NSB021 Assessment 3 Comparative Essay Assessment Task – Comparative Essay Select one of the nursing care interventions listed (A to C below) for the patients in the clinical scenarios. For the nursing intervention you select, develop a discussion of the specific differences and similarities required in provision of nursing care for Mr. Stevens as compared to Jane. Particularly focus on discussing how nursing care will need to be modified for the intervention selected, based on the age and developmental considerations for each of the patients (Minimum of two nursing care elements, see example at the end of this document). Use a mix of contemporary text and research articles to support your discussion points. It is suggested that you use only a brief introduction and conclusion and employ the majority of the word length in addressing the focus of the assessment task. Submit via – Turn it in Length: 1000 words (minimum of 10 references) Check the Criteria Referenced Assessment (CRA) grid to review assessment expectations and the essay example on blackboard before you start. Clinical Scenarios Interventions planned for both Mr Stevens and Jane include the following (select one): A. maintain adequate level of oxygenation B. maintain safety when mobilising out of bed C. maintain hydration and positive fluid balance Mr. Stevens is a frail looking 85 year old man admitted to hospital today with a 7 day history of a respiratory illness recently diagnosed as Influenza A with a secondary bacterial infection. He has experienced a severe productive cough, fever and malaise. He looks pale and says he feels really awful, faint and has a headache. His respirations are laboured and chest expansion is equal. In handover night staff said he was disorientated at times during the night and removed his oxygen mask so they changed him over to nasal prongs. Mr Stevens currently has oxygen 2 litres per minute delivered by nasal prongs. His most recent vital signs are BP 140/85 mmhg lying down, pulse 96 beats/minute and regular, respirations 28 breathes/ minute, temperature 37.8C and Sa02 95%. When the nurse inquires if he has pain Mr Stevens says he has a dull ache in his upper back that has got a bit better since another nurse got him a hot pack. He has an intravenous bung in his right forearm through which antibiotics are administered. Mr. Stevens usually lives independently with his wife of 60 years in their Brisbane home. He uses a walking stick when mobilising to aid his balance. Jane is a 4 year old girl accompanied by her mother and admitted today with a 72 hour history of a respiratory illness recently diagnosis as Influenza A, with a secondary bacterial infection. She has experienced high fever, frequent coughing and running nose at home. Mum, Anne says ‘I bought her in as she seemed so unwell and miserable, Jane is unusually quiet and wants to stay in bed or be sitting on my lap which is very abnormal for her’. Jane has an intravenous bung i.

1. NSB021 Assessment 3
Comparative Essay
Assessment Task – Comparative Essay
Select one of the nursing care interventions listed (A to C
below) for the patients in the clinical scenarios. For the nursing
intervention you select, develop a discussion of the specific
differences and similarities required in provision of nursing
care for Mr. Stevens as compared to Jane. Particularly focus on
discussing how nursing care will need to be modified for the
intervention selected, based on the age and developmental
considerations for each of the patients (Minimum of two nursing
care elements, see example at the end of this document). Use a
mix of contemporary text and research articles to support your
discussion points. It is suggested that you use only a brief
introduction and conclusion and employ the majority of the
word length in addressing the focus of the assessment task.
Submit via – Turn it in
Length: 1000 words (minimum of 10 references)
Check the Criteria Referenced Assessment (CRA) grid to review
assessment expectations and the essay example on blackboard
before you start.
Clinical Scenarios
Interventions planned for both Mr Stevens and Jane include the
following (select one):
A. maintain adequate level of oxygenation
B. maintain safety when mobilising out of bed
C. maintain hydration and positive fluid balance
Mr. Stevens is a frail looking 85 year old man admitted to
hospital today with a 7 day history of a respiratory illness
recently diagnosed as Influenza A with a secondary bacterial
infection. He has experienced a severe productive cough, fever
and malaise. He looks pale and says he feels really awful, faint
and has a headache. His respirations are laboured and chest

