Assessment: Case Study
Aim of assessment
The aim of this assessment is to increase students understanding of how microorganisms can cause health breakdown and the role of relevant pharmacological interventions in the recovery processes. Students will explore various modes of transmission relevant characteristics of pathogens and the importance of breaking the chain of infection. This assessment facilitates the development of the following skills: critical appraisal of the nurses role in infection control literature searching and academic writing and referencing.
Details
Students are provided with a hypothetical case study to read. They then must answer the questions provided relating to the study. Students should draw on relevant literature provided to support their answers and reference using the APA 6th Ed. style.
Please note:
Students must respond to each of the questions using academic writing. It is anticipated that the work will be presented in a question / answer format using full sentences and paragraphs. Students MUST use the electronic template (provided by University) for this assignment. A soft word copy must be accessed from the Unit vUWS site.
As a guide please aim to write around 35 words per allocated mark for each question. Thus if a question is worth 10 marks aim to answer it in around 350 words.
There is a word limit of 1200 words. Use your computer to total the number of words used in your assignment. However do not include the reference list at the end of your assignment in the word count. In-text citations will be included in the additional 10% word count. If you exceed the word limit by more than 10% the marker will stop marking at 1200 words plus 10%.
Case Study:
Brian (88 years old) is a resident at a high dependency aged care facility (nursing home). He has developed infectious conjunctivitis in his right eye. On examination his eye was found to be red and swollen with a purulent and sticky discharge. His vision was unaffected; however he did complain that his eye was painful. The doctor prescribed gentamicin eye drops which were to be administered to both eyes.
Using the supplied template (to be accessed from the Assessment tab in the Units vUWS site) answer the following questions:
Q1. Background of the case study (Total: 5 marks)
1.1 What is infectious conjunctivitis? (1 mark)
1.2 Of the four micro-organisms listed below justify which one is more likely to be the cause of Brians eye infection. Indicate why the other micro-organisms from the list are less likely to cause the infection. (4 marks)
Legionella pneumophila
Plasmodium ovale
Adenovirus
Escherichia coli
Q2. Mechanism of action and adverse reactions (Total: 5 marks)
2.1 Describe the mechanism of action of gentamicin (4 marks)
2.2 Name two possible adverse reactions to this drug (1 mark)
Q3. Mediators of signs and symptoms (Total: 10 marks).
3.1-3.3 Identify and discuss the various chemical and cellular mediators which are responsible for any three signs or symptoms of Brians condition (10 marks).
Q4. Infection control issues (Total 5 marks)
4.1-4.2 Identify and discuss two infection control issues associated with high dependency aged care facilities that can contribute to the spread of conjunctivitis (5 marks).
Q5. Transmission of infection (Total: 5 marks)
5.1 Mary who resides in the room next door was diagnosed with the same eye infection 4 days later. Describe how the organism could have been transmitted from Brians eye to Marys eye (describe the chain of infection that could have occurred form Brians eye to Marys eye) (5 marks).
Q6. Breaking the chain of infection (Total: 5 marks)
6.1 Describe two procedures nurses will need to undertake to prevent the infection from Brians eye being transmitted to another individual. Clearly explain how each procedure will effectively break the chain of infection (5 marks).
Q7. Presentation: 5 marks. See template
The template plus the prescribed ref list have a word count of 269 and 188 words respectively (total=447 words). The case study allows for 1200 words (+/- 10%) therefore your total maximum word count would be 1200 + 447 = 1647 plus 10% of 1200 words or 120 words which equals 1767 words. Subsequently the template and reference list will account for about 27-30 % similarity that you neednt worry about. You can also see which highlighted components of your work are from the references and template so can easily focus on just the parts that show similarity outside of these two entities.
Resources
Only the following eight resources may be used and cited in this case study. Some of these can be accessed online as indicated.
References:
Boland M. (Director) Santall J. (Presenter) & Video Education Australasia. (2011). Infection control in healthcare [Videorecording]. Bendigo Australia: VEA. Available online
Boustcha E. & Nicolle L. E. (1995). Conjunctivitis in a long-term care facility. Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology. 16 (4) 210-216. Available online
Bullock S. & Manias E. (2014). Fundamentals of pharmacology (7th ed.). Frenchs Forest Australia: Pearson Australia.
Craft J. Gordon C. Heuther S. McCance K. Brashers V. & Rote N. (2015). Understanding pathophysiology 2. Chatswood Australia: Elsevier. Available online (2011 edition)
Lee G. & Bishop P. (2013). Microbiology and infection control for health professionals (5th ed.). Frenchs Forest Australia: Pearson.
Lehne R. A. Moore L. Crosby L. & Hamilton D. (2013). Pharmacology for nursing care (8th ed.). St. Louis Mo: Saunders/Elsevier. Available online
Marieb E.N. &Hoehn K. (2014). Human anatomy & physiology. (9th ed.). Boston MA: Pearson.
Porth C. M. &Matfin G. (2014). Pathophysiology: Concepts of altered health states (9th ed.). Philadelphia PA: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.

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