming convention: “WK6Assgn1+lastname+first initial”.

Click the Week 6 Assignment 1 link.

Next, from the Attach File area, click on the Browse My Computer button. Find the document you saved as “WK6Assgn1+last name+first initial.(extension)” and click Open. If you are submitting multiple files, repeat until all files are attached.

Click on the Submit button to complete your submission. NURS 6540 Course Work Assignments

Week 7 Assignment 1: Practicum – Week 7 SOAP Note

Select a geriatric patient that you examined during the last 4 weeks. The patient you select should be currently taking at least five prescription and/or over-the-counter drugs. With this patient in mind, address the following in a SOAP Note:

Subjective: What was the patient’s subjective complaint? What details did the patient provide regarding his or her personal and medical history? Include a list of prescription and over-the-counter drugs the patient is currently taking. Compare this list to the Beers Criteria and consider alternative drugs if appropriate.

Objective: What observations did you make during the physical assessment? What functional assessments were used?

Assessment: What were your differential diagnoses? Provide a minimum of three possible diagnoses. List them from top priority to least priority.

Reflection notes: What would you do differently in a similar patient evaluation? How might you improve your assessment, diagnosis, and/or plan through interprofessional collaboration?

Refer to the Week 3 Learning Resources for guidance on writing SOAP Notes.

By Day 7 of Week 7

This Assignment is due. You will submit this Week 7 SOAP Note along with your Journal Entries (from Weeks 5 and 6) by Day 7 of Week 7 (this week).

Note: Be sure to submit your Assignment to the appropriate submission link below.

Submissions should match the following:

Week 7 SOAP Note: Submit to the Week 7 Assignment – Part 1 submission link.

Weeks 5 and 6 Journal Entry: Submit to the Week 7 Assignment – Part 2 submission link.

Submission and Grading Information

To submit your completed Assignment for review and grading, do the following:

Please save your Assignment using the following naming convention: WK7AssgnPX+lastname+first initial.

Click the Assignment Week 7 – Part X link.

Next, from the Attach File area, click on the Browse My Computer button. Find the document you saved as “WK7AssgnPX+last name+first initial.(extension)” and click Open. If you are submitting multiple files, repeat until all files are attached.

Click on the Submit button to complete your submission.

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NURS 6540 Course Work Assignments – Week 7 Assignment 2: Practicum – Week 5 Journal Entry

Reflect on atypical presentations of disorders in geriatric patients in your practicum setting. Many disorders manifest themselves in a way that would be considered an atypical presentation—most likely different from the way a textbook would describe the disorder’s possible presentations. Consider geriatric patients that you have observed with atypical presentations of disorders. Describe a patient case including how the patient was diagnosed and strategies that were used to overcome the atypical presentation. If you did not have an opportunity to evaluate a patient with this background during the last 5 weeks, you can select a related case study or reflect on previous clinical experiences.

By Day 7 of Week 7

This Assignment is due. You will submit this Week 5 Journal Entry along with the Week 6 and the Week 7 SOAP Note by Day 7 of Week 7.

Assignment 2: Practicum – Week 6 Journal Entry

Reflect on geriatric patients from your practicum site that you may have assessed for dementia, delirium, or depression. Explain the impact of these types of disorders on frail elders. Then, describe a patient case including the care plan for assessment, diagnoses, treatment, management, and patient education. Explain whether the patient’s care plan was effective. Include how you might proceed differently in the future. If you did not have an opportunity to evaluate a patient with this background during the last 6 weeks, you can select a related case study or reflect on previous clinical experiences.

By Day 7 of Week 7

This Assignment is due. You will submit this Week 6 Journal Entry along with the Week 5 Journal Entry and the Week 7 SOAP Note by Day 7 of Week 7. NURS 6540 Course Work Assignments

Week 8 Assignment 1: Application – Diagnosing and Treating Skin Wounds

Skin wounds are sometimes challenging for health care providers to diagnose and treat as many have similar presentations. For advanced practice nurses, being able to identify various types of skin wounds, including whether a wound is a colonization or an infection, is critical because it impacts recommended patient care. In your role, you must be able to evaluate skin wounds, determine the diagnosis, and develop an appropriate treatment and management plan according to current evidence-based guidelines.

