Lab Assignment: Differential Diagnosis For Skin Conditions Essay
Lab Assignment: Differential Diagnosis For Skin Conditions Essay
Assignment 1: Lab Assignment: Differential Diagnosis for Skin Conditions
Properly identifying the cause and type of a patient’s skin condition involves a process of elimination known as differential diagnosis. Using this process, a health professional can take a given set of physical abnormalities, vital signs, health assessment findings, and patient descriptions of symptoms, and incrementally narrow them down until one diagnosis is determined as the most likely cause.In this Lab Assignment, you will examine several visual representations of various skin conditions, describe your observations, and use the techniques of differential diagnosis to determine the most likely condition. Lab Assignment: Differential Diagnosis For Skin Conditions Essay
To Prepare
Review the Skin Conditions document provided in this week’s Learning Resources, and select one condition to closely examine for this Lab Assignment.
Consider the abnormal physical characteristics you observe in the graphic you selected. How would you describe the characteristics using clinical terminologies?
Explore different conditions that could be the cause of the skin abnormalities in the graphics you selected.
Consider which of the conditions is most likely to be the correct diagnosis, and why.
Search the Walden library for one evidence-based practice, peer-reviewed article based on the skin condition you chose for this Lab Assignment. Lab Assignment: Differential Diagnosis For Skin Conditions Essay.
Review the Comprehensive SOAP Exemplar found in this week’s Learning Resources to guide you as you prepare your SOAP note.
Download the SOAP Template found in this week’s Learning Resources, and use this template to complete this Lab Assignment.
The Lab Assignment
Choose one skin condition graphic (identify by number in your Chief Complaint) to document your assignment in the SOAP (Subjective, Objective, Assessment, and Plan) note format rather than the traditional narrative style.
Refer to Chapter 2 of the Sullivan text and the Comprehensive SOAP Template in this week’s Learning Resources for guidance. Remember that not all comprehensive SOAP data are included in every patient case.
Use clinical terminologies to explain the physical characteristics featured in the graphic.
Formulate a differential diagnosis of three to five possible conditions for the skin graphic that you chose.
Determine which is most likely to be the correct diagnosis and explain your reasoning using at least three different references, one reference from current evidence-based literature from your search and two different references from this week’s Learning Resources. Lab Assignment: Differential Diagnosis For Skin Conditions Essay.
Properly identifying the cause and type of a patient’s skin condition involves a process of elimination known as differential diagnosis. Using this process, a health professional can take a given set of physical abnormalities, vital signs, health assessment findings, and patient descriptions of symptoms, and incrementally narrow them down until one diagnosis is determined as the most likely cause.
In this Discussion, you will examine several visual representations of various skin conditions, describe your observations, and use the techniques of differential diagnosis to determine the most likely condition.
Note: Your Discussion post should be in the SOAP (Subjective, Objective, Assessment, and Plan) note format, rather than the traditional narrative style Discussion posting format. Refer to Chapter 2 of the Sullivan text and the Comprehensive SOAP Template in this week’s Learning Resources for guidance. Remember that not all comprehensive SOAP data are included in every patient case. Lab Assignment: Differential Diagnosis For Skin Conditions Essay.
Please use sources from
Ball, J. W., Dains, J. E., Flynn, J. A., Solomon, B. S., & Stewart, R. W. (2015). Seidel’s guide to physical examination (8th ed.). St. Louis, MO: Elsevier Mosby.
•Chapter 8, “Skin, Hair, and Nails” (pp. 114-165)
This chapter reviews the basic anatomy and physiology of skin, hair, and nails. The chapter also describes guidelines for proper skin, hair, and nails assessments.
Dains, J. E., Baumann, L. C., & Scheibel, P. (2016). Advanced health assessment and clinical diagnosis in primary care (5th ed.). St. Louis, MO: Elsevier Mosby.
•Chapter 28, “Rashes and Skin Lesions” (pp. 325-343)
This chapter explains the steps in an initial examination of someone with dermatological problems, including the type of information that needs to be gathered and assessed.
To prepare:
•Review the Skin Conditions document provided in this week’s Learning Resources, and select two conditions to closely examine for this Discussion.
•Consider the abnormal physical characteristics you observe in the graphics you selected. How would you describe the characteristics using clinical terminologies?
•Explore different conditions that could be the cause of the skin abnormalities in the graphics you selected.
•Consider which of the conditions is most likely to be the correct diagnosis, and why.
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By Day 3
Post a description of the two graphics you selected (identify each graphic by number). Use clinical terminologies to explain the physical characteristics featured in each graphic. Formulate a differential diagnosis of three to five possible conditions for each. Determine which is most likely to be the correct diagnosis, and explain your reasoning. Lab Assignment: Differential Diagnosis For Skin Conditions Essay.
Student’s Name
Institutional Affiliation
Differential Diagnosis for Skin Conditions
Graphic 5
Subjective
The graphic presents a skin of a patient of unknown age who complaints of itchy skin in large areas of the body. The most affected areas are the joints as reported by the patients. The patient states that the dandruff-like scales appear in cycles which appear after a week then subsides before erupting again. The patient notes that there were such conditions among the family member sometimes back.
Objective
Plaques of redness on the skin are visible. There is reddening of the skin. The red patches of skin are covered with silvery scales. The skin is cracked, and there is some bleeding. The nails are pitted and ridged. The joints are swollen.
Assessment (Differential Diagnosis)
Possibilities include seborrheic dermatitis, lichen planus, ringworm of the body, pityriasis rosea, and psoriasis. Seborrheic dermatitis is a possibility although the scaly skin is not greasy as it is with this condition and therefore less likely to be (Dains, Baumann, & Scheibel, 2016). Lichen planus is also a possible condition but the fact that lichen has flat-topped bumps makes it less likely here. Lab Assignment: Differential Diagnosis For Skin Conditions Essay.
