Joy Shepard!!

and the last one an intentinal infection??

Also Daz remember A-B-C's. Nursing school exams love to see if you can use them to prioritize and you'll see them on boards as well.

airway, breathing, circulation. On your softball victim, airway is going to take priority over a rib fx (which she very well could have).

Brainstorming with fellow students might be very helpful to you. They're in the same boat as you and talking stuff out with them can be a great help!

WHAT LIES UNDER THE RIBS AND STERNUM...START THERE....

WHAT TYPES OF COLON ISSUES MAY THE LAST SCENARIO BE? IF IT WAS "ONLY" AN INFECTION, WOULD PYREXIA BE INTERMITTENT?IS MALABSORPTION HAPPENING?

AS A NURSE YOU MUST START USING SOME CRITICAL THINKING SKILLS. I'M SORRY, BUT THE PATIENT IN SCENARIO #1 IS ALREADY DEAD, AS TOO MUCH TIME HAS PASSED WITH THINKING ABOUT WHAT THIS MAY BE. WHAT ARE YOUR IMMEDIATE ASSESSMENTS AND INTERVENTIONS AND WHAT "MUST" YOU RELAY TO THE MD? THE MD WILL GUIDE YOU THE REST OF THE WAY! THINK VS, HEART SOUNDS, LUNG SOUNDS-WHAT MAY BE HAPPENING?

and is the last one appendisitis??

Daz, find a nurse or use this board to ask a few more questions and then the nurse will respond. For example, on CT 1 if I inspected their chest wall, I would find? if I listened to their breath sounds, I would find?

If I put on the finger ox, I would find?

If I put on the cardiac monitor, I would find?

Only you ask the questions, not us.

Especially in the ED, what makes some of our clocks tick is the "unlabeled package" [of personhood] where they do not come with the dx and we get to help focus the investigation to find the dx. Be patient with your lack of background and depth of knowledge and start asking questions which will help build your knowledge.

Now if you think that CT 4 is in appy, go look up appy. Does appy evolve over two months and involve significant weight loss? Support or refute your hypothesis. Good luck. Keep asking questions.