To prepare:

Review Chapter 46 of the Resnick text, as well as the Burr article in this week’s Learning Resources.

Consider how to properly diagnose skin wounds in frail elders, including how to distinguish between a colonization and infection.

Select a type of skin wound, such as bumps, bruises, shingles, herpes, bullous pemphigoid, Stevens-Johnson syndrome, etc. Research the guidelines for treatment of the skin wound you selected. Reflect on how you would treat and/or dress this wound.

Think about factors that might contribute to the development of the skin wound you selected. Consider strategies for the prevention and improvement of this type of wound.

To complete:

Write a 2- to 3-page paper that addresses the following:

Explain how to properly diagnose skin wounds in frail elders, including how to distinguish between a colonization and infection.

Describe the type of skin wound you selected.

Explain how you would treat and/or dress this wound based on guidelines for treatment.

Explain factors that might contribute to the development of the skin wound you selected. Include strategies for the prevention and improvement of this type of wound.

By Day 7

This Assignment is due.

Note: The School of Nursing requires that all papers submitted include a title page, introduction, summary, and references. The Sample Paper provided at the Walden Writing Center provides an example of those required elements (available at http://academicguides.waldenu.edu/writingcenter/templates). All papers submitted must use this formatting.

Submission and Grading Information

To submit your completed Assignment for review and grading, do the following:

Please save your Assignment using the following naming convention: “WK8Assgn1+lastname+first initial”.

Click the Week 8 Assignment 1 link.

Next, from the Attach File area, click on the Browse My Computer button. Find the document you saved as “WK8Assgn1+last name+first initial.(extension)” and click Open. If you are submitting multiple files, repeat until all files are attached.

Click on the Submit button to complete your submission. NURS 6540 Course Work Assignments

Week 10 Assignment 2: Practicum – Week 8 Journal Entry

Reflect on geriatric patients from your practicum site. Consider frail elder patients that you have assessed for skin wounds such as bumps, bruises, shingles, herpes, bullous pemphigoid, Stevens-Johnson syndrome, etc. Explain the consequences of these types of wounds for frail elders. Then, describe a patient case including the care plan for assessment, diagnoses, treatment, management, and patient education. Explain whether the patient’s care plan was effective. Include how you might proceed differently in the future. If you did not have an opportunity to evaluate a patient with this background during the last 8 weeks, you can select a related case study or reflect on previous clinical experiences.

By Day 7 of Week 10

This Assignment is due. Please submit the Journal Entries (Weeks 8, 9 and 10) by Day 7 of Week 10.

Assignment: Practicum – Week 9 Journal Entry

An advance directive is a legal document that defines a patient’s wishes for medical care. This document is a way for patients to share their wishes with family members and health care providers when their illness or mental capacity prevents them from making decisions. As an advanced practice nurse who has care discussions with patients and their families, you need to not only be familiar with the process of completing an advance directive, but also understand how this document might impact your role in patient care and treatment.

Journal Entry Part 1

For the first part of your journal entry, reflect on the Five Wishes presented on the Five Wishes website and PDF and complete your Five Wishes. Explain your state’s requirements for advance directives, including whether your Five Wishes can be turned into a formal document. Then, explain how your experience of completing your Five Wishes advance directive will help you guide discussions with patients and their families. Finally, explain how you might apply the Five Wishes advance directives to your nursing practice. Include how this advance directive might benefit patients in decision making for specialized areas of care.

Journal Entry Part 2

For the second part of your journal entry, reflect on geriatric patients from your practicum site with disorders related to specialized areas of care, such as oncology, nephrology, urology, gynecology, and neurology. Describe a case of a frail elder patient who must make decisions related to specialized areas of care. Then, explain potential patient outcomes and include whether treatments would be beneficial and how they would impact the patient’s quality of life. Finally, describe the patient’s wishes in terms of treatments and interventions for the disorder (Was there an advanced directive?) and how the patient might want to spend any remaining time. Include how environmental factors, such as family, caregivers, ethnicity, culture, religion, and/or personal values, might impact decision making for treatments and interventions. If you did not have an opportunity to evaluate a patient with this background during the last 9 weeks, you can select a related case study or reflect on previous clinical experiences.

