Case Study Guide

Information That Should Always Be Included:

Treatment Details

Treatment details should include any procedures, surgery or other treatments performed.The discussion of these treatments should be very detailed, focusing on the role of the nurse. If discussing a surgery you will need to discuss equipment preparation, patient preparation, patient positioning and an overview of the procedure performed.

For procedures that are carried out more than once, or that you will reuse over in other case studies, it is handy to produce these discussions as appendices that step out the procedure, equipment, restraint etc. These can then be used over and over (and improved on as you get more confident at writing case studies) and you can just reference them in your text.

Blood was drawn from the right jugular (see appendix A) for a General Health Profile.

Then Appendix A would detail all the equipment, patient preparation, restraint, and how to carry out the procedure for jugular venepuncture. A brief discussion of the OHS risks should also be included. This can then be used on all case studies that have a jugular blood sample drawn.

How much detail do I include?

Remember to be specific! If you are discussing placing an IV catheter don’t just state ‘catheter’, but state which size catheter and why that size was chosen.

Examples:

A catheter was placed in the right front leg.

A 22G IV catheter was placed in the right cephalic vein. See Appendix B for IV catheter placement procedure.

A 22G IV catheter was placed in the right cephalic vein (see Appendix B). This was the most appropriate size catheter for the patient’s vein and adequate for maintenance rate fluid administration.

An example of an appendix:

APPENDIX 11 - ADMINISTERING INTRAVENOUS FLUID THERAPY

EQUIPMENT NEEDED:

  • intravenous fluid (of appropriate bag size and type)
  • Giving set
  • Extension set
  • Gauze swab
  • Stabi-line
  • 7.5cm Soffban
  • 7.5cm Velrap
  • 7.5cm Tensoplast
  • Drug label
  • Drip stand
  • Fluid pump

CALCULATING RATES OF ADMINISTRATION:

It should be noted that many different formulas and amounts may be used between clinics, these calculations are based on the preferred rates within the clinic where this case was treated.

The 3 basic fluid maintenance rates used within the clinic are:

  • maintenance rate - 2.5 - 5ml/kg/hr
  • Surgical rates - 10ml/kg/hr