Description
The body is constantly sending signals about its health. One of the most easily recognized signals is pain. Musculoskeletal conditions comprise one of the leading causes of severe long-term pain in patients. The musculoskeletal system is an elaborate system of interconnected levers that provides the body with support and mobility. Because of the interconnectedness of the musculoskeletal system, identifying the causes of pain can be challenging. Accurately interpreting the cause of musculoskeletal pain requires an assessment process informed by patient history and physical exams.
In this Discussion, you will consider case studies that describe abnormal findings in patients seen in a clinical setting.
RESOURCES
Be sure to review the Learning Resources before completing this activity.
To prepare:
By Day 1 of this week, you will be assigned to one of the following specific case studies for this Discussion. Please see the “Course Announcements” section of the classroom for your assignment from your Instructor.
Your Discussion post should be in the Episodic/Focused SOAP Note format rather than the traditional narrative style Discussion posting 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.
Please POST a SOAP Episodic/FOCUS note ONLY!
Refer to the Episodic/Focused SOAP Template in the Week 8 Learning Resources. Remember that all Episodic/Focused SOAP notes have specific data included in every patient case.
PLEASE READ – HPI: This is the symptom analysis section of your note. Thorough documentation in this section is essential for patient care, coding, and billing analysis. Paint a picture of what is wrong with the patient.
Use LOCATES Mnemonic to complete your HPI. You need to start EVERY HPI with age, race, and gender (e.g., 34-year-old AA male). You must include the seven attributes of each principal symptom in paragraph form not a list. If the CC was “headache”, the LOCATES for the HPI might look like the following example:
Location: head
Onset: 3 days ago
Character: pounding, pressure around the eyes and temples
Associated signs and symptoms: nausea, vomiting, photophobia, phonophobia
Timing: after being on the computer all day at work
Exacerbating/ relieving factors: light bothers eyes, Aleve makes it tolerable but not completely better
Severity: 7/10 pain scale
Physical exam: From head-to-toe, include what you see, hear, and feel when doing your physical exam. You only need to examine the systems that are pertinent to the CC, HPI, and History. Do not use “WNL” or “normal.” You must describe what you see.
Always document in head to toe format i.e. General: Head: EENT: etc
For the Physical exam section, you are to exam systems related to the CC. I am getting a paragraph for this area and this is INCORRECT. Please examine the systems that should be associated with the Musculoskeletal complaint. Systems NOT associated with CC will receive a Strick through (HEENT) in my comments when grading your assignment. Please examine the systems below.
General:
Chest/Lungs:.
Heart/Peripheral Vascular:
Musculoskeletal:
Lymphatics:
Psychiatric
PLEASE POST YOUR SOAP NOTE SO THAT IT CAN BE SEEN.
DO NOT use an attachment.
The template is in the Resource List, Please use it and do NOT make up your own.
You also need to mention the maneuvers you would use with your assigned case.
Case 1: Back Pain
A 42-year-old male reports pain in his lower back for the past month. The pain sometimes radiates to his left leg. In determining the cause of the back pain, based on your knowledge of anatomy, what nerve roots might be involved? How would you test for each of them? What other symptoms need to be explored? What are your differential diagnoses for acute low back pain? Consider the possible origins using the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) guidelines as a framework. What physical examination will you perform? What special maneuvers will you perform?
With regard to the case study you were assigned:
Review this week’s Learning Resources, and consider the insights they provide about the case study.
Consider what history would be necessary to collect from the patient in the case study you were assigned.
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: When you submit your initial post, please include a header as the first line indicating your assigned case study. For example, “Review of Case Study ___.” Fill in the blank with the number of the case study you were assigned.
Post 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.
Read a selection of your colleagues’ responses.
Respond to at least two of your colleagues on 2 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.
Unformatted Attachment Preview
Episodic/Focused SOAP Note Template
Patient Information:
Initials, Age, Sex, Race
S.
CC (chief complaint) a BRIEF statement identifying why the patient is here – in the patient’s
own words – for instance “headache”, NOT “bad headache for 3 days”.
HPI: This is the symptom analysis section of your note. Thorough documentation in this section
is essential for patient care, coding, and billing analysis. Paint a picture of what is wrong with the
patient. Use LOCATES Mnemonic to complete your HPI. You need to start EVERY HPI with
age, race, and gender (e.g., 34-year-old AA male). You must include the seven attributes of each
principal symptom in paragraph form not a list. If the CC was “headache”, the LOCATES for the
HPI might look like the following example:
Location: head
Onset: 3 days ago
Character: pounding, pressure around the eyes and temples
Associated signs and symptoms: nausea, vomiting, photophobia, phonophobia
Timing: after being on the computer all day at work
Exacerbating/ relieving factors: light bothers eyes, Aleve makes it tolerable but not
completely better
Severity: 7/10 pain scale
Current Medications: include dosage, frequency, length of time used and reason for use; also
include OTC or homeopathic products.
Allergies: include medication, food, and environmental allergies separately (a description of
what the allergy is ie angioedema, anaphylaxis, etc. This will help determine a true reaction vs
intolerance).
PMHx: include immunization status (note date of last tetanus for all adults), past major
illnesses and surgeries. Depending on the CC, more info is sometimes needed
Soc Hx: include occupation and major hobbies, family status, tobacco & alcohol use (previous
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and current use), any other pertinent data. Always add some health promo question here – such as
whether they use seat belts all the time or whether they have working smoke detectors in the
house, living environment, text/cell phone use while driving, and support system.