2. expansion is equal. In handover night staff said he was
disorientated at times during the night and removed his oxygen
mask so they changed him over to nasal prongs. Mr Stevens
currently has oxygen 2 litres per minute delivered by nasal
prongs. His most recent vital signs are BP 140/85 mmhg lying
down, pulse 96 beats/minute and regular, respirations 28
breathes/ minute, temperature 37.8C and Sa02 95%. When the
nurse inquires if he has pain Mr Stevens says he has a dull ache
in his upper back that has got a bit better since another nurse
got him a hot pack. He has an intravenous bung in his right
forearm through which antibiotics are administered. Mr.
Stevens usually lives independently with his wife of 60 years in
their Brisbane home. He uses a walking stick when mobilising
to aid his balance.
Jane is a 4 year old girl accompanied by her mother and
admitted today with a 72 hour history of a respiratory illness
recently diagnosis as Influenza A, with a secondary bacterial
infection. She has experienced high fever, frequent coughing
and running nose at home. Mum, Anne says ‘I bought her in as
she seemed so unwell and miserable, Jane is unusually quiet and
wants to stay in bed or be sitting on my lap which is very
abnormal for her’. Jane has an intravenous bung in her right
forearm through which antibiotics are administered. Jane also
has oxygen 1 litre per minute delivered by nasal prongs. Night
staff said she removed the nasal prongs several times in her
sleep and has been crying and angry when staff have cleaned
mucus from her nostrils and replaced them. She told Anne ‘it
hurts when I cough’. Her most recent vital signs are pulse 124
beats/minute and regular, respirations 30 breathes/ minute,
temperature 37.8C, Sa02 95%. Peripheral capillary refill on the
skin of her knee is a little slow at 2 seconds. Both Jane and
Anne are accommodated in a single room with Anne staying as
a ‘boarding parent’. Jane is the youngest of 2 siblings in this
family. Anne is able to stay in hospital with Jane as her other
child is being cared for by her grandmother.

3. Below is an example of writing in a similar style to that
expected for this assessment. The scenario the example is
writing about below is similiar to what you have to address- 2
patients have gastroenteritis and dehydration. In the example
the writer has compared the nursing communication
approaches that are relevant for a child and an elderly
adult. You have different nursing care elements to discuss in
assessment 2 however this example highlights the discussion-
based writing style required.
Example: Section from a comparative essay
Nursing Care: Nursing communication - instructing patient
about frequent sips of clear fluids of his/her choice or
dextrose/electrolyte oral rehydration solution (ORS) as he/she
can tolerate
Two main nursing interventions known for rehydrating patients,
are intravenous therapy and oral rehydration solution commonly
known as ORS. In George’s and Eloise’s scenarios, both of
these interventions are used. ORS is composed of sodium,
dextrose and bicarbonate and can be mixed with other diluted
drinks if preferred (Churgay & Aftab, 2012). A common
similarity between George and Eloise in terms of this nursing
element is encouragement from the nursing staff. Regularly
drinking fluids while feeling sick and experiencing pain in the
stomach can be quite difficult for any age. Encouraging
communication is therefore needed for both patients in order to
help them with improving rehydration. However in order to
achieve this, different communication techniques are required.
For Eloise, encouraging communication that centers around her

4. is important. At this age, a child's main focus is on themselves
and how certain things will effect them (Hockenberry & Wilson,
2013). Therefore by talking to Eloise about how drinking the
fluid will make her feel better and not talking about anything
else, will gain her attention and focus. Making the task fun will
also enhance her interest. Additionally Jones identifies (2013)
that small children dislike unfamiliar tastes so asking about her
parent about what is familiar is to her and using it is important.
For example, allowing her to drink diluted juice or cordial
flavours that she likes and giving her a reward for reaching a
certain point will make it feel more like a prize than a task.
This type of encouragement communication is significantly
different with George. Where Eloise is more focused on how
things affect her, at George’s age, he is more likely to be
thinking of how his illness will affect his wife, how he feels and
what he can do to feel better. Therefore, in terms of
communication, the most appropriate way would be to explain
options and benefits to him (Brown & Edwards, 2013). George
will most likely be a lot more willing to cooperate if he
understands that regular intake of small amounts of fluid
will help improve his hydration level and make recovery a lot
quicker. Another way of encouraging fluid intake for George,
would be to consider his individual preferences by asking his
normal intake patterns, for example is he more likely to prefer
weak tea, water or something else? (Rose, 2014)
NSB021: Assessment 2 Comparative Essay Student name
_________________________ Number _______________
Criteria
7
6
5
4 (←pass)
3 (fail →)
2 - 1

