Questions and Topics We Can Help You To Answer:

Discussion: Pharmacotherapy for Respiratory Disorders
To the untrained ear, most coughs sound the same. However, as you might recall from past clinical experiences, a simple cough can lead to a patient diagnosis of a common cold, pneumonia, or even a chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Although it can sometimes be challenging to diagnose a patient based on common respiratory symptoms such as congestion, coughing, and wheezing, it is important to be able to distinguish minor differences as even mild symptoms might require intervention with drug treatments. When recommending potential treatment options, advanced practice nurses must consider how individual patient factors might impact the effects of prescribed drugs.

To prepare:
Review Chapter 26 and Chapter 27 of the Arcangelo and Peterson text.
Select and research one of the following respiratory disorders: the common cold, pneumonia, or a chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) such as emphysema or chronic bronchitis. Consider types of drugs that would be prescribed to patients to treat symptoms associated with this disorder.
Select one of the following factors: genetics, gender, ethnicity, age, or behavior. Reflect on how this factor might impact effects of prescribed drugs, as well as any measures you might take to help reduce negative side effects.
With these thoughts in mind:

By Day 3
Post a description of the respiratory disorder you selected including types of drugs that would be prescribed to patients to treat associated symptoms. Then, explain how the factor you selected might impact effects of prescribed drugs, as well as any measures you might take to help reduce negative side effects.

Questions and Topics We Can Help You To Answer:

Week 4: Assessment of the Skin, Hair, and Nails
Something as small and simple as a mole or a discolored toenail can offer meaningful clues about a patient’s health. Abnormalities in skin, hair, and nails can provide non-invasive external clues to internal disorders or even prove to be disorders themselves. Being able to evaluate such abnormalities of the skin, hair, and nails is a diagnostic benefit for any nurse conducting health assessments.

This week, you will explore how to assess the skin, hair, and nails, as well as how to evaluate abnormal skin findings.

Learning Objectives
Students will:
Apply assessment skills to diagnose skin conditions
Apply concepts, theories, and principles relating to health assessment techniques and diagnoses for the skin, hair, and nails
Apply assessment skills to collect patient health histories
Photo Credit: Keri Oberly/Getty Images

Learning Resources
Required Readings
Note: To access this week's required library resources, please click on the link to the Course Readings List, found in the Course Materials section of your Syllabus.

Ball, J. W., Dains, J. E., Flynn, J. A., Solomon, B. S., & Stewart, R. W. (2015). Seidel's guide to physical examination (8th ed.). St. Louis, MO: Elsevier Mosby.

Chapter 8, “Skin, Hair, and Nails” (pp. 114-165)


This chapter reviews the basic anatomy and physiology of skin, hair, and nails. The chapter also describes guidelines for proper skin, hair, and nails assessments.

Dains, J. E., Baumann, L. C., & Scheibel, P. (2016). Advanced health assessment and clinical diagnosis in primary care (5th ed.). St. Louis, MO: Elsevier Mosby.

Chapter 28, “Rashes and Skin Lesions” (pp. 325-343)


This chapter explains the steps in an initial examination of someone with dermatological problems, including the type of information that needs to be gathered and assessed.

Note: Download and use the Adult Examination Checklist and the Physical Exam Summary when you conduct your video assessment of the skin, hair, and nails.

Seidel, H. M., Ball, J. W., Dains, J. E., Flynn, J. A., Solomon, B. S., & Stewart, R. W. (2011). Adult examination checklist: Guide for skin, hair, and nails. In Mosby's guide to physical examination (7th ed.). St. Louis, MO: Elsevier Mosby.



This Adult Examination Checklist: Guide for Skin, Hair, and Nails was published as a companion to Seidel's guide to physical examination (8th ed.), by Ball, J. W., Dains, J. E., & Flynn, J. A. Copyright Elsevier (2015). From https://evolve.elsevier.com/

Seidel, H. M., Ball, J. W., Dains, J. E., Flynn, J. A., Solomon, B. S., & Stewart, R. W. (2011). Skin, hair, and nails physical exam summary. In Mosby's guide to physical examination (7th ed.). St. Louis, MO: Elsevier Mosby.



