Assessment 2: Written essay- case based scenario
Assessment type: Case study
Length: 1500 words (+/- 10%)
Weighting: 35%
Subject related SiLOs: 1-3
Instructions:
This case study is adapted from Ben’s s story, who you’ll be familiar with from workshops you’ve attended:
Ben is a 65-year-old, retired gentleman. Ben lives with his wife Jan who is very supportive and has two adult children Jason and Rose. Ben was diagnosed with Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer three years ago, and was treated with surgery, chemotherapy, and radiotherapy. Up until recently Ben had been fit and well with scans showing no recurrence of disease. A month ago, Ben developed a cough and chest pain, and after seeing his GP was referred for diagnostic imaging. Unfortunately, recent investigations revealed a recurrence of Ben’s lung cancer, which has now metastasised. Please watch here:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KPafo1s5N9A
Ben has been well supported by Jan since receiving this news, however Jan has found Ben’s care increasingly difficult to manage. As such, Ben is transferred to an aged care facility for respite care. During Ben’s stay, Ben discusses his concerns about dying with Jen, a care worker at the facility. Please watch here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bza_OM_NSC4
You are required to write a case -based essay that answers the following questions. You are not required to discuss Ben’s specific medical diagnosis, as in the specific pathophysiology of Lung cancer; the focus of this essay is to explore the role of advance care planning in the context of Ben’s chronic illness progression. This will require you to understand the illness trajectory of metastatic lung cancer.
Using The Medical Treatment Planning and Decisions Act which came into effect on March,
2018
http://www.legislation.vic.gov.au/Domino/Web_Notes/LDMS/PubStatbook.nsf/f932b66241
ecf1b7ca256e92000e23be/B4D3EBB66E52E98CCA25807A0014F70D/$FILE/16069aa%20authorised.pdf
? Discuss the possible benefits of Advance care planning for Ben and Jan
? At what point throughout Ben’s illness trajectory might a conversation on advanced care planning be initiated with Ben? There may be differing opinions on this within the literature, please describe these.
? What sort of information should be included in the advance care plan? Discuss any supporting documents (relevant in Victoria) that may be included in the Advance care plan.
? When would the advance care plan be reviewed and activated?
Planning your essay:
When you plan your essay, consider a person-centred approach to support your discussion. You need to support your discussion with high quality, peer reviewed literature. Your essay needs to draw from legislation that is relevant to Victoria, as laws and legislation vary both nationally and internationally.
In your essay:
• Identify Ben, his diagnosis of metastatic lung cancer and how it applies to the progression of his chronic illness to set the context for your discussion. To do this you will need an understanding of the illness trajectory of metastatic lung cancer, and how the progression of the disease will impact Ben.
• Include an introduction, body and conclusion in your essay. Use headings to indicate the topic you are discussing. The four essay questions can be used as headings.
Please refer to the La Trobe University Nursing & Midwifery Assessment
Presentation Guide:http://latrobe.libguides.com/writing/Nursing
• Ensure you have clear and logical transitions between the introduction, body, and conclusion.
• Discuss why advance care planning is important in relation to person centred care, and informed decision making by drawing from your research sources and their arguments. You are required to use peer reviewed, scholarly articles to support each point you make. You may use Australian government or other authoritative websites
as a point of reference, however the use of web- based sources, or any non -peer reviewed sources is not acceptable (ie Better Health channel, Wikipedia).
• Discuss what sort of information would be included in an advance care plan, referring to the Victoria specific forms which can be found here:
https://www.advancecareplanning.org.au/resources/advance-care-planning-foryour-state-territory/vic
• Discuss when an advance care plan would be reviewed (remembering that advance care planning is an ongoing process and people’s preferences may change over time), and when it would be activated.
• Make sure that any statement of fact is supported by evidence, correctly referenced in-text and in the reference list. When using evidence, paraphrase where possible, and always cite sources.
• Conclude your essay by summarising, not simply restating the essay but by readdressing it considering the evidence provided. Never add any additional and new information in the conclusion!
Helpful checklist:
1) Have you reviewed the case study, Medical Treatment Planning and Decisions Act, 2016, discussed any supporting documents that may be included in the process 2) Is your discussion clear, concise and defined?
3) Have you answered all the essay questions?
4) Resources (Research). Have you used appropriate literature to support your discussion?
5) Writing
• Clear expression
• Clear and logical structure
• Logical transitions between sections
• Clear paragraphs (topic sentence, evidence, analysis)
• Academic language use e.g. appropriate vocabulary
• Spelling and grammar
• Punctuation
6) Referencing
• APA 6 or 7 referencing style is used consistently
• In-text referencing is used
• A reference list is included
• References are correctly formatted and listed