NURS 6512: Advanced Health Assessment and Diagnostic Assignment

 NURS 6512: Advanced Health Assessment and Diagnostic Assignment

 NURS 6512: Advanced Health Assessment and Diagnostic Assignment

It is not uncommon for nurses advanced practice nurses to encounter situations where a patient’s wishes regarded their health are in conflict with the family’s wishes, professional experience, or evidence hence creating ethical dilemmas (Haahr et al., 2020). Therefore, it is important for an advanced practice nurse to make informed decisions that can positively impact the patient’s condition. The case considered in this assignment is for a 60-year-old man who was diagnosed with inclusive body myositis several years ago and is currently facing a rapid decline in his condition. While the patient prefers to be at home and get end-of-life care from there, the wife is of the opinion that her husband is admitted to the inpatient care setting.

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            Making a better decision regarding this case requires particular assessment information. Inclusive body myositis exposes the patients to falls; hence this patient is at risk of falling (Weihl, 2019).  I would assess the patient’s quality of life and ability to undertake daily life activities. Assessing the proficiency of the home caregiving would be key in determining whether the partner can offer good care and give moral support.

            An appropriate response to this scenario requires that I consider ethics as an advanced practice nurse. Guided by nursing ethics, I would strive to educate the family and the patient to ensure that they have sufficient knowledge regarding the condition and how the family can help take care of the patient. After the assessment, I would also collaborate with the patient’s wife and other family members to help come up with an appropriate care plan which is likely to have a better impact on the patient’s condition. These actions are in accordance with the principles of beneficence and nonmaleficence, which involve doing the right and good thing for the patient and doing no harm (McDermott-Levy et al., 2018). I would also ensure that I treat the patient’s medical details with confidentiality.

References

Haahr, A., Norlyk, A., Martinsen, B., & Dreyer, P. (2020). Nurses experiences of ethical dilemmas: A review. Nursing Ethics, 27(1), 258-272. https://doi.org/10.1177%2F0969733019832941

McDermott-Levy, R., Leffers, J., & Mayaka, J. (2018). Ethical principles and guidelines of global health nursing practice. Nursing Outlook, 66(5), 473-481. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.outlook.2018.06.013

Weihl, C. C. (2019). Sporadic inclusion body myositis and other rimmed vacuolar myopathies. CONTINUUM: Lifelong Learning in Neurology, 25(6), 1586-1598. Doi: 10.1212/CON.0000000000000790

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Syllabus

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Click here and follow the instructions to confirm you have read the entire Syllabus and will abide by the requirements described in order to successfully complete this course.

Student Support and Calendar Information

So you have all key information available to you off-line, it is highly recommended that you print the following items for your reference:

This Syllabus, including the Course Schedule that is linked on this page as a PDF
Course Calendar
Support, Guidelines, and Policies

Credit Hours

5 credits in 11 weeks

Walden University assigns credit hours based on the number and type of assignments that enable students to achieve the course learning objectives. In general, each semester credit equals about 42 hours of total student work and each quarter credit equals about 28 hours of total student work. This time requirement represents an approximate average for undergraduate work and the minimum expectations for graduate work. The number and kind of activities estimated to fulfill time requirements will vary by degree level and student learning style, and by student familiarity with the delivery method and course content.
Course Description

The physical and emotional well-being of patients and families can be complex and multifaceted. Advanced practice nurses need to have the knowledge and ability to provide safe, competent, and comprehensive physical health assessments. Students in this course focus on concepts and skills to assess patients across the lifespan. They learn to use diagnostic reasoning, advanced communication, and physical assessment skills to identify changes in health patterns. Students also will explore preventative health through risk evaluation of healthy individuals as a central theme of clinical practice in addition to the assessment of patients with acute and chronic health problems. The advanced skills of suturing, reading 12 Lead EKGs, and interpreting X-rays will be covered. Course assignments emphasize risk assessment, diagnostic reasoning, and evidence-based assessment across the lifespan.

