Clinical Reasoning Cycle: Case Study of a Patient with Colon Cancer

This report analyses the health conditions of a 65-year-old male patient named Brendan who is suffering from colon cancer. The report explains the various tests that have been done to understand his clinical condition and identifies the immediate problems he is facing. The aim is to understand the effect of the disease and how it can be reduced.

Clinical Reasoning Cycle
TASK 2 Case Study

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................3
Considering the patient................................................................................................................3
Collecting cue..............................................................................................................................3
Processing the information..........................................................................................................4
Identifying the immediate problem..............................................................................................4
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................5
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................6

INTRODUCTION
The report will be revolving around the health conditions of a 65 years old male patient
named Brendan who is a part of Bundjalung people. It has been diagnosed that he is suffering
from the cancer of colon. The patient was hospitalized several times in the in a small regional
hospital in which he will be undergoing through a surgery. The report will explain about the
various tests that has been done so that his clinical condition can be understood. The aim of the
report is to analyse and understand the effect of the disease and the manner in which the disease
can be reduced.
MAIN BODY
Considering the patient
Brendon is a 65-year-old male who lives in a community of Bundjalung people. He is
recently diagnosed with the disease called Cancer of Colon. He lives only with his dog and does
not have anyone who can take care of him. He has been referred by his GP that there is a
schedule for the left sided colon cancer and a bowel resection. Brendan used to smoke, and he
was also being diagnosed with early emphysema. He has been admitted to a small regional
hospital where the bowel surgery can be proceeded without facing any major complications.
Collecting cue
In the collection of cue it can be analysed that the information can be gathered from the
clinical documents that has been provided so that all the necessary information can be collected.
The information has been collected that the temperature of Brendan is 37.3 C that makes it
slightly more but is considerable that it is the normal temperature, and he does not have any flue
or fever. The next information can be collected that his pulse rate is 54 which is not normal as his
pulse rate is lower than it should be (Daniel and et.al., 2019). His respiratory rate is 20 which is
not average and considered as high respiratory rate. The levels of SpO2 that has been found is
95% which comes under the normal range and it is considered normal rate. The BGL has been
found that it is at the 6.9 mmol/L which is not normal and considered as higher than normal.
There are various information that has been found that the pain score of Brendan is 4/10
which means that he is facing the moderate pain, and he declines that there is no further
analgesia. It means that he is not in the need of any further painkillers or any other medications
related to the analgesia (Young and et.al., 2018).

Processing the information
The collected information can be processed that Brendan is suffering from the Cancer of
colon, and he is facing the various other problems that has been analysed with the help of the
information that has been collected from the clinical documents that has been provided (Huhn,
and et.al., 2019). It has been analysed He is facing the problem of low pulse rate which requires
him to consult an expert. It is found that his respiratory rate is 20 which is high and it means that
he finds it hard in breathing in normal way. The high respiratory rate is a result of him being an
ex-smoker as smoking directly impacts on the lungs and reduces the capacity oxygen intake in
lungs. The BGL of Brendan is 6.9mmol/L which makes it high. This is a result of fast blood
glucose that is raised in the patient (ten Cate and Durning, 2018). He comes under the moderate
rate of pain which is 4/10 and it considered to be moderate as he has declined the further
analgesia.
The results of the blood tests shows that he is facing the problem of low potassium,
creatinine and low eFGR. This results that has been collected from the blood tests indicates that
Brendan is suffering from the problem of low kidney function. This can create further problems
for him, and he will be required to stay admitted in the hospital for more days. He will be able to
have the better treatment which can help him in having effective and better treatment so that he
can be cured in effective manner (Moghadami and et.al., 2021).
Identifying the immediate problem
The immediate problems that can be identified is that Brendan is facing the problem of
constipation and diarrhoea. He is also feeling lethargic which means he gets exhausted easily and
mostly feels that he is weak and unable to perform any activity that requires the heavy physical
activeness. The problem of constipation is the result of the slow movement of the bowel that has
been done because of the cancer of colon (Bowen and ten Cate, 2018). The bowel of Brendan is
narrowed because it has been squeezed because of the cancer which is making it tough for the
bowel to make any movement and have any motion. He is suffering from the problem of
diarrhoea because the overflow of the intestinal liquids that are found around something which is
blocking the intestine (Scutelnic and et.al., 2022).
He is also suffering from the current problem of lethargic which is the definitive
symptoms of the cancer of colon. This is the results of the cancer which has been making

Brendan weak and feeling that he is exhausted and does not have any energy left in his body.
These immediate problems are making Brendan to face the various types of issues that are
making it hard for him to have a normal and healthy life (Chiffi, 2021). It is analysed that all the
problems that Brendan is facing is the result of the cancer of colon that can increase with time if
he does not follow all the instructions and guidelines that has been provided to him by the
regional hospital in which he has been admitted.
CONCLUSION
Thus, it can be concluded that the various aspects of the cancer of colon can cause the
problems to the patients that can reduce the efficiency of living a healthy life. It can be said that
the various information about the condition and the other factors can be collected with the help
of clinical reports. The analyses of the collected information from the clinical report can be
helpful in understanding that what is the cause of the problem. This can be helpful in finding out
the immediate problems that the patients are facing or can be facing in the future.

REFERENCES
Books and journals
Bowen, J.L. and ten Cate, O., 2018. Prerequisites for learning clinical reasoning. Principles and
Practice of Case-based Clinical Reasoning Education. p.47.
Chiffi, D., 2021. Clinical Reasoning: Knowledge, Uncertainty, and Values in Health Care.
Cham: Springer.
Daniel, M. and et.al., 2019. Clinical reasoning assessment methods: a scoping review and
practical guidance. Academic Medicine. 94(6). pp.902-912.
Huhn, K. and et.al., 2019. Clinical reasoning in physical therapy: a concept analysis. Physical
therapy. 99(4). pp.440-456.
Moghadami, M. and et.al., 2021. Teaching clinical reasoning to undergraduate medical students
by illness script method: a randomized controlled trial. BMC medical education. 21(1).
pp.1-7.
Scutelnic, A. and et.al., 2022. Clinical Reasoning: A dizzy architect. Neurology. 98(13). pp.543-
549.
ten Cate, O. and Durning, S.J., 2018. Understanding clinical reasoning from multiple
perspectives: a conceptual and theoretical overview. Principles and practice of case-
based clinical reasoning education. pp.35-46.
Young, M. and et.al., 2018. Drawing boundaries: the difficulty in defining clinical
reasoning. Academic Medicine. 93(7). pp.990-995.