5. Discussed age related developmental modification to care that
demonstrated foundational-level clinical decision making skills
· Discussion correctly identified similarities / differences in
care
· Discussion points always clearly made links between nursing
care modification and age related needs demonstrating clinical
decision making
· Discussion correctly identified similarities / differences in
care
· 1 or 2 discussion points incorrect
· Discussion points clearly made links between almost all of
nursing care modification and age related needs demonstrating
clinical decision making
· Most of discussion correctly identified similarities /
differences in care
· Minor areas incorrect
· Discussion points made links between most of nursing care
modification and age related needs demonstrating some clinical
decision making but:
· A few errors or areas where links were not explained clearly
· Over half of discussion correctly identified similarities /
differences in care
· Some areas correct / some incorrect
· Discussion points made links between some of nursing care
modification and age related needs demonstrating some clinical
decision making but:
· Links between nursing care and age related modifications
unclear in some places or not discussed
· discussion incorrectly identified similarities / differences in
care in more than half of points
· links between nursing care and age are not clearly stated in
majority of areas
· in majority of essay, writing was descriptive and did not
compare and contrast nursing care related to age
· Limited / no attempt at discussion of similarities or

6. differences in care
· Points largely incorrect
· Large sections not related to essay topic
· Limited / no contrast between nursing care and patient age
related needs
· Links incorrect or not stated
evidence utilisation: located and incorporated a range of
relevant information from scholarly sources that supported
your discussion
· Discussion points always incorporate a range of current and
relevant nursing literature from scholarly sources as support
· Discussion points mostly incorporate a range of current and
relevant nursing literature from scholarly sources as support.
· Discussion points incorporate current and relevant nursing
literature from scholarly sources as support, more often than
not.
· Some points are not adequately supported by valid literature
· Discussion points incorporate some current and relevant
nursing literature from scholarly sources as support
· More than half of points are relevant to topic and based in
valid evidence but:
· Some points are not adequately supported by valid literature
· Some areas lacked valid reference sources / support
· Discussion points incorporate some current and relevant
nursing literature from scholarly sources as support however:
· Major sections use invalid references
· large sections of your written assignment are not based on
identified valid evidence
· Discussion points do not incorporate current and relevant
nursing literature from scholarly sources as support
· sources of information are incorrectly or not identified
· writing is characterized by an absence of scientific evidence
Communicate in academic writing
logically and succinctly structured the content to create a

7. coherent essay by:
logically structured the content to create a coherent essay by:
structured the content to create an essay that had coherent
sections by:
partially structured the content into loosely-linked rudimentary
paragraphs by:
made some statements that occasionally related to the topic by:
writing did not address the given topic
· used formal academic language
· mostly adhered to conventions of academic writing set out in
cite|write
mostly used formal academic language
mostly adhered to conventions of academic writing set out in
cite|write
sometimes used formal academic language
some adherence to conventions of academic writing set out in
cite|write
only used informal language
violated some conventions of academic writing set out in
cite/write
· Language was unclear in many areas
· violated conventions of academic writing set out in QUT
cite|write
consistently adhered to the English conventions of grammar,
paragraphing, punctuation, spelling
mainly adhered to the English conventions of grammar,
paragraphing, punctuation, spelling
mostly followed the English conventions of grammar,
paragraphing, punctuation, spelling
mostly followed the English conventions of grammar,
paragraphing, punctuation, spelling
occasionally used the English conventions of grammar,
punctuation, spelling
English expression was unclear / incorrect in many areas

8. Many grammar, spelling punctuation errors
accurately and consistently adhered to QUT APA referencing
conventions, in both the text and the reference list
almost always accurately and consistently adhered to QUT APA
referencing conventions, in both the text and the reference list
accurately followed, for the most part, QUT APA referencing
conventions in both the text and the reference list
followed some of QUT APA referencing conventions in both the
text and the reference list
few minor errors
occasionally referenced and acknowledged a source of
information
several errors in referencing style
· Errors in within text referencing
· APA reference list with 5 or more errors
consistently presented in the required style
· mostly presented in the required style
· presentation showed some aspects of the required style
· presentation showed few aspects of the required style
· ignored the required style in most of the assessment
· ignored the required style
Comments
Strengths /
what was done well in this
assessment

9. Limitations in this assessment / what to improve in future
Suggestions for how to improve this type of assessment in the
future

10. Grade ____________ Marker Signature
__________________