Welcome to Advanced Health Assessment, one of our foundation courses for APRN students. In this course, you will learn the importance of gathering an advanced health history, detailed documentation of your patient encounter, and performing the skills of an advanced nurse practitioner in order to provide patient care. No longer are the days of “following Dr’s orders”, you are learning how to be the provider that “writes the orders” based on the assessment of your patient.

In this online program, your advanced health assessment skills will be thoroughly evaluated via several assignments throughout the course. Your readiness to move on to a clinical course is a critical part of passing this course as we move to meeting the course objectives.

As an introduction to the course, we have provided you with two case study samples for your review and self-critique as you prepare to begin the course.

Case Study #1

“Patient JB, 39 yo Caucasian female, is seen by her care provider for a complaint of productive cough, weakness, and “I just haven’t felt good for the past 2 weeks.” The care provider completes an assessment of listening to her lungs by having her take 2 deep breaths and informs her that her lungs are clear and to take OTC cough medication and hydrate well. The next day, JB feels worse and visits a different care provider who at this time, assesses her head, eyes, ears, nose, throat, auscultates her heart sounds and hears a murmur (which she did not know she had), auscultates her lungs by having her to take 4 deep breaths, performs percussion techniques, and tells her there is fluid on her lungs, examines her lower extremities and notices that there is bilateral 2+ pitting edema, and lastly, reviews her vital signs and tells her that her heart rate is 120, respirations are 22, and she has a temp of 101.

Questions:

1.) Is the health history about the patient’s complaint thorough?

2.) Which provider’s examination would provide the patient with an accurate diagnosis and treatment plan?

3.) What diagnoses (we call them differential diagnoses) would be considered, and how would you rule them out to come up with an actual diagnosis?

Case Study #2

HS, an otherwise healthy 45-year-old AA male, had been treated for months with a diagnosis of GERD and gastritis. As the symptoms continued to progress with the current treatment, HS received a second opinion and was diagnosed with colon cancer. HS proceeded with surgery and the surgery went well, the biopsies came back that the margins were clear, and the cancer had been removed. Not long after, HS complained of excruciating pain to the assigned nurse. HS was told to relax because “he’d just had abdominal surgery and it was gas pains and/or bad indigestion.”

Questions:

1.) What questions would the APRN ask to obtain more details about this patients’ complaint?

2.) Which body systems would be examined by the APRN to provide HS with an explanation of his pain?

3.) What other concerns would you have for this patient that had just had surgery?

4.) Would additional labs and imaging be appropriate? If so, what would you order and why?

These are two scenarios in which your advanced health assessment skills are very important. Missing key findings due to improper assessment can lead to error and potentially patient death.

At Walden University, we strive to prepare our students for the challenges they may encounter as future advanced practice nurses. Our goal in this course is to provide you with the foundation of learning skills that will be used in everyday clinical practice, assist you with knowing the importance of those skills, and guide you to perfecting these skills.

Course Prerequisites

NURS 6003: Transition to Graduate Study for Nursing 

NURS 6050: Policy and Advocacy for Improving Population Health 

NURS 6051: Transforming Nursing and Healthcare Through Technology 

NURS 6052: Essentials of Evidence-Based Practice 

NURS 6053: Interprofessional Organizational, and Systems Leadership 
Course Learning Outcomes

By the conclusion of this course, you should be able to:

Apply appropriate approach to patient assessment that takes into consideration life circumstance as well as cultural and developmental variations
Analyze patient data obtained from health histories as well as functional and comprehensive physical assessments
Apply diagnostic reasoning skills when assessing patients
Apply assessment findings to underlying pathology or physiologic changes
Formulate a differential diagnosis based on the assessment data
Evaluate options for a systematic approach to preventative and palliative care
Analyze ethical considerations in health assessment
Identify concepts, theories, and principles related to advanced health assessment
Propose appropriate techniques for skin closure, abscess drainage, and skin biopsies
Analyze 12 lead EKGs for atrial arrhythmias, ventricular arrythmias, and heart blocks
Analyze chest x-rays for pathological conditions

College of Nursing Alignment of Learner Outcomes

Click on the following link to access the Alignment of Learner Outcomes:

NURS 6512 Alignment of Learning Outcomes (PDF)

Course Materials

Please visit the university bookstore via your Walden student portal to ensure you are obtaining the correct version of any course texts and/or materials noted in the following section. When you receive your materials, make sure that all required items are included.
Course Text

Ball, J. W., Dains, J. E., Flynn, J. A., Solomon, B. S., & Stewart, R. W. (2019). Seidel’s guide to physical examination: An interprofessional approach (9th ed.). St. Louis, MO: Elsevier Mosby.

