Use critical thinking and diagnostic reasoning skills to formulate differential diagnoses, medical diagnoses, and an evidence-based action plan.

Mn552 soap note: advanced practice nursing assessment

Critical thinking and diagnostic reasoning skills involve taking a systematic approach to formulating differential diagnoses, medical diagnoses, and an evidence-based action plan. This includes gathering all relevant information about the patient (history, physical exam findings) and using it to generate a list of possible causes for their symptoms or presentation. From this list, more specific tests are then performed to differentiate between the possible causes. The data obtained from these tests is used to narrow down the differential diagnosis until one medical diagnosis can be determined. Finally, an evidence-based action plan is formulated that outlines what treatments should be pursued in order to address the patient’s condition.