By Day 7 of Week 10

This Assignment is due. You will submit this Week 9 Journal Entry, Week 8 Journal Entry and the Week 10 Journal Entry by Day 7 of Week 10. NURS 6540 Course Work Assignments

Assignment: Practicum – Week 10 Journal Entry

Elder abuse is any intentional or negligent behavior that results in physical, sexual, emotional, pharmacological, and/or financial abuse. Unfortunately, abuse is sometimes difficult to identify, and elders are often hesitant or unable to report abuse themselves (Administration on Aging, n.d.). This makes it important for health care providers to regularly monitor for signs of abuse and react according to local and state laws.

Journal Entry Part 1

For the first part of your journal entry, select and describe one of the following types of elder abuse: physical, sexual, mental/emotional/verbal, pharmacological, or financial. Explain strategies for identifying this abuse. Then, explain how you would proceed based on your local and state laws once you have identified this abuse in a patient. Describe resources in your community that assist victims of this type of abuse and explain how you, as the advanced practice nurse, might apply these resources for abused elders who are identified in the clinical setting.

Journal Entry Part 2

For the second part of your journal entry, reflect on the different cultures—ethnic, religious, regional, or generational—of the elder patient population at your practicum site. Describe the cultures you have observed and explain the influence of these cultures on the prevalence and detection of elder abuse. Then, explain how culture might impact the way you would implement resources for preventing or addressing abuse.

By Day 7 of Week 10

This Assignment is due. You will submit this Week 10 Journal Entry, Week 8 Journal Entry and the Week 9 Journal Entry by Day 7 of Week 10.

For the Journal Entries —which are assessed with a Satisfactory (S) or Unsatisfactory (U) score—the numerical grade will show as 0 points and the “S” or “U” will be posted in the Feedback area by your Instructor. These scores of 0 points do not affect your grade; they simply allow for a placeholder to place the “S” or “U” scoring. This concept also applies to Weeks 4 and 7.

Submission and Grading Information

To submit your completed Assignment for review and grading, do the following:

Please save your Assignment using the following naming convention: WK10Assgn+lastname+first initial.

Click the Assignment Week 10 link.

Next, from the Attach File area, click on the Browse My Computer button. Find the document you saved as “WK10Assgn+last name+first initial.(extension)” and click Open. If you are submitting multiple files, repeat until all files are attached.

Click on the Submit button to complete your submission. NURS 6540 Course Work Assignments

Week 11 Assignment: Practicum – Week 11 SOAP Note

Subjective: What was the patient’s subjective complaint? What details did the patient provide regarding his or her personal and medical history? Include a list of prescription and over-the-counter drugs the patient is currently taking. Compare this list to the Beers Criteria and consider alternative drugs if appropriate.

Objective: What observations did you make during the physical assessment? What functional assessments were used?

Assessment: What were your differential diagnoses? Provide a minimum of three possible diagnoses. List them from top priority to least priority.

Plan: What was your plan for diagnostics and primary diagnosis? What was your plan for treatment and management including alternative therapies? What is your care plan for patient? How would you offer caregiver support?

Reflection notes: What would you do differently in a similar patient evaluation? How might you improve your assessment, diagnosis, and/or plan through interprofessional collaboration?

Please refer to the Learning Resources in Week 3 for guidance on writing SOAP Notes.

By Day 7 of Week 11

This Assignment is due.

Submission and Grading Information

To submit your completed Assignment for review and grading, do the following:

Please save your Assignment using the following naming convention: “WK11AssgnPX+lastname+first initial”.

Click the Week 11 Assignment – Part X link.

Next, from the Attach File area, click on the Browse My Computer button. Find the document you saved as “WK11AssgnPX+last name+first initial.(extension)” and click Open. If you are submitting multiple files, repeat until all files are attached.

Click on the Submit button to complete your submission. NURS 6540 Course Work Assignments.