Sullivan, D. D. (2019). Guide to clinical documentation (3rd ed.). Philadelphia, PA: F. A. Davis.

Shadow Health: Advanced Health Assessment DCE. ISBN: 978-0-98-978880-9

Shadow Health access is to be purchased along with the course texts from the university bookstore. Once Shadow Health has been purchased, an access code will be provided from the bookstore by email.

Note: If the print edition of these books are referenced here, electronic versions also may be available and may be acceptable for use in this course. If an electronic version is listed, no print version is available.

Other readings (journal articles, websites, book excerpts, etc.) are assigned throughout the course and may be found within each Module.
Optional Course Text

LeBlond, R. F., Brown, D. D., & DeGowin, R. L. (2020). DeGowin’s diagnostic examination (11th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw- Hill Medical.

Note: Students are expected to procure the optional course text themselves.

Media
Shadow Health Learning Simulation

Assigned course simulation experiences may be found in one or more weeks of the course within the weekly Learning Resources pages and are available via Shadow Health link in BB.

Course media elements may be found in 1 or more weeks of the course within the weekly Learning Resources pages and are available via a streaming media player or https://evolve.elsevier.com/.
Primary and Secondary Sources

Review the following information prior to selecting resources for assignments.

Primary: A primary source is an original document that is the first account of what happened. A research report is primary, and you can tell because it includes materials and methods demonstrating how the research was done. Some creative work is also primary, such as poetry, novels, and interviews of people who experienced something firsthand. In nursing, which is an evidence-based discipline, we strive to use primary research that is published in scholarly, peer-reviewed journals.

Scholarly, peer-reviewed journal: Scholarly journals publish papers by professional authors and experts in the field using a peer-review process to review the work and assure quality before publishing. The focus of a scholarly journal is to provide accurate information for scholars and other researchers. The focus is on content rather than advertising, a direct contrast to popular media. Scholarly journals publish both primary and secondary papers, the former usually noted as original research and the latter as reviews and commentaries. Letters to the editor may also be published but should be recognized as opinion pieces.

Note: When selecting articles for course assignments, you are advised (unless you are referencing seminal information) to focus on work published within the past five years.

Secondary: A secondary source is one step removed from the original source. This work interprets and often compiles other work, and it includes review articles, textbooks, fact sheets, and commentaries about a topic. It also includes news reports of original research. Secondary work is more prone to error and bias than primary work because it is being filtered through an additional person or persons. Review papers can be useful to glean information about a topic and to find other sources from the reference list, but it is the original, primary research that should be relied on most heavily in demonstrating scholarship, depth, and validation of factual information.
Course Assignments
Overview of Digital Clinical Experiences (DCE) and Lab Components

Throughout this course, you are required to not only complete your standard course assignments and discussions, but you will also complete conversation labs, DCE Assignments, and other Lab Components that are either structured as optional or required assignment submissions. Please take the time to review your DCE Assignments and Lab Components for this course that are required submissions. See the attached table for specific DCE Assignments and Lab Components for the course.

Note: You must complete each REQUIRED component prior to accessing the next assignment.

Note: Each Shadow Health Assessment may be attempted and reopened as many times as necessary prior to the due date to achieve a total score of 80% or better (Total score includes DCE score and documentation), but you must take all attempts by the Day 7 deadline. You must pass BOTH the Health History and Comprehensive (head-to-toe) Physical Exam of at least a total score of 80% in order to pass the course.

Concept Labs are mandatory pre-requisites for certain weighted assignments, but they have no points assigned.

