Cardio-Respiratory Care: Theory to Practice Module Assessment Guidance 2025

Assignment Title (please note that a title does not need to be written at the top of your assignment)

• Critically evaluate the effectiveness of a management plan for a given patient scenario with complex cardiorespiratory dysfunction

Cystic fibrosis

The patient scenarioshas several short video clips of the patient talking about their condition. This typically includes information about: diagnosis, clinical features, living with the condition, treatment and treatment burden. Although not all videos directly relate to clinical features and their management, some clips may be useful for understanding the whole person (attitudes, beliefs, motivations and goals)and how the condition affects the individual. This may influence your thoughts on how appropriate any given treatment or management may be for that individual.

How do I structure my Assignment? VERY IMPORTANT

This is a suggested basic outline of the Assignment; more details can be found in the Assignment presentation lecture and document supporting the understanding of the Level 7 assignment Rubric found in the Assessment folder.

• Choose 1 patient scenarioto base your assignment on (from the given option via the patient scenario links). Watch and/or read the patient’s story paying close attention to the clinical features they describe (signs and symptoms) and any attitudes, beliefs and thoughts about the management of their condition. Also note personal details such as age and gender but there is no need to give every detail about the person – only refer to them when it helps to show patient-centredness and to illustrate relevant points in your work

• Assignment introduction. This section should briefly introduce the patient-condition that has been chosen, for example asthma. It should include a definition of the condition with its incidence/prevalence, aetiology, burden on patient (e.g. influence of the condition on quality of life, morbidity, mortality rates) and health care system (e.g. cost to health care system). Reference to how typical the patient in the scenario is to the condition could be made, for example, is the age, gender and ethnicity of the person characteristic or typical of the condition? The introduction should finish by telling the reader what the assignment will include – this need only be two or three sentences. The whole introduction should be no more than half a side of A4 paper.
  
  
• From thechosen patient scenario, choose one clinical feature highlighted in the audio-video recording / written script to focus on in your assignment, for example, breathlessness in asthma or chest painin myocardial infarction.
  
  
• Explore the normal anatomy and physiology of the structures involved in your chosen clinical feature, for example, normal airway wall structure, in and function, of most relevant airways, when considering breathlessness in asthma. To prepare for this section, it is helpful first look at the patho physiology underpinning the clinical feature to ensure that you focus only on the most relevant normal structures and their function.
  
  
• Then explore how the patho physiology underpinning your chosen clinical feature affects the normal structure and function. For example, how does abnormal airway wall smooth muscle contraction happen and how might it contribute to breathlessness in asthma.
  
  
• Briefly consider the current management options for treating your chosen clinical feature. This could beaccording to national guidelines and evidence based/best practice. This maybe different to the management approach mentioned in the video/case scenario. This section should only be 1 paragraph.
  
  
• The above sections should make up approximately one half of the assignment (i.e. 2000 words).
  
  
• Next focus on the effectiveness of one treatment approach, justifying the reason for your choice,using research evidence. This will involve using a Search strategy to explore the literature base underpinning your chosen treatment approach. The research articles captured by this search should then be whittled down to 3 studies (with justification) that are then critically analysed in the context of the assignment question and the patient in the video.This involves considering the strengths and weaknesses of each study with particular attention to any biases which may result and have influence on the study findings. An evaluation of the research findings for each study in relation to the specific patient scenario should then be made, for example, would the management approach suit the age, gender, attitudes, and beliefs of the patient in the scenario. Also explain how the given management approach treats the clinical featurei.e. how does the treatment alter the pathophysiology described in the first half of the assignment.
  
  
• Small summaries should be made throughout the critical analysis but also a summary of the research findings from all the studies should be made before moving to the final conclusion. This should highlight to what extent the chosen treatment approach is likely to be effective in the patient scenario, with justification (in your opinion).It should also consider implications or recommendations for professional practice and recommendations for further study.
  
  
• The final conclusion should bring together all the main ideas/concepts that the work has raised. It should ‘answer’ the assignment remit and should not just be a list of points covered in the main text.The final conclusion should be approximately 10% of the overall word count (i.e. 400 words).