Fam Hx: illnesses with possible genetic predisposition, contagious or chronic illnesses. Reason
for death of any deceased first degree relatives should be included. Include parents, grandparents,
siblings, and children. Include grandchildren if pertinent.
ROS: cover all body systems that may help you include or rule out a differential diagnosis You
should list each system as follows: General: Head: EENT: etc. You should list these in bullet
format and document the systems in order from head to toe.
Example of Complete ROS:
GENERAL: Denies weight loss, fever, chills, weakness or fatigue.
HEENT: Eyes: Denies visual loss, blurred vision, double vision or yellow sclerae. Ears, Nose,
Throat: Denies hearing loss, sneezing, congestion, runny nose or sore throat.
SKIN: Denies rash or itching.
CARDIOVASCULAR: Denies chest pain, chest pressure or chest discomfort. No palpitations or
edema.
RESPIRATORY: Denies shortness of breath, cough or sputum.
GASTROINTESTINAL: Denies anorexia, nausea, vomiting or diarrhea. No abdominal pain or
blood.
GENITOURINARY: Burning on urination. Pregnancy. Last menstrual period, MM/DD/YYYY.
NEUROLOGICAL: Denies headache, dizziness, syncope, paralysis, ataxia, numbness or
tingling in the extremities. No change in bowel or bladder control.
MUSCULOSKELETAL: Denies muscle, back pain, joint pain or stiffness.
HEMATOLOGIC: Denies anemia, bleeding or bruising.
LYMPHATICS: Denies enlarged nodes. No history of splenectomy.
PSYCHIATRIC: Denies history of depression or anxiety.
ENDOCRINOLOGIC: Denies reports of sweating, cold or heat intolerance. No polyuria or
polydipsia.
ALLERGIES: Denies history of asthma, hives, eczema or rhinitis.
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O.
Physical exam: From head-to-toe, include what you see, hear, and feel when doing your
physical exam. You only need to examine the systems that are pertinent to the CC, HPI, and
History. Do not use “WNL” or “normal.” You must describe what you see. Always
document in head to toe format i.e. General: Head: EENT: etc.
Diagnostic results: Include any labs, x-rays, or other diagnostics that are needed to develop the
differential diagnoses (support with evidenced and guidelines)
A.
Differential Diagnoses (list a minimum of 3 differential diagnoses).Your primary or
presumptive diagnosis should be at the top of the list. For each diagnosis, provide supportive
documentation with evidence based guidelines.
P.
This section is not required for the assignments in this course (NURS 6512) but will be required
for future courses.
References
You are required to include at least three evidence based peer-reviewed journal articles or
evidenced based guidelines which relates to this case to support your diagnostics and
differentials diagnoses. Be sure to use correct APA 7th edition formatting.
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Episodic/Focused SOAP Note Exemplar
Focused SOAP Note for a patient with chest pain
S.
CC: “Chest pain”
HPI: The patient is a 65 year old AA male who developed sudden onset of chest pain, which
began early this morning. The pain is described as “crushing” and is rated nine out of 10 in
terms of intensity. The pain is located in the middle of the chest and is accompanied by shortness
of breath. The patient reports feeling nauseous. The patient tried an antacid with minimal relief
of his symptoms.
Medications: Lisinopril 10mg, Omeprazole 20mg, Norvasc 5mg
PMH: Positive history of GERD and hypertension is controlled
FH: Mother died at 78 of breast cancer; Father at 75 of CVA. No history of premature
cardiovascular disease in first degree relatives.
SH : Negative for tobacco abuse, currently or previously; consumes moderate alcohol; married
for 39 years
Allergies: PCN-rash; food-none; environmental- none
Immunizations: UTD on immunizations, covid vaccine #1 1/23/2021 Moderna; Covid vaccine #2
2/23/2021 Moderna
ROS
General–Negative for fevers, chills, fatigue
Cardiovascular–Negative for orthopnea, PND, positive for intermittent lower extremity edema
Gastrointestinal–Positive for nausea without vomiting; negative for diarrhea, abdominal pain
Pulmonary–Positive for intermittent dyspnea on exertion, negative for cough or hemoptysis
O.
VS: BP 186/102; P 94; R 22; T 97.8; 02 96% Wt 235lbs; Ht 70”
General–Pt appears diaphoretic and anxious
Cardiovascular–PMI is in the 5th inter-costal space at the mid clavicular line. A grade 2/6
systolic decrescendo murmur is heard best at the
second right inter-costal space which radiates to the neck.
A third heard sound is heard at the apex. No fourth heart sound or rub are heard. No cyanosis,
clubbing, noted, positive for bilateral 2+ LE edema is noted.
Gastrointestinal–The abdomen is symmetrical without distention; bowel
sounds are normal in quality and intensity in all areas; a
bruit is heard in the right para-umbilical area. No masses or
splenomegaly are noted. Positive for mid-epigastric tenderness with deep palpation.
Pulmonary– Lungs are clear to auscultation and percussion bilaterally
Diagnostic results: EKG, CXR, CK-MB (support with evidenced and guidelines)
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A.
Differential Diagnosis:
1) Myocardial Infarction (provide supportive documentation with evidence based guidelines).
2) Angina (provide supportive documentation with evidence based guidelines).
3) Costochondritis (provide supportive documentation with evidence based guidelines).
Primary Diagnosis/Presumptive Diagnosis: Myocardial Infarction
P. This section is not required for the assignments in this course (NURS 6512) but will be
required for future courses.
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