Week Digital Clinical Experiences Lab Components
Module 1: Comprehensive Health History
Week 1: Building a Comprehensive Health History
Module 2: Functional Assessments and Assessment Tools
Week 2: Functional Assessments and Cultural and Diversity Awareness in Health Assessment
Week 3: Assessment Tools, Diagnostics, Growth, Measurement, and Nutrition in Adults and Children

Shadow Health Conversation Concept Lab

DCE: Health History Assessment (assigned in Week 3, due in Week 4)
Case Study Assignment: Assessment Tools and Diagnostic Tests in Adults and Children
Module 3: Approach to System Focused Advanced Health Assessments
Week 4: Assessment of the Skin, Hair, and Nails DCE: Health History Assessment Lab Assignment: Differential Diagnosis for Skin Conditions (SOAP Note for differential diagnosis)
Week 5: Assessment of Head, Neck, Eyes, Ears, Nose, and Throat

Shadow Health Respiratory Concept Lab

DCE: Focused Exam: Cough
Case Study Assignment: Assessing the Head, Eyes, Ears, Nose, and Throat (Episodic SOAP Note)
Week 6: Assessment of the Abdomen and Gastrointestinal System Shadow Health GI Concept Lab Lab Assignment: Assessing the Abdomen (Analyze SOAP Note)
Week 7: Assessment of the Heart, Lungs, and Peripheral Vascular System

Shadow Health Cardiovascular Concept Lab

DCE: Focused Exam: Chest Pain

Week 8: Assessment of the Musculoskeletal System Discussion: Assessing Musculoskeletal Pain (Episodic SOAP Note)
Week 9: Assessment of Cognition and the Neurologic System DCE: Comprehensive (head-to-toe) Physical Assessment Case Study Assignment: Assessing Neurological Symptoms (Episodic SOAP Note)
Week 10: Special Examinations—Breast, Genital, Prostate, and Rectal Lab Assignment: Assessing the Genitalia and Rectum (analyze SOAP Note)
Module 4: Ethics in Assessment
Week 11: The Ethics Behind Assessment Lab Assignment: Ethical Concerns

Participation in weekly Discussions: The exchange of ideas among colleagues engaged in scholarly inquiry is a key aspect of learning and is a requisite activity in this course. You are expected to participate each week by posting a response to a prompt or question in the weekly Discussion area. In addition, you are expected to respond to your fellow students’ postings. To count as participation, responses need to be thoughtful; that is, they must refer to the week’s readings, relevant issues in the news, information obtained from other sources, and/or ideas expressed in the postings of other class members. You may ask questions or offer further information or links about the subject. Please pay attention to grammar and spelling, as consistently poorly written posts will receive grade penalties. In grading the required Discussion postings, your Instructor will be using the Discussion Posting and Response Rubric, located in the Course Information area.

Note: Unless otherwise noted, initial postings to Discussions are due on or before Day 3, and response postings are due on or before Day 6. You are required to participate in the Discussion on at least 3 different days (a different day for main post and each response). It is important to adhere to the weekly time frame to allow others ample time to respond to your posting. In addition, you are expected to respond to questions directed toward your own initial posting in a timely manner.

DCE: Physical Health Assessments: This course requires that you demonstrate proficiency in conducting physical health assessments, including a health history and a head-to-toe comprehensive physical assessment. You will demonstrate this proficiency by conducting the assessments in a Digital Clinical Experience (DCE) using the simulation tool, Shadow Health. You will need to purchase access to Shadow Health to perform the required physical health assessments.

Throughout this course, you will conduct and submit four physical health assessment DCEs. These assessments can be seen in the Overview of Digital Clinical Experiences (DCE) and Lab Components table above.

Exams: The course contains two exams that have been designed to assess your understanding of the course topics. The Midterm exam is due by Day 7 of Week 6, and the Final exam is due by Day 7 of Week 11.

If an Incomplete is granted for students registered for clinical courses the following quarter, you will only have 5 days to complete and pass your outstanding assignments, as this course must be passed prior to starting your practicum.

Exam Essentials/Strategies

In these courses, you have two exams: a midterm and a final exam. You are allowed 2 hours to complete each exam. Exams are due no later than Day 7 at 1:59 a.m. EST. Please follow the instructions below. As we begin the course, it is important to ensure that everyone is familiar with exam-taking strategies on Blackboard.

