Description of Assignment: This assignment will allow students to demonstrate mastery of concepts through the application of pharmacologic principles using a case study approach. Students are responsible for providing a 15-minute narrated PowerPoint “lecture” type presentation of a selected drug from the drug class being discussed that week. While the group or individual completing the assignment can choose whichever drug in the class he or she would like, the drug needs to be one that is used frequently in the acute care clinical environment. The report and presentation must include:

1.     Introduction (No more than 3 pages): Give either a real or fictional clinical example of how this drug has been used in the acute care environment. Remember NO IDENTIFIERS should be used at any time. This section should include: HxPI, PM/Surg Hx, Focused ROS, Allergies, SH, Fam Hx, pertinent laboratory and diagnostic data, and PE (including VS).

2.     List of Indications, Contraindications, and Important Dosing Considerations (no more than 1 page).

·       Pertinent Therapeutic Monitoring/ Safety Considerations (no more than 1 page).

1.     Major Adverse Events (No more than 2 pages): List by order of occurrence, identify the major pathophysiology of why the event occurs, and how it can be clinically managed.

2.     References/ Formatting: Using APA 7th edition criteria, wide variety of scholarly sources.

While more than one student may be assigned to a group, only one student in the group will narrate the presentation. The group must upload a non-narrated version of their presentation to the appropriate discussion board as a written report in addition to the narrated presentation.

Some General Comments Regarding Case Studies:

Some very important pointers regarding the case studies for this course and ALL courses moving forward:

·       Scholarly Writing: Remember that the work you're submitting in your graduate/doctoral courses are scholarly works. Therefore, they should strictly follow APA 7th Edition formatting and should be written in academic tone, including complete sentences. These assignments are not informal means of communication between colleagues such as that you'd employ in a clinical unit. If you're providing abbreviations, full words should be written first. If you're discussing a specific drug, you can either justprovide the generic name for the drug or provide BOTH the generic AND brand name. Example: Acetaminophen can be toxic to the liver. or Acetaminophen (Tylenol®) can be toxic to the liver. When documenting vital signs or lab results, you always need to document units/measurement in scholarly works. Example: The patient's vital signs included a blood pressure of 120/80 mmHg, heart rate of 60 beats/minute, respiratory rate of 18 breaths/minute, temperature of 98.6F, and oxygen saturation of 100%. Or, the patient's blood glucose was 100 mg/dL.

·       Physical Examination Documentation: When providing physical examination findings, you need to ensure that EVERYTHING you're documenting in this section is in fact a physical examination finding. You need to document the findings as you were taught in NGR 5003. Remember that, "normal" or "expected" documentation is never appropriate, Documenting findings as "normal" is a plaintiff's attorney's dream come true. He/she will ask you to turn to the jury and describe exactly what, "normal" or "expected" findings are. In this example, there are entire books written about pulmonary assessment. When you are unable to recite 100% of the items in that book, a plaintiff's attorney will begin bringing up examples of what you've failed to mention and show the jury that you really don't know what "normal" physical exam findings are. You also NEVER want to document, "appears." For example: "The patient's respiratory effort appears to be effortless." The attorney will ask you to explain to the jury why you weren't able to make a clinical decision regarding the patient's physical examination. "Appears" = "I don't know how to interpret this physical exam finding, but I think it might be okay."

·       References: Remember, you're earning a doctoral degree here. You need to master the skill of using scholarly references for your work. Medscape, UpToDate, and other clinical guides are not scholarly references. They're GREAT for clinical tools in the unit. But in scholarly writing, you want to ensure you are using only peer-reviewed sources. Use clinical guides and textbooks very scarcely. Remember that we are very blessed to have an embedded librarian in all of our AGACNP courses. Mr. Todd is a WONDERFUL resource and he will help you in your literature search for finding peer-reviewed articles. Heck--he can also teach you the correct way to cite those citations using APA 7th Edition formatting and give you tips to avoid plagiarism.

·       Exams: I will pull items from your classmates' case studies and place them on your exams. So, while you don't have weekly discussion posting assignments, use this discussion board to ask your classmates' questions or clarifications.

·       Narrated PPT Presentations for Case Studies: I use this teaching method in all your courses I teach in the AGACNP program. Familiarize yourself with designing attractive PPT slides and including images and figures. You'll see I do this in your narrated lectures as a way to capture your attention and help you master content. Also ensure that you know the correct way to record your slide narrations. If you don't know how to do this, YouTube it! Or better yet--record the narration and upload the presentation to YouTube (not required, but extremely helpful).

Keep working hard and let me know if you have any questions or need any further direction. Review your grading rubrics as well. These are the standards I will hold you to.

View Rubric

Case Report