Assessment 3: Case study

The purpose of this assessment is to encourage you to integrate theory into practice. It is designed to augment your ability to assess, interpret and critically evaluate the complex issues faced by patients with significant cardiac disease.

Choose a patient in your care. It is important to obtain patient consent and maintain patient confidentiality. In your written submission you must provide a script of what you said to the patient when asking for consent. You must also state that the patient gave consent.

Submit a written discussion, analysis and evaluation of that patient’s clinical presentation and management. Your are required to highlight nursing care and management.

The discussion may be confined to a snapshot of a critical period or may address a progressive episode of care.

Patient selection

If you predominantly work in interventional cardiology, choose a patient with an EF <35% and/or NYHA class III or IV.

All other students choose a patient with at least one of the following:

• Invasive monitoring

• Inotropes

• Temporary pacing

• IABP
• IV glycaemic management
NOTE: Your patient must also have an ECG, CXR and blood (UEC, FBC etc) results – You may upload the most relevant results

Describe the ways the subjects were vulnerable. Is there any conflict of interest? Which protections should be put in place to protect these subjects from harm? What are the incidence and prevalence of moral distress in nursing today?