If you have a PC, please contact IT to see which Internet browser (e.g., Google Chrome, Firefox) will be best to ensure you do not encounter problems when you log in to begin the exam. Please review the Student Responsibility for Technology Backup Plan policy: https://catalog.waldenu.edu/content.php?catoid=170&navoid=58504. You can also follow these test‑taking tips: http://cdn-media.waldenu.edu/2dett4d/software/Walden/Training/Blackboard_TestTaking_Tips.pdf
Ensure you have DSL/broadband connectivity. A slow connectivity will interrupt your exam and cause a lockout. Take note of the technology policy in the student handbook. Students are required “to have a technology backup plan should circumstances dictate its use. Except in very unusual situations, grade changes, late assignments, tuition refund requests, and the like that are based on technology failure or on occurrences resulting in technology failure will NOT be considered.”
Spend no more than the allotted time on each exam. When you are logged in for a long period, the exam will idle or freeze and lock you out.
Do not use the return/back button to change your answer(s). This will lock you out of the exam.
Save all your answers.
Do not refresh the page. This will cause the page to freeze and lock you out.
Do not have multiple browsers open when taking the exam. This will potentially freeze your exam and lock you out.
Ensure you have set aside ample time to take the exam without any interruptions.
Do not take the exams on iPads, iPhones, or other portable devices as you may get locked out of the exam.
Do not copy the questions to the exam. If you have a question, please e-mail me the question number and I will review it. You will not be provided the answers directly after your exam.
Review the following question-reading tips:
Read each question carefully. Identify the root words in the question or scenario.
Is the question asking “always,” “never,” “often,” “most likely,” or “least likely”?
Do not read more into the scenario than what is stated. Do not inject your own assumptions into the question. There may be more than one answer, but you must choose the best
This exam is used to prepare you for passing your certification exam and to be a competent practicing APRN. The Syllabus contains an outline of the exam content.
Exams are reset only under certain circumstances (e.g., medical emergencies).
You are expected to comply with Walden University’s Code of Conduct.

Walden University, LLC. (2019). Test taking strategies [Video]. Walden University Blackboard. https://class.waldenu.edu

Academic Integrity Originality Policy

Walden encourages students to use critical thinking to produce original thoughts in discussion posts, assignments, and other scholarly work. This “…will require that you completely and accurately demonstrate critical thinking via assimilation and synthesis of ideas when using credible, outside and course specific resources (i.e., video, required readings, textbook); when comparing different points of view, highlighting similarities, differences, and connections; and/or when lending support to your responses.” Using too many direct quotes or ineffective paraphrasing does not demonstrate originality.

To demonstrate originality requires the use of paraphrasing. According to the Walden Writing Center (n.d.), “Paraphrasing in academic writing is an effective way to restate, condense, or clarify another author’s ideas while also providing credibility to your own argument or analysis” (“Introduction to Paraphrasing”). “As you discuss those sources, paraphrasing allows you to use your own words and sentence structure to talk about the information you gleaned from those sources.” (Walden Writing Center, n.d., “Introduction to Paraphrasing”).

“Ineffective paraphrasing occurs when authors paraphrase a source but do not use their own sentence structure or vocabulary to effectively reword that source. The issue here is often that the student’s paraphrase simply uses synonyms for the source’s original wording and is not different enough from the original source’s wording. Ineffective paraphrasing can occur when an author does not use his or her own wording or voice to paraphrase entire paragraphs or individual sentences.” (Walden Writing Center, n.d., “Examples of Paraphrasing,” slide 10).

For more information, refer to the Writing Center’s Introduction to Plagiarism & Intellectual Property at https://academicguides.waldenu.edu/writingcenter/modules/plagiarism#s-lg-box-8548804

Assignments, discussion posts, or other scholarly work that does not demonstrate originality and/or lacks proper citation to credit original sources/authors will receive a grade reduction amounting up to 10%.
Grading Criteria and Total Components of a Grade

Course grades will be based on participation (postings) and completion of assignments listed below.

Letter grades will be assigned as follows:

90%–100% = A
80%–89% = B
70%–79% = C
< 70% = F

Please see below for the policy on Incomplete (I) grades.

