This NUR 325 Module 5 page holds a finished patient analysis of new urinary incontinence in an older woman, with data summary, reversible-cause screen, type analysis, priority problems, health literacy plan and references. Searches like "nur 325 module 5 assignment", "nur325 module 5 patient analysis" and "nur 325 module 5 example" land here.
The NUR 325 Module 5 example, in full
Patient Analysis: New Urinary Incontinence in a 78-Year-Old Woman Living Alone
[Student Name]
Southern New Hampshire University
NUR 325: Patient Assessment and Health Literacy
Module Five Patient Analysis
[Instructor Name]
[Date]
The organization, setting and figures below are a composite written as a model document. No real employer, client, colleague or patient is described.
Patient Analysis: New Urinary Incontinence in a 78-Year-Old Woman Living Alone
Patient Overview
A 78-year-old retired seamstress who lives alone in a two-story house came to her primary care clinic reporting that for about four weeks she has been leaking urine, sometimes before she can reach the bathroom and occasionally at night. She now wears pads, has stopped attending her weekly church group because she fears an accident, and mentioned that she drinks less water in the afternoon to avoid the problem. Her daughter, who lives 40 minutes away, drove her to the visit and is worried because her mother recently seemed more forgetful and slipped on the stairs last week.
New incontinence in an older adult is rarely only a bladder problem, and this analysis treats it as a signal to look across medications, mobility, cognition, hydration and the home. The sections below summarize the data collected, screen for reversible causes, classify the incontinence and set priorities for care.
Data Collected
Urinary history: urgency with leakage several times a day, frequency about every one to two hours while awake, nocturia three times a night, no leakage with coughing or lifting, no pain or blood with urination. She reports a stronger urine odor for the past week. Bowel history: bowel movements every three to four days, hard stools.
Medications: amlodipine for hypertension, started six weeks ago with the dose increased two weeks ago; furosemide 20 mg each morning, started eight weeks ago for ankle swelling; and, for about a month, a store-bought nighttime pain tablet whose sleep ingredient is diphenhydramine. Mobility and function: uses a cane, rises slowly from a chair, takes about 18 seconds to walk from the exam room door to the chair and back, and says the bathroom is upstairs. Cognition: scored 23 out of 30 on a brief cognitive screen, with errors in recall and calculation; her daughter says she seemed sharper last spring. Vital signs: blood pressure 142/78 mmHg with no drop on standing, temperature 37.4 degrees Celsius. Bilateral ankle edema persists. Urinalysis: positive for leukocyte esterase and nitrites.
Screening for Reversible Causes
In older adults, new or worsening incontinence often has transient causes outside the urinary tract, a principle developed in Resnick's early work on geriatric incontinence and still taught through a checklist of reversible factors (Resnick & Yalla, 1985). Applying that screen to this patient identifies several likely contributors.
Infection: the positive nitrites and leukocyte esterase, stronger odor and low-grade temperature suggest a urinary tract infection, which can cause urgency and, in older adults, confusion. Medications: furosemide produces a large volume of urine in the hours after the morning dose; amlodipine can worsen ankle edema, which is then mobilized at night when she lies down, increasing nocturia; and diphenhydramine has anticholinergic effects that can impair bladder emptying and worsen memory. Stool: constipation can press on the bladder and worsen urgency. Restricted mobility: a slow walk, a cane and a bathroom upstairs mean she may not reach the toilet in time. Cognition: her lower cognitive score may reflect the infection and the diphenhydramine, both reversible, rather than a fixed decline.
Analyzing the Type of Incontinence
The symptom pattern fits urgency incontinence, a sudden strong need to urinate followed by leakage, with a functional component. She does not leak with coughing or lifting, which argues against stress incontinence, and she has no symptoms suggesting overflow, such as a weak stream or dribbling, although that should be checked with a post-void residual measurement because of the anticholinergic medication. The functional component comes from her slow mobility and the distance to the bathroom, which turn urgency into leakage. Classifying the type matters because the most effective first-line approaches differ by type, and for urgency incontinence they include bladder training and management of fluids and contributing conditions before medication is considered (Lukacz et al., 2017).
