Help needed with case studies

Re: Help needed with case studies

Jill Macdonald — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 15:28:57 GMT

It will all depend on the level studied as to how the case study should be put together, but here's a few tips I can think of...

I agree that it should be written in the third person.
Should start off with title, and details of patient (ie species, breed, age, sex, bodyweight, body condition score) (Watch out for breaking data protection rules if giving the name of the animal - don't use surname!)
Brief outline of case/presenting signs - why brought in etc, background, eg previous incidents related to case
Clinical details
Any diagnostic tests/results
Treatment/surgery etc given
Nursing care provided
Outcome
Any long-term info if appropriate - eg re-occurence of the problem, euthanasia a few weeks later
+/- (as Mark said) discussion on how it could have been handled differently. Discussion can also be on any interesting features of the case.
Drugs should be listed using generic name (eg Carprofen), and then the actual drug used (eg Rimadyl) and dose rates should be in mg/kg (ie not just in ml)
Referencing is important - depending on the 'level' of the case study. You should back up any points that you state with a suitable reference, and the case should contain a reference list at the end.
Text should be double spaced, and use a 'standard' font such as Times New Roman or Arial.

Aside from this, I'm sure if you asked your tutor they would be able to give you a rough 'template' or outline of how they would like the cases to be written, or you should be able to otain this info from somewhere. Sometimes it can be quite specific what is required by a case-study, and sometimes it is left up to you to decide!

Hope this helps, and good luck with writing your study!

Jill

Re: Help needed with case studies

Julie-Anne Wilson — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 00:10:00 GMT

I wrote all mine in 3rd person as well, I think. I wasn't told to do that but it just flowed easier.

I was always told to write it as if you're writing for someone that knows absolutely nothing about animals and Veterinary work. So you basically explain everything you are doing and why you are doing it.

Re: Help needed with case studies

Tracy Windler RVN — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 22:31:30 GMT

I was always told to write reports/case studies in the 3rd person i.e. instead of writing "I put the patient on intra-venous fluids" you would write "the patient was put on intra-venous fluids". I'm not sure if this is still the case, but I think it sounds more professional. Also, avoid writing as if you have verbal diarrhoea...." and then we did this and then we did that and then it got better, so we did this..." but structure your sentences well.

When I completed my portfolio there were standard forms for completing case logs, which helped to structure your report, but I also had to do in-depth reports for a few of the cases, which I wrote in essay form.

Have you tried looking at the various articles or case studies on this site? I think "A Day in the Life of a Veterinary Nurse" has sort-of stories which are written in a relaxed format, but could give you some tips?

Re: Help needed with case studies

Mark Hedberg — Sun, 08 Apr 2012 14:52:46 GMT

http://www.vetnurse.co.uk/wikis/diploma-nursing/case-1-fall-from-4th-floor-window.aspx

While the above is a case study for an advanced diploma, the basic principles are similar. No trick questions here - they're looking for a report on a patient's nursing. Write all about he patient's details, what was wrong with it, and what you had to do to get it better. Tell them why you did what you did. Is there something you'd do different? Might want to put that down. Are you in practice or a full time student?