Important Note: This course contains weighted grading. Assignments are weighted differently depending on their type. The total points achieved for each assignment will be weighted based on the percentage values noted in the Weighted Total (%) column of the table that follows.

Assignment Total Points Weighted
Total (%)
Discussions

Participation in Discussions*
(3 @ 100 pts. each)

300 10%
Lab & Case Study Assignments (7@ 100 points each) 700 20%

DCE Assignments (4 @ 100 points each)
400
20%
Practicum Application Assignment (S/U) S/U

Exams:

Midterm (100 pts) 25%
Final (100 pts) 25%

200 50%
Total 1,600 100%

* Each Discussion requires that you make one initial posting and at least two response postings to colleagues. See the Discussion Posting and Response Rubric for posting details.
Incomplete Grade Policy

Per university policy, Incomplete grades can be granted only to students who have already met the minimum criteria for active weekly participation in a course (including weekly postings in online courses) and have completed at least 80% of other coursework. Incompletes can be awarded when, because of extenuating circumstances, a student has not met additional course requirements, including but not limited to written assignments, group projects, and research papers, as applicable. All Incomplete grades are awarded at the discretion of the Course Faculty.

Students who are eligible for an Incomplete must contact the Course Faculty to request the grade as soon as possible. Students who do not meet the criteria listed above will not be allowed to earn an Incomplete. If the Incomplete is approved, the Faculty Member will work with the student to outline the due date(s) for remaining work. Under no circumstances will the new due dates extend beyond 50 days from the last day of the term. Faculty will then have 10 days to assess the work and post the permanent grade before the university-allotted Incomplete time limit of 60 days expires. All Incomplete grades not resolved within the time allotted will convert to permanent grades of F.

If an Incomplete is granted for students registered for clinical courses the following quarter, you will only have 5 days to complete and pass your outstanding assignments, as this course must be passed prior to starting your practicum.
Instructor Feedback Schedule

The Instructor will log in to the course during the week to monitor the weekly Discussion area. Feedback will be provided via the My Grades area, the Discussion area, and/or the Announcements page.

You can expect your weekly assignment grades to be posted within 10 calendar days of a due date. Instructor feedback and explanation is provided whenever full credit is not achieved. Depending on the nature of the feedback, Instructor responses may be posted to the Discussion area or included in the My Grades area. The goal of your Instructor is to act as a discussion and learning facilitator rather than a lecturer. The Instructor will not respond to every posting by every individual, so please feel free to ask your Instructor if you would like some personal feedback on a particular assignment posting or any time you have any questions regarding your assignments or your grade.
Course Procedures

All class Discussions take place in the weekly Discussion areas.
You are encouraged to post course-related questions to the Contact the Instructor area as they may be of interest to all; however, if your question is urgent, it is often best to email the Instructor. If your emailed question is thought to be of benefit to all, it may be responded to by the Instructor via email to all or posted as an announcement.
Instructor feedback on content and writing issues that is thought to be of benefit to the entire class may be posted to the Contact the Instructor area; however, most personal critique will be done privately in the Grade Center. Be sure to check the Grade Center for comments every week even if you received full credit.
Please feel free to use the Class Café to initiate and participate in conversations not directly related to the course. This is an excellent opportunity to get to know other students better. The Instructor will browse the Class Café occasionally but generally will not respond to conversations posted there unless students have specific questions for him or her.
Check the email account you use for official Walden University business on a regular basis. The expectation is that you are checking this email account daily during the week. If you experience difficulty sending or receiving Walden email, please contact the Customer Care Team right away. Contact information for the Customer Care Team is located in the Student Support area.
Review all materials in the Course Information area, as well as the materials contained under each of the weekly buttons.