This Skin, Hair, and Nails Physical Exam Summary was published as a companion to Seidel's guide to physical examination (8th ed.), by Ball, J. W., Dains, J. E., & Flynn, J. A. Copyright Elsevier (2015). From https://evolve.elsevier.com/

Everyday Health, Inc. (2013). Resources for dermatology and visual conditions.

Retrieved from http://www.skinsight.com/info/for_professionals



This interactive website allows you to explore skin conditions according to age, gender, and area of the body.

Clothier, A. (2014). Assessing and managing skin tears in older people. Nurse Prescribing, 12(6), 278–282. Retrieved from http://www.nurseprescribing.com/

Retrieved from the Walden Library Databases.

Watkins, J. (2013a). Skin rashes, part 1: Skin structure and taking a dermatological history. Practice Nursing, 24(1), 30–33. doi:10.12968/pnur.2013.24.1.30

Retrieved from the Walden Library Databases.

Watkins, J. (2013b). Skin rashes, part 2: Distribution and different types of rashes. Practice Nursing, 24(3), 124–127. Retrieved from http://www.practicenursing.com/

Retrieved from the Walden Library Databases.

Watkins, J. (2013c). Skin rashes, part 3: localized rashes. Practice Nursing, 24(5), 235–241. doi:10.12968/pnur.2013.24.5.235

Retrieved from the Walden Library Databases.

Document: Skin Conditions (Word document)



This document contains five images of different skin conditions. You will use this information in this week’s Discussion.

Document: Comprehensive SOAP Exemplar (Word document)

Document: Comprehensive SOAP Template (Word document)

Note: To access the online resources included with the textbook, you need to complete the FREE online registration that is located at https://evolve.elsevier.com/cs/product/9780323172660?role=student.

To Register to View the Content

Go to https://evolve.elsevier.com/cs/product/9780323172660?role=student
Enter the name of the textbook, Seidel's Guide to Physical Examination (name of text without the edition number) in the Search textbox.
Complete the registration process.
To View the Content for this Textbook

Go to https://evolve.elsevier.com/.
Click on Student Site.
Type in your Username and Password.
Click on the Login button.
Click on the plus sign icon for Resources on the left side of the screen.
Click on the name of the textbook for this course.
Expand the menu on the left to locate all the chapters.
Navigate to the desired content (checklists, videos, animations, etc.).
Note: Clicking on the URLs in the APA citations for the Resources from the textbook will not link directly to the desired online content. Use the online menu to navigate to the desired content.

Required Media
Online media for Seidel's Guide to Physical Examination

In addition to this week's media, it is highly recommended that you access and view the online resources included with the course text, Seidel's Guide to Physical Examination. Focus on the videos and animations in Chapter 8 that relate to the assessment of the skin, hair, and nails.

The following suturing tutorials provide instruction on the basic interrupted suture, as well as the vertical and horizontal mattress suturing techniques:

Tulane Center for Advanced Medical Simulation & Team Training. (2010, July 8). Suturing technique.

Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c-LDmCVtL0o

Mikheil. (2014, April 22). Basic suturing: Simple, interrupted, vertical mattress, horizontal mattress.

Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MFP90aQvEVM

Optional Resources
LeBlond, R. F., Brown, D. D., & DeGowin, R. L. (2014). DeGowin’s diagnostic examination (10th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw Hill Medical.

