Case study: critical analysis essay

[preshee92]

Hi, I need some help on an assignment. Basically, I have to do a critical analysis of a nursing intervention in relation to a scenrio as well as a care plan. The sceario is:

Mrs Davis is 62years old, and was at family gathering when she started complaining of nausea and heartburn which she put down to the food she had eaten and had taken some antacid tablets for the symptoms. After about two hours the symptoms had not resolved and she explained that she was experiencing a dull pain that seemed to spread to her shoulders and some mild shortness of breath. Her family called for an ambulance as they were concerned. She was given aspirin by the ambulance crew and sublingual GTN as they suspect she has Acute Coronary Syndrome (ACS)from the ECG strip. She is still complaining of chest pain on admission to the ED and very restless stating I feel like I have something heavy sitting on my chest.”

Having formulated your care plan. Write a critical analysis of the nursing interventions identified in your care plan. To undertake a critical analysis of the nursing interventions you will first need to do a literature review of the nursing problem identified to explore what the evidence from research has to say about the specific nursing problem and how it is managed. For this piece of work you will need to source a minimum of three articles from peer reviewed journals or clinical guidelines for the identified nursing problem

The problem I have identified is "Acute pain related to myocardial ischemia as evidenced by shortness of breath and radiation of pain to the shoulders."

Will I have to find articles and guidelines on acute pain management and link the intervetions that I have come up with the the inerventions in the articles? I do not know what do, and my tutor does not seem to want to help me. Please help me.

[Rose_Queen, BSN, MSN, RN]

Is there any sort of guidance provided in the course syllabus or the assignment? This isn't a question that can be answered accurately here on AN but will require you to ask your questions of your instructor if answers can't be found in course materials.

[windsurfer8, BSN, RN]

your tutor "does not seem to want to help me". Define "seems". If you have a question about an assignment you need to address it with your instructor.

[preshee92]

your tutor "does not seem to want to help me". Define "seems". If you have a question about an assignment you need to address it with your instructor.

Yes, when I tell her I don't understand, she says "well you need to understand". No explanations on what to do. She's refusing to assist me. I've emailed the module leader so I'm waiting for a reply

[Double-Helix, BSN, RN]

I'd start by reconsidering the problem you have identified. Is this woman's problem really acute pain? She is having pain, yes, but why? If you treat the pain are you really fixing her problem? She's having pain because her heart muscle is dying from lack of perfusion. That should be your focus.

If you search for peer reviewed evidence for treating "acute pain" you're going to get a huge variety of pain management literature- very little of which will have anything to do with Acute Coronary Syndrome. Change the focus of your search to something more specific- early emergency management of heart attacks, for example, and you'll find much more applicable information.

Based on what you shared, it sounds like your instructor wants you to first write a nursing care plan (using the ADPIE format, or whatever format your school is teaching) and then evaluate what you wrote. She wants you to evaluate whether your chosen problem/interventions are in line with what best-practice research tells the nurse to do in such a situation. You will do that by reading peer reviewed articles on the subject (Google Scholar, EbscoHost, Medline and Cochrane databases are good places to look) and then comparing the literature to your care plan.

[preshee92]

I'd start by reconsidering the problem you have identified. Is this woman's problem really acute pain? She is having pain, yes, but why? If you treat the pain are you really fixing her problem? She's having pain because her heart muscle is dying from lack of perfusion. That should be your focus.

If you search for peer reviewed evidence for treating "acute pain" you're going to get a huge variety of pain management literature- very little of which will have anything to do with Acute Coronary Syndrome. Change the focus of your search to something more specific- early emergency management of heart attacks, for example, and you'll find much more applicable information.

Based on what you shared, it sounds like your instructor wants you to first write a nursing care plan (using the ADPIE format, or whatever format your school is teaching) and then evaluate what you wrote. She wants you to evaluate whether your chosen problem/interventions are in line with what best-practice research tells the nurse to do in such a situation. You will do that by reading peer reviewed articles on the subject (Google Scholar, EbscoHost, Medline and Cochrane databases are good places to look) and then comparing the literature to your care plan.

You've made perfect sense, and I will definitely have a read on the relevant sites and guidelines.

Thank you so much.