Edwardo

Edwardo is a 42-year-old man who is about to embark on a rigorous exercise program to lose weight. He hopes to lose at least 30 pounds by working out at the gym. He goes to visit his personal trainer for the first session and is surprised to hear his trainer suggest that he go to his primary healthcare provider for a checkup first.

Annalise

Annalise is a 22-year-old woman who has just graduated from college. Her mother has Stage 4 colon cancer. Even though Annalise’s friends do not routinely get colonoscopies, Annalise decides she will ask about getting a screening test the next time she goes for a checkup.

The scenarios above are representative of the transformative shift the healthcare field is undergoing, from the treatment of individuals with acute diseases and chronic conditions to one that addresses prevention and health behavior motivations in populations. Nurse practitioners in family settings are well positioned to promote holistic care and prevention to patients.

This week, you explore preventative health and conditions seen in special populations. You will practice assessing, diagnosing, and treating patients by completing a SOAP Note. You also will complete a Knowledge Check to gauge your understanding of this week’s content.

Students will:

• Evaluate conditions related to special populations
• Develop differential diagnoses for special population patients
• Develop treatment plans for special population patients
• Identify key concepts related to preventative health and special populations

To Prepare:

• Review this week’s Learning Resources. Consider preventative health and assessing, diagnosing, and treating special populations.
• Review the case study provided by your Instructor. Based on the provided patient information, think about the health history you would need to collect from the patient.
• Consider what physical exams and diagnostic tests would be appropriate in order to gather more information about the patient’s condition. Reflect on how the results would be used to make a diagnosis.
• Identify three to five possible conditions that may be considered in a differential diagnosis for the patient.
• Consider each patient’s diagnosis. Think about clinical guidelines that might support this diagnosis.
• Develop a preventative health treatment plan for the patient that includes health promotion and patient education strategies for special populations.

Complete:

Use the Focused SOAP Note Template to address the following:

• Subjective: What details are provided regarding the patient’s personal and medical history?
• Objective: What observations did you make during the physical assessment? Include pertinent positive and negative physical exam findings. Describe whether the patient presented with any morbidities or psychosocial issues.
• Assessment: Explain your differential diagnoses, providing a minimum of three. List them from highest priority to lowest priority and include their CPT and ICD-10 codes for the diagnosis. What would your primary diagnosis be and why?
• Plan: Explain your plan for diagnostics and primary diagnosis. What would your plan be for treatment and management? Include pharmacologic and non-pharmacologic treatments, alternative therapies, and follow-up parameters as well as a rationale for this treatment and management plan.
• Reflection notes: Describe your “aha!” moments from analyzing this case.

Submit your focused SOAP note.

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

• Please save your Assignment using the naming convention “WK9Assgn+last name+first initial.(extension)” as the name.
• Click the Week 9 Assignment Rubric to review the Grading Criteria for the Assignment.
• Click the Week 9 Assignment link. You will also be able to “View Rubric” for grading criteria from this area.
• Next, from the Attach File area, click on the Browse My Computer button. Find the document you saved as “WK9Assgn+last name+first initial.(extension)” and click Open.
• If applicable: From the Plagiarism Tools area, click the checkbox for I agree to submit my paper(s) to the Global Reference Database.
• Click on the Submit button to complete your submission.