| Course | NU104 Pathophysiology for Nursing |
|---|---|
| Unit | Unit 2 |
| Paper type | Concept map |
| Length | About 920 words, 6 pages double-spaced |
| Format | APA 7 student paper |
| School | Purdue University Global |
| Program | BSN (prelicensure) |
| Updated | October 2026 |
Free sample paper for NU104 Unit 2
From a Splinter to a Scar or Nothing at All: A Concept Map of Acute Inflammation in a Carpenter's Thumb, With Every Arrow Labeled by the Process It Stands For and Three Possible Endings
[Student Name]
Purdue University Global
NU104: Pathophysiology for Nursing
Unit 2 Concept Map
[Instructor Name]
[Date]
The patient is a composite; the map is given as numbered nodes and labeled links because the original is a diagram.
The Case at the Center
[Luis], a composite 34-year-old carpenter, drove a splinter of oak about [5] mm into the pad of his left thumb. He pulled out most of it but left a fragment. By the next morning the thumb was red, warm, swollen and throbbing, and it hurt to grip a hammer. He has no fever. The map below traces what happened in his thumb from the moment of injury to three possible outcomes.
Nodes
1. Trigger: tissue injury and foreign material. The splinter tears cell membranes and carries skin bacteria and plant debris into the tissue.
2. Danger signals. Damaged cells release their contents, and bacteria carry molecular patterns that resident cells recognize.
3. Resident sentinel cells. Mast cells and tissue macrophages already in the thumb detect those signals.
4. Mediators. Histamine is released at once from mast cells; prostaglandins, the cytokines TNF and IL-1, and complement fragments follow over minutes to hours.
5. Vasodilation. Arterioles widen and blood flow to the area increases.
6. Increased vascular permeability. Gaps open between endothelial cells in small venules.
7. Exudate. Protein-rich fluid leaves the vessels and collects in the tissue.
8. Leukocyte recruitment. Neutrophils slow, roll along and stick to the activated endothelium, then slip through the vessel wall and travel up a chemical trail toward the splinter.
9. Phagocytosis. Neutrophils, and later macrophages, engulf bacteria and debris.
10. Cardinal signs. Redness, heat, swelling, pain and loss of function.
11. Outcome one: resolution. Debris and bacteria are cleared and tissue returns to normal.
12. Outcome two: abscess. A pocket of pus walls off around a retained fragment.
13. Outcome three: repair by scar. Granulation tissue and collagen replace tissue that cannot regenerate.
Labeled Links
1 to 2: "releases." The injury releases cell contents and introduces bacteria. 2 to 3: "is detected by." Sentinel cells carry receptors that recognize both damage and microbes. Inflammation is triggered when such sensors detect a threat, and its purpose is to restore tissue balance (Medzhitov, 2008). 3 to 4: "secrete." Mast cells degranulate within seconds; macrophages produce cytokines over hours. 4 to 5: "relaxes smooth muscle, causing." Histamine and prostaglandins dilate arterioles. 4 to 6: "contracts endothelial cells, causing." Histamine opens gaps in venules. 5 to 10: "produces redness and heat." More warm blood flows through the area. 6 to 7: "allows." 7 to 10: "produces swelling," and through pressure on nerve endings, "contributes to pain." 4 to 10: "sensitizes nerve endings, producing pain." Prostaglandins and bradykinin lower the threshold for pain. 4 to 8: "activates endothelium and attracts." Cytokines make the vessel lining sticky, and chemokines draw neutrophils out. 8 to 9: "arrive and perform." 10 to 10: "pain and swelling cause loss of function." Luis cannot grip.
The fifth sign, loss of function, is drawn from the other four rather than from a mediator, because it is the result of pain and swelling together.
The Branch Point
9 to 11: "if the fragment and bacteria are cleared, leads to." Neutrophils die, are taken up by macrophages, and new mediators actively switch inflammation off. Resolution is an active program, not simply the fading of signals (Serhan & Savill, 2005).
9 to 12: "if the fragment remains, leads to." Neutrophils keep arriving and dying around the oak fragment, and the debris, dead cells and fluid form pus, walled off by fibrin.
9 to 13: "if tissue is destroyed, leads to." Where the dermis was torn deeply, fibroblasts lay down collagen and a small scar forms; the outer skin layer, whose cells can divide, regenerates.
What the Map Predicts for Luis
Because a fragment is still in his thumb, the map predicts the abscess branch unless it is removed. His throbbing, which is worsening rather than settling, fits that prediction. Once the fragment is removed and the pocket drained, the map predicts resolution of the inflammation and a small scar where the dermis was torn. The absence of fever and red streaks up the arm suggests the response is still local; spread into the lymphatics would add a systemic branch with fever, which the map would show as cytokines acting on the brain's temperature set point (Rogers, 2023).
A Link Students Often Miss
The map draws a separate arrow from the mediator node to the systemic level, even though Luis has no fever, because the same cytokines that recruit neutrophils locally can act on the liver and brain when the response grows. Leaving that arrow out would make the map unable to explain why some splinter wounds end in fever and others do not. The arrow is drawn dotted to show it is a possible path rather than one his case has taken.
Reading the Map
The map is read from left to right, trigger to outcome, with the mediator node at the center because almost every arrow passes through it. Vascular events run along the top, cellular events along the bottom, and both meet at the cardinal signs. Colors in the original diagram separate vascular from cellular links; here they are named in the link labels instead.
References
Medzhitov, R. (2008). Origin and physiological roles of inflammation. Nature, 454(7203), 428-435. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature07201
Rogers, J. L. (Ed.). (2023). McCance & Huether's pathophysiology: The biologic basis for disease in adults and children (9th ed.). Elsevier.
Serhan, C. N., & Savill, J. (2005). Resolution of inflammation: The beginning programs the end. Nature Immunology, 6(12), 1191-1197. https://doi.org/10.1038/ni1276
The Purdue Global NU104 Unit 2 instructions
Unit 2 asks you to show the inflammatory response as a diagram of cause and effect. Prompts usually want a concept map that starts from a trigger, includes vascular and cellular events, explains the cardinal signs and shows possible outcomes, often with a brief written explanation. Faculty grade concept maps largely on their links: each arrow should carry a verb or phrase that names the process connecting two ideas. A map anchored to a specific case reads more clearly than an abstract one, because each node can be checked against something the patient shows. Including the condition that decides between resolution, abscess and scar shows understanding