Chapter 6, “The Skin and Nails”


In this chapter, the authors provide guidelines and procedures to aid in the diagnosis of skin and nail disorders. The chapter supplies descriptions and pictures of common skin and nail conditions.
Ethicon, Inc. (n.d.a). Absorbable synthetic suture material. Retrieved from https://web.archive.org/web/20170215015223/http://academicdepartments.musc.edu/surgery/education/resident_info/supplement/suture_manuals/absorbable_suture_chart.pdf

Ethicon, Inc. (2006). Dermabond topical skin adhesive application technique. Retrieved from https://web.archive.org/web/20150921174121/http://academicdepartments.musc.edu/surgery/education/resident_info/supplement/suture_manuals/db_application_poster.pdf

Ethicon, Inc. (2001). Ethicon needle sales types. Retrieved from https://web.archive.org/web/20150921171922/http://academicdepartments.musc.edu/surgery/education/resident_info/supplement/suture_manuals/needle_template.pdf

Ethicon, Inc. (n.d.b). Ethicon sutures. Retrieved from https://web.archive.org/web/20150921202525/http://academicdepartments.musc.edu/surgery/education/resident_info/supplement/suture_manuals/suture_chart_ethicon.pdf

Ethicon, Inc. (2002). How to care for your wound after it's treated with Dermabond topical skin adhesive. Retrieved from https://web.archive.org/web/20150926002534/http://academicdepartments.musc.edu/surgery/education/resident_info/supplement/suture_manuals/db_wound_care.pdf

Ethicon, Inc. (2005). Knot tying manual. Retrieved from https://web.archive.org/web/20160915214422/http://academicdepartments.musc.edu/surgery/education/resident_info/supplement/suture_manuals/knot_tying_manual.pdf

Ethicon, Inc. (n.d.c). Wound closure manual. Retrieved from https://web.archive.org/web/20170829043048/http://academicdepartments.musc.edu/surgery/education/resident_info/supplement/suture_manuals/eth

Assignment 1: Differential Diagnosis for Skin Conditions
Properly identifying the cause and type of a patient’s skin condition involves a process of elimination known as differential diagnosis. Using this process, a health professional can take a given set of physical abnormalities, vital signs, health assessment findings, and patient descriptions of symptoms, and incrementally narrow them down until one diagnosis is determined as the most likely cause.

In this Assignment, you will examine several visual representations of various skin conditions, describe your observations, and use the techniques of differential diagnosis to determine the most likely condition.

To prepare:

Review the Skin Conditions document provided in this week’s Learning Resources, and select one condition to closely examine for this Assignment.
Consider the abnormal physical characteristics you observe in the graphic you selected. How would you describe the characteristics using clinical terminologies?
Explore different conditions that could be the cause of the skin abnormalities in the graphics you selected.
Consider which of the conditions is most likely to be the correct diagnosis, and why.
Download the SOAP Template found in this week’s Learning Resources.
To complete:

Choose one skin condition graphic (identify by number in your Chief Complaint) to document your assignment in the SOAP (Subjective, Objective, Assessment, and Plan) note format, rather than the traditional narrative style.  Refer to Chapter 2 of the Sullivan text and the Comprehensive SOAP Template in this week's Learning Resources for guidance. Remember that not all comprehensive SOAP data are included in every patient case.
Use clinical terminologies to explain the physical characteristics featured in the graphic. Formulate a differential diagnosis of three to five possible conditions for the skin graphic that you chose. Determine which is most likely to be the correct diagnosis and explain your reasoning using at least 3 different references from current evidence based literature.

Questions and Topics We Can Help You To Answer:
Define health care database systems. Describe how databases are used across the health care industry.
•Explain the different database architectures including the relational architecture.
Describe the needs of database users across the health care continuum.

Questions and Topics We Can Help You To Answer:

Heart Disease-The Number One Killer in Women

Questions and Topics We can Help You To Answer

Write a 700- to 1,050-word paper that explain the components of a formal SDLC process. 
•Include a discussion of the basic elements of the SDLC. 
•Identify types of employees involved in the SDLC process and their roles (project manager, system analyst, developer).