Priority Problems
The problems below are ranked by risk to safety and by how quickly they can be corrected. First, a probable urinary tract infection with possible acute confusion, because it is common, treatable and may explain part of both the urgency and the cognitive change. Second, fall risk, because she is rushing to an upstairs bathroom with a cane, has already slipped once and is taking a sedating antihistamine. Third, medication-related contributors: the timing of the diuretic, the edema possibly worsened by amlodipine, and the diphenhydramine, which should be stopped. Fourth, reduced fluid intake and constipation, which concentrate urine and add to bladder irritation. Fifth, social isolation and loss of confidence, which matter to her quality of life and will likely improve as the other problems are addressed.
Health Literacy and the Teaching Plan
Health literacy covers the ability to understand and apply health information, not only to read it (Sørensen et al., 2012), and several cues shaped how teaching would be delivered. She said she "doesn't do well with numbers," she asked the nurse to read the medication bottles aloud, and her cognitive screen suggested some difficulty with recall at present. The nurse therefore used a universal precautions approach: plain words, no more than three key points at a visit, written instructions in large print with pictures, and teach-back, with her daughter present by her choice.
The three key points were: take the water pill in the morning and do not skip drinking during the day, because concentrated urine irritates the bladder; stop the nighttime pain reliever that contains an allergy medicine, because it can cause leaking and forgetfulness; and use a bedside commode at night rather than the stairs until her strength improves. She repeated each point back correctly. The provider prescribed an antibiotic for the infection and planned to review the blood pressure medication. Referrals were made for home safety and physical therapy, and a follow-up visit was scheduled in two weeks to repeat the cognitive screen and reassess symptoms once the infection and medication factors were addressed.
Summary
This patient's new incontinence reflects several overlapping and largely reversible factors: a probable urinary tract infection, medication effects, constipation, reduced fluid intake and limited mobility, layered on urgency incontinence. Analyzing the data across domains, rather than focusing on the bladder alone, identified priorities that protect her safety and may restore her continence and confidence. Teaching designed around her health literacy and cognition, with teach-back and family support, gives the plan the best chance of working.
References
Lukacz, E. S., Santiago-Lastra, Y., Albo, M. E., & Brubaker, L. (2017). Urinary incontinence in women: A review. JAMA, 318(16), 1592-1604. https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.2017.12137
Resnick, N. M., & Yalla, S. V. (1985). Management of urinary incontinence in the elderly. New England Journal of Medicine, 313(13), 800-805. https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJM198509263131307
Sørensen, K., Van den Broucke, S., Fullam, J., Doyle, G., Pelikan, J., Slonska, Z., & Brand, H. (2012). Health literacy and public health: A systematic review and integration of definitions and models. BMC Public Health, 12, Article 80. https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2458-12-80
How this NUR 325 Module 5 example is structured
A patient analysis is judged on how well the writer turns scattered data into a coherent picture, so the paper moves from collection to meaning to action. It opens with a short overview and then summarizes the data collected across several domains, not only the bladder. A screen for transient, reversible causes follows, because in older adults new incontinence often has a cause outside the urinary tract. The type of incontinence is then analyzed from the pattern of symptoms. Priority problems are ranked with reasons, and the final sections address her health literacy and the teaching and referral plan that follows from the analysis.
Get NUR 325 Module 5 written to your instructions
Send the NUR 325 Module 5 patient analysis prompt, the rubric, and the patient data or case your section provided. The desk writes a patient analysis sample to those instructions in 24 to 48 hours; the first one is free. The paper above is an original model document written by our desk, not a submitted student paper and not an official Southern New Hampshire University document.
NUR 325 Module 5 questions, answered
What is a NUR 325 patient analysis?
In some sections, a patient analysis asks students to take the data gathered in a comprehensive or focused assessment and interpret it: identify abnormal findings, connect them, set priorities and plan teaching or referral, often with attention to health literacy. It is less about collecting data and more about what the data mean.
How do I prioritize problems in a patient analysis?
Rank problems by risk to safety and function first, then by how reversible they are and how much they matter to the patient. Explain each ranking in a sentence. A reversible cause that is easy to correct may rank high even when it seems minor, because fixing it can resolve other problems.
Where does health literacy fit in a patient analysis?
It shapes the plan. Note any cues about how the patient reads, understands numbers or manages information, and design teaching accordingly: plain language, a few key points, demonstration and teach-back. Mention it explicitly, because the course pairs assessment with health literacy.