Note: There are Optional Readings located within the Learning Resources section of each week in the course. You are encouraged to explore these readings, as needed, in order to enhance your understanding of the course content.
Preferred Methods for Delivering Assignments

Be sure that you post to the correct Discussion area each week. Do not e-mail postings to the Instructor. For all initial Discussion postings, make sure that the first sentence of your posting reads Main Question Post. For your responses to others’ response postings, make sure that the first sentence of your response reads Response. These actions will ensure easily identifiable subject lines for your postings and responses.
Application Assignments are submitted to the SafeAssign link and named according to the week in which the Assignment is submitted. Directions for naming each Application Assignment are included in each week’s Assignment area. Please be sure that all written Application Assignments are saved and submitted as a “.doc” file.
All e-mail correspondence must contain in the subject line “ABCD 1234-XX-NAME” (ABCD = course prefix, 1234 = course number, XX = section number) followed by a brief description of the subject. This subject line convention ensures that your e-mail will be easily identified and responded to in a timely manner. It is required that the e-mail contain a signature that matches the official name used in the course.

Late Assignment Policy

Students are expected to submit assignments by the due dates noted in the course. In extenuating circumstances, such as illness, the student must contact the Instructor as soon as possible to discuss the situation. In those circumstances, Faculty will determine the appropriate course of action for the student. Depending on the situation, these actions may include recommendations to drop the course (if within the university drop/withdrawal period), acceptance of some or all of the overdue assignments with or without penalties, or failure to accept assignments.

Assignments submitted late without the prior agreement of the Instructor, outside of an emergency absence, or in violation of agreements for late submission, will receive a grade reduction for the assignment amounting up to 20%. Each day late with result in a 4%-point deduction up to day 5. After 5 days, the assignment will be graded a zero. Students should be aware that late assignments may not receive the same level of written feedback as do assignments submitted on time.
Discussion Board, Midterm Exam, and Final Exam Late Policy

The late policy applied to discussion boards, midterms exams, and final exams are different than course assignments and are as follows. Students are expected to complete discussion boards, midterms exams, and final exams by the due dates noted in the course. If students do not complete the discussion boards or initiate exams by the due date, the grade will result in a zero. In the event of an extenuating circumstance, students must let the instructor know prior to the due date. If the student is unable to do so, he or she needs to notify the instructor as soon as possible and those circumstances will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis. Any exam that is permitted to be taken late or permitted a retake may be subject to proctoring with audio and video technology.
Keeping Your Coursework

You will have access to the course and your coursework from the course start date until 60 days after the course ends. After this time, you will no longer be able to access the course or related materials. For this reason, we strongly recommend that you retain copies of your completed assignments and any documents you wish to keep. The university is not responsible for lost or missing coursework.
Course Evaluation

At or near the end of the course, you will receive an email inviting you to submit an online evaluation of the course and instruction. All submitted course evaluations are confidential, and only aggregate data and comments will be shared with the Instructor and Program Director. Your feedback is vitally important to Walden University in its efforts to continuously improve programs.
Students With Disabilities

Students in this course who have a disability that might prevent them from fully demonstrating their abilities should contact the director of Student Wellness & Disability Services at disability@mail.waldenu.edu or at 1-800-925-3368, ext. 312-1205 and +1-612-925-3368 or https://www.waldenu.edu/contact-us for international toll-free numbers as soon as possible to initiate disability verification and discuss accommodations that may be necessary to ensure full participation in the successful completion of course requirements.
Classroom Participation

In accordance with U.S. Department of Education guidance regarding class participation, Walden University requires that all students submit at least one of their required Week 1 assignments (which includes posting to the Discussion Board) within each course(s) during the first 7 calendar days of class. For courses with two-week units, posting to the Discussion Board by Day 7 meets this requirement. The first calendar day of class is the official start date of the course as posted on your myWalden academic page.

Assignments submitted prior to the official start date will not count toward your participation.

Financial Aid cannot be released without class participation as defined above.

Students who are taking their first class with Walden and do not submit at least one of their required Week 1 assignments (or at least one Discussion post) by the end of the 7th day will be administratively withdrawn from the university.

Students who have already taken and successfully completed at least one or more class(es) with Walden, and who do not participate within the first 7 days, will be dropped from that class.

If you have any questions about your assignments, or you are unable to complete your assignments, please contact your Faculty Member.
Checklist

Print

The module course checklist below outlines the assignments due for the course.