Questions And Topics We Can Help You To Answer
Describe challenges to assuring quality health care in the U.S.
Discuss strategies to improve quality and value in the U.S. Health Care System in  21st century

Questions And Topics We Can Help You To Answer

Imagine that you have been asked to write a short paper to be published in a popular scientific magazine, such as Discovery Magazine, Scientific American, or National Geographic Magazine. You have to convey information recently published in a scientific journal in a way that is clear, straightforward, and easy to understand for someone who does not have a background in science. But at the same time all the information you provide has to be accurate and you have to comprehensively cover the main conclusions of the research paper. At the same time, you are not supposed to simply summarize the scientific paper, but you need to explain to the readers why this topic is interesting and important using your own words, and discuss the conclusions using your own knowledge. You only have one page to write your essay.

This is what you need to do for the written assignment for this course. You can use one or more of the papers presented and discussed in class, or you can choose another paper or papers as long as: the paper/s are peer reviewed, the paper/s deal with a topic related to marine science.
The essay should  follow these guidelines:

Do not write more than 1 page, single space. Font: Times New Roman 12 pt. Margins: 1 inch.
Include the references used at the end of the essay, cite the reference/s in full (author, title, journal, date, volume, pages). The reference/s can be included in a second page or on the reverse of the essay.
Check your grammar and spelling.
Be concise and organized.
The essay will be graded following the following criteria:

Originality: it is not just a summary of other people's work but includes some original and creative thinking.
Organization: it flows in a well organized and logic way
Presentation: follows the guidelines above.
Relevance: it is relevant to materials discussed in class.
Accuracy: the materials presented are based on evidence or reliable information.
Three points will be substracted for each of the following common errors in the essay:

Grammatical errors
Personal opinions: avoid using "I think" or "I believe"
Inaccurate information (check your sources)
Contractions (don't, won't, etc)
Long sentences difficult to read
Copied and pasted paragraphs (even if they are in quotes)
Non-peer reviewed references
References not cited at the end of the essay

Questions And Topics We Can Help You To Answer

Imagine that you have been asked to write a short paper to be published in a popular scientific magazine, such as Discovery Magazine, Scientific American, or National Geographic Magazine. You have to convey information recently published in a scientific journal in a way that is clear, straightforward, and easy to understand for someone who does not have a background in science. But at the same time all the information you provide has to be accurate and you have to comprehensively cover the main conclusions of the research paper. At the same time, you are not supposed to simply summarize the scientific paper, but you need to explain to the readers why this topic is interesting and important using your own words, and discuss the conclusions using your own knowledge. You only have one page to write your essay.

This is what you need to do for the written assignment for this course. You can use one or more of the papers presented and discussed in class, or you can choose another paper or papers as long as: the paper/s are peer reviewed, the paper/s deal with a topic related to marine science.
The essay should  follow these guidelines:

Do not write more than 1 page, single space. Font: Times New Roman 12 pt. Margins: 1 inch.
Include the references used at the end of the essay, cite the reference/s in full (author, title, journal, date, volume, pages). The reference/s can be included in a second page or on the reverse of the essay.
Check your grammar and spelling.
Be concise and organized.
The essay will be graded following the following criteria:

Originality: it is not just a summary of other people's work but includes some original and creative thinking.
Organization: it flows in a well organized and logic way
Presentation: follows the guidelines above.
Relevance: it is relevant to materials discussed in class.
Accuracy: the materials presented are based on evidence or reliable information.
Three points will be substracted for each of the following common errors in the essay:

Grammatical errors
Personal opinions: avoid using "I think" or "I believe"
Inaccurate information (check your sources)
Contractions (don't, won't, etc)
Long sentences difficult to read
Copied and pasted paragraphs (even if they are in quotes)
Non-peer reviewed references
References not cited at the end of the essay

Questions And Topics We Can Help You To Answer

Write a 1,050- to 1,400-word paper that analyzes a work-related project using systems analysis for a selected business system at the departmental or divisional level from your workplace, an organization, or a case study (which doesn’t have to be a health care facility).
•Include a discussion of the information-gathering techniques and design methods used in the project. 
•Analyze and evaluate what made the project a success or failure. ◦Note: This situation is used as the basis for future individual assignments.


