NURS 6521 Differential Diagnosis for Skin Conditions Lab Report

Assignment 1: Lab Assignment: Differential Diagnosis for Skin Conditions

Photo Credit: Getty Images/iStockphoto

Differential diagnosis is a method of diagnosis that accurately determines the origin and nature of a patient’s skin issue through an elimination procedure. A health care provider can use this technique to gradually eliminate diagnoses until one is found to be the most likely reason for a group of physical abnormalities, vital signs, health assessment findings, and patient descriptions of symptoms.

You will look at numerous illustrations of various skin problems for this lab assignment, describe your findings, and utilize the methods of differential diagnosis to identify the most likely condition.

TO PREPARE

Review the list of skin conditions in this week’s learning resources, then decide which condition you want to focus on for this lab assignment.
Think about the peculiar physical traits you see in the chosen illustration. How would you characterize the traits using medical jargon?
Investigate several disorders that may be the root of the skin anomalies in the visuals you choose.
Think about which ailment is most likely to be the right diagnosis and why.
Find one peer-reviewed, evidence-based practice article about the skin issue you choose for your lab assignment by searching the Walden library. NURS 6521 Differential Diagnosis for Skin Conditions Lab Report
To assist you in creating your SOAP note, review the Comprehensive SOAP Exemplar included in this week’s Learning Resources.
Download the SOAP Template found in this week’s Learning Resources, and use this template to complete this Lab Assignment.

THE LAB ASSIGNMENT

Instead of writing your assignment in the conventional narrative manner, choose one skin condition graphic (name by number in your Chief Complaint) and use the SOAP (Subjective, Objective, Assessment, and Plan) note format. For help, use the Comprehensive SOAP Template in this week’s learning resources as well as Chapter 2 of the Sullivan text. Keep in mind that not every patient case contains complete thorough SOAP data.
Explain the physical qualities shown in the figure using medical jargon. Create a differential diagnosis for the skin image you selected, listing three to five potential disorders. Decide which diagnosis is most likely to be accurate and support your conclusions with at least three separate references, including two from this week’s learning resources and one from recent evidence-based literature that you found throughout your search. NURS 6521 Differential Diagnosis for Skin Conditions Lab Report