Nursing and healthcare are promising careers that demand the best & brightest. Generic courses on nursing do not only test skills and knowledge, but physical & mental resiliency, decision-making abilities, and how well one can handle challenging circumstances & the people involved.
Case studies are a time-honored aspect of medical literature. Nursing case studies are found in medical journals and research documents worldwide. Every year, thousands of peer-reviewed case reports/studies have been published that act as treasures of information for both aspirants and professionals. In addition, they are indispensable to nursing course curriculums as a quality nursing case study help learners acquire accurate ideas about diverse medical cases.
So, what does it take to develop the perfect nursing case study? Why do we need and how to write informative, in-depth, and critical case studies on any nursing topic? This article explores in-depth.
Why Are Nursing Case Studies Essential?
Case studies play a crucial role in healthcare. Case studies can be the perfect find for anyone looking for a genuine standardized reference. Different case studies highlight other instances, problems, circumstances and resolution methods.
Detailed case studies offer much background information, including patient details, medical history, diagnosis reports, and more. To nurses & doctors under training, a case study is a near-equivalent of actual hands-on experience.
However, insightful case studies need to be more than just anecdotal reports. Case studies involving esoteric circumstances and complex conditions need to be reasonably detailed for the uninitiated to understand.
A well-written nursing case study can help readers gain depth & breadth-specific information, which can aid learners substantially in the long run.
So, what’s the roadmap to a perfect nursing case study? What information is necessary & what format to follow? The following section elucidates.
General Instructions & Developing Nursing Case Studies
The following guidelines, instructions, and structure have their basis in the ‘Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals”. They can be used across the spectrum, from generic to rare, exceedingly specific cases.
An Abstract: Complete & Concise
Abstracts need to be short and sweet. They must be precise, well-organized, systematic, and highly informative. Craft your abstract so that readers get a good idea of what to expect from the content.
Mention background detail, and tell why the case is essential & needs its case study. Do not forget to add patient history & medical background alongside a detailed case presentation. Wrap up the abstract with a conclusion where readers get to learn the outcomes of the case and what clinical impact it may have. Finally, identify teaching points and any clinical specialty identified.
The Case Presentation: Begin With The Patient
The patient is THE most important person involved in any case. Their well-being is the target outcome, and case studies must collate all crucial information. The signs & symptoms, the medical history, responses, examinations, etc., are valuable insights that can inform and guide nurses facing similar scenarios.
- Introductions should lay down crucial patient information so as to establish context and allow readers to relate to similar cases.
- Essential information includes the nature of symptoms, location & intensity of discomfort/affliction/sensation, etc.
- Data about patient history, details of onset such as time, circumstances, gradual evolution of symptoms, conditions, etc., come next.
- Mention factors that aggravate the conditions as well as things that alleviate & bring relief.
- Patient and family history are vital data that can help healthcare givers understand & analyse closely.
- A cohesive summary of the results of all medical examinations & observations conducted on the patient through time.
Nursing, Management, & Final Outcomes
This is where details regarding applied to alleviate remedies, implemented nursing & care practices, etc., are mentioned. Again, be specific and well-organised when saying all points.
- Describe the treatment avenues as concisely and informatively as possible. For example, mention critical details about the manner, frequency, and duration. Also, write about medications, therapies, and aids recommended.
- Write about objective observations and measures regarding the patient’s progress.
- Describe the entire process of nursing, care and resolution. Mention relevant and notable stages during the treatment process, the patient’s response to treatment, and any further treatments.
A Focused Discussion
The discussions section merges information from the preceding sections and delivers insightful, intuitive, & critical ideas about the case & the patient. Synthesise data regarding treatment procedures, note key observations & treatment resolutions and patient outcomes, and summarise your observations & analysis.
Talk about the lessons learned and summarise the entire case evaluation cohesively & concisely.
The above points offer a lucid and straightforward approach to crafting excellent nursing case studies. Hope it aids readers in developing quality content that acts as excellent references and intuitive instructional examples. For nursing case study writing help, look for reputed college paper writing service.
We wrap up this write-up with a look at the generic template of a nursing case study.
Author-Bio
Emma Grace is a professor of nursing and healthcare at a major university in Yorkshire, UK. She is also a part-time tutor with MyAssignmenthelp.com, a leading college paper writing service.