Learning outcomes

1. Critically appraise assessment, planning, monitoring and subsequent treatment of patients presenting with acute illness.

2. Critically evaluate their own professional practice in relation to the management of acutely ill patients.

Using a case study approach, students will discuss and reflect on the care management of an acutely ill patient, taking account of best available evidence (2500 words).

Coursework 1

Acutely Ill Patient Care Case

• No individuals (including patients and staff) should be contacted.

• No medical, health or any other records should be used.

• Confidentiality needs to be maintained including the explicit use of pseudonyms and, as appropriate, removal or modification of personal identifiers.

Episode of Care

• Only one episode of care should be discussed – the episode of care that is discussed needs to be identified at the start.

Focus

• The focus should be the patient.

Patient Case

Can be a:

• Patient recently or previously encountered by you or colleagues.

• Patient in your current or previous health settings.

• Patient you have professionally and anonymously discussed with other professionals.

• Patient encountered during student placement (during your nursing training).

• Made-up case study, accommodating issues you would like to explore, within the confinements of the Learning Outcomes.

Cannot be a case from:

• Journals.

• The internet.

• Books.

• Published sources.

• Similar sources to the above.

Introduction

Brief, key background information, relevant literature including explaining what the case of acute illness is and what the work will explore.

Patient information

Demographic of the patient, the patient’s main compliant/s, relevant medical, and psychosocial history, management of the patient and reflection.

Discussion

Discussion of the relevant literature, arguments with rationale, inferences explained, lessons learnt or what we can take from the discussions, considerations for practice and/or research going forward, strengths and/or limitations.

Manuscript

Your manuscript needs to;

• Include page numbers (pages should be numbered at the top right).

• Be double-spaced

• Have a 1-inch (2.54 cm) margin, Times New Roman or Arial, 12 font.

• Maintain the confidentiality of service users/patients/clients and persons associated with them, service colleagues and organisations.

• Include a reference list (Harvard referencing), headed with ‘References’ centred, do not make it bold. Please refer to Cite Them Right.

• Use ‘the author’ to describe yourself (however you can use ‘I’ or ‘my’ etc. in self-reflection e.g., this phenomenon was often present in my practice).