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

• Digital Clinical Experience: Assessing the Heart, Lungs, and Peripheral Vascular System

  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 (Recommended but not required)

  • Abdominal Concept Lab (Recommended but not required)

  • Episodic/Focused Note for Focused Exam: 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

  • Once you submit your Documentation Notes to Shadow Health, make sure to copy and paste the same Documentation Notes into your Assignment submission link below.

  • Download, sign, date, and submit your Student Acknowledgement Form found in the Learning Resources for this

Also Read:  Best SOAP Note Writing Service

Comprehensive SOAP Template

 

 

Patient Initials: _______ Age: _______ Gender: _______

Note: The mnemonic below is included for your reference and should be removed before the submission of your final note.

O = onset of symptom (acute/gradual)

L= location 

D= duration (recent/chronic)

C= character

A= associated symptoms/aggravating factors

R= relieving factors

T= treatments previously tried – response? Why discontinued?

S= severity 

SUBJECTIVE DATA: Include what the patient tells you, but organize the information.

Chief Complaint (CC): In just a few words, explain why the patient came to the clinic.

History of Present Illness (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. You need to start EVERY HPI with age, race, and gender (i.e. 34-year-old AA male). You must include the 7 attributes of each principal symptom:

1. Location

2. Quality

3. Quantity or severity

4. Timing, including onset, duration, and frequency

5. Setting in which it occurs

6. Factors that have aggravated or relieved the symptom

7. Associated manifestations

Medications: Include over the counter, vitamin, and herbal supplements. List each one by name with dosage and frequency.

Allergies: Include specific reactions to medications, foods, insects, and environmental factors.

Past Medical History (PMH): Include illnesses (also childhood illnesses), hospitalizations, and risky sexual behaviors.

Past Surgical History (PSH): Include dates, indications, and types of operations.

Sexual/Reproductive History: If applicable, include obstetric history, menstrual history, methods of contraception, and sexual function.

Personal/Social History: Include tobacco use, alcohol use, drug use, patient’s interests, ADL’s and IADL’s if applicable, and exercise and eating habits.

Immunization History: Include last Tdp, Flu, pneumonia, etc.

Significant Family History: Include history of parents, Grandparents, siblings, and children.

Lifestyle: Include cultural factors, economic factors, safety, and support systems.

Review of Systems: From head-to-toe, include each system that covers the Chief Complaint, History of Present Illness, and History (this includes the systems that address any previous diagnoses). Remember that the information you include in this section is based on what the patient tells you. You do not need to do them all unless you are doing a total H&P. To ensure that you include all essentials in your case, refer to Chapter 2 of the Sullivan text.

General: Include any recent weight changes, weakness, fatigue, or fever, but do not restate HPI data here.

HEENT:

Neck:

Breasts:

Respiratory:

Cardiovascular/Peripheral Vascular:

Gastrointestinal:

Genitourinary:

Musculoskeletal:

Psychiatric:

Neurological:

Skin: Include rashes, lumps, sores, itching, dryness, changes, etc.

Hematologic:

Endocrine:

Allergic/Immunologic:

OBJECTIVE DATA: 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 unless you are doing a total H&P. Do not use WNL or normal. You must describe what you see.

Physical Exam:

Vital signs: Include vital signs, ht, wt, and BMI.

General: Include general state of health, posture, motor activity, and gait. This may also include dress, grooming, hygiene, odors of body or breath, facial expression, manner, level of conscience, and affect and reactions to people and things. 

HEENT:

Neck:

Chest/Lungs: Always include this in your PE.

Heart/Peripheral Vascular: Always include the heart in your PE.

Abdomen:

Genital/Rectal:

Musculoskeletal:

Neurological:

Skin:

ASSESSMENT: List your priority diagnosis(es). For each priority diagnosis, list at least 3 differential diagnoses, each of which must be supported with evidence and guidelines. Include any labs, x-rays, or other diagnostics that are needed to develop the differential diagnoses. For holistic care, you need to include previous diagnoses and indicate whether these are controlled or not controlled. These should also be included in your treatment plan.

PLAN: This section is not required for the assignments in this course (NURS 6512), but will be required for future courses.

Treatment Plan: If applicable, include both pharmacological and nonpharmacological strategies, alternative therapies, follow-up recommendations, referrals, consultations, and any additional labs, x-ray, or other diagnostics. Support the treatment plan with evidence and guidelines.

Health Promotion: Include exercise, diet, and safety recommendations, as well as any other health promotion strategies for the patient/family. Support the health promotion recommendations and strategies with evidence and guidelines.

Disease Prevention: As appropriate for the patient’s age, include disease prevention recommendations and strategies such as fasting lipid profile, mammography, colonoscopy, immunizations, etc. Support the disease prevention recommendations and strategies with evidence and guidelines.

REFLECTION: Reflect on your clinical experience and consider the following questions: What did you learn from this experience? What would you do differently? Do you agree with your preceptor based on the evidence?