For full assignment details and directions, refer to each module of the course. All assignments are due by 11:59 p.m. Mountain Time (MT) on the day assigned (which is 1:59 a.m. Eastern Time (ET) the next day). The time stamp in the classroom will reflect Eastern Time (ET), regardless of your time zone. As long as your submission time stamp is no later than 1:59 a.m. Eastern Time (ET), you have submitted on time.
To View the Calendar

To view the Course Calendar:

Course Calendar

To View a Printable Course Schedule

For full assignment details and directions, refer to each Module of the course.

Click on the NURS 6512 Course Schedule (PDF) link to access the Course Schedule.

Document: NURS 6512 Course Schedule (PDF)

Checklist

Module/Week Assignment Title
Module 1
Week 1 Building a Comprehensive Health History
Learning Resources Required Readings
Optional Resources
Assignment Course Acknowledgement
Discussion Building a Health History
Looking Ahead section in “What’s Coming Up in Module 2?” Registration for Shadow Health
Module 2
Week 2 Functional Assessments and Cultural and Diversity Awareness in Health Assessment
Learning Resources Required Readings
Discussion Diversity and Health Assessments
What’s Coming Up in Week 3? Overview of Digital Clinical Experiences (DCE) and Lab Components
Week 3 Assessment Tools, Diagnostics, Growth, Measurement, and Nutrition in Adults and Children
Learning Resources Required Readings
Media
Optional Resources
Case Study Assignment Assessment Tools and Diagnostic Tests in Adults and Children
Digital Clinical Experience (DCE) Health History Assessment (assigned)
Module 3
Week 4 Assessment of the Skin, Hair, and Nails
Learning Resources Required Readings
Media
Optional Resources
Lab Assignment 1 Differential Diagnosis for Skin Conditions
Digital Clinical Experience (DCE) Health History Assessment (due)
Lab Assignment 2 (Optional) Practice Assessment: Skin, Hair, and Nails Examination
What’s Coming Up in Week 5? DCE: Focused Exam: Cough
Week 5 Assessment of Head, Neck, Eyes, Ears, Nose, and Throat
Learning Resources Required Readings
Media
Optional Resources
Case Study Assignment Assessing the Ears, Nose, and Throat
Digital Clinical Experience (DCE) Focused Exam: Cough
Week 6 Assessment of the Abdomen and Gastrointestinal System
Learning Resources Required Readings
Media
Optional Resources
Lab Assignment 1 Assessing the Abdomen
Exam Midterm Exam
Lab Assignment 2 (Optional) Practice Assessment: Abdominal Examination
Week 7 Assessment of the Heart, Lungs, and Peripheral Vascular System
Learning Resources Required Readings
Media
Optional Resources
Discussion Assessing the Heart, Lungs, and Peripheral Vascular System
Digital Clinical Experience (DCE) Focused Exam: Chest Pain
Lab Assignment (Optional) Practice Assessment: Cardiac and Respiratory Examination
Week 8 Assessment of the Musculoskeletal System
Learning Resources Required Readings
Media
Optional Resources
Discussion Assessing Musculoskeletal Pain
Lab Assignment
(Optional) Practice Assessment: Musculoskeletal Examination
What’s Coming Up in Week 9? DCE: Comprehensive (Head-to-Toe) Physical Assessment
Week 9 Assessment of Cognition and the Neurologic System
Learning Resources Required Readings
Media
Optional Resources
Case Study Assignment Assessing Neurological Symptoms
Lab Assignment (Optional) Practice Assessment: Neurological Examination
Digital Clinical Experience (DCE) Comprehensive (Head-to-Toe) Physical Assessment
Week 10 Special Examinations—Breast, Genital, Prostate, and Rectal
Learning Resources Required Readings
Media
Optional Resources
Lab Assignment Assessing the Genitalia and Rectum
Assignment Practicum Application Assignment
Module 4
Week 11 The Ethics Behind Assessment
Learning Resources Required Readings
Lab Assignment Ethical Concerns
Exam Final Exam

Bibliography

The bibliography contains the references for all learning materials in the course. For your convenience, a link has been provided to download and save the bibliography.

To access the Bibliography:

Document: NURS 6512 Bibliography (PDF)