Include 2 to 3 references relevant to the assignment, in addition to the textbook. These will likely relate to the best practices in the area being discussed this week. The references should not only provide definitions to the words used, but also validate your discussion in the paper.



Format your paper consistent with APA guidelines.

Questions And Topics We Can Help You To Answer

Write a 1,050- to 1,400-word paper that analyzes the work-related project specified last week, describing a workplace application architecture and process design.
•Apply the tools of systems analysis to describe a work-related information system’s architecture in terms of data, processes, interfaces, and networks. Draw the physical and data flow and any other necessary diagrams. Include an explanation of each diagram. You may need to talk to your systems department for some help.
•Prepare your diagrams using Microsoft® Visio®or other software that will allow you to create SDLC diagrams. Consider this assignment as an addition to the first part. This assignment incorporates transition from analysis to design for the selected system.

Include 2 to 3 references relevant to the assignment, in addition to the readings. These should relate to the best practices in the area being discussed this week. References should not only provide definitions to the words used, but also validate your discussion in the paper.



Format your paper consistent with APA guidelines.

Questions And Topics We Can Help You To Answer

Write a four page paper on your chosen topic.  Organize your paper into sections corresponding to the following requirements:

1.Biological basis. Describe the technology. Discuss what it accomplishes. Elaborate on the scientific principles that make this technology possible. Your goal in this section of the paper is to show the instructor that you understand the underlying science behind the technology. Describe how exactly the technology works. Discuss the biological principles that underlie this technology.
2.Social and ethical implications. Without disclosing your personal view about this technology, provide an analysis of its social and ethical implications. State the ethical concerns apparent in the use of this technology. Discuss the benefits and risks. Your goal in this section is to look at all sides of the issue. In the next section, you will give your opinion. 
3.Personal viewpoint. In the previous section, your goal was to be as objective as possible, to look at all sides of the issues. In this section, your goals are to give a personal opinion about the technology and provide a justification of that opinion. 
4.Use at least three (3) quality resources in this assignment, in addition to the course text. Note: Wikipedia and similar Websites do not qualify as quality resources. The body of the paper must have in-text citations that correspond to the references. Integrate all sources into your paper using proper techniques of quoting, paraphrasing and summarizing, along with proper use of in-text citations to credit your sources.

Your assignment must follow these formatting requirements:

•Be typed, double spaced, using Times New Roman font (size 12), with one-inch margins on all sides; citations and references must follow APA or school-specific format. Check with your professor for any additional instructions.
•Include a cover page containing the title of the assignment, the student’s name, the professor’s name, the course title, and the date. The cover page and the reference page are not included in the required assignment page length.
The specific course learning outcomes associated with this assignment are:

•Examine DNA structure, and function, gene expression, and control.
•Discuss the various applications of genomics and biotechnology.
•Use technology and information resources to research issues in biology.
•Write clearly and concisely about biology using proper writing mechanics.

Questions And Topics We Can Help You To Answer

Write a 750- to 1,050-word paper given the following situation:

You are selected for an internship for the CIO of a prestigious health care organization. In your first meeting with the CIO, she asks for your help in preparing a briefing she is presenting to the board.

The organization is considering expanding into an integrated health care delivery system and wants the CIO to present on the differences in IT organizational and functional needs for a teaching hospital, a radiology outpatient clinic, and a home health care agency that will become part of the integrated delivery system. Consider the following questions as you create the briefing:
•Does each type of organization need a server operations department? Consider the following departments: ◦Desktop services department
◦Network operations department
◦Application programming department
◦Interface development department
◦Help desk

•Can some of these be combined to serve all of the entities?
•Which of these functions are best onsite at each facility?
•Which are most efficiently delivered on a consolidated basis?
•What are the risks and benefits associated with each alternative?

Use at least two peer-reviewed references.



Format your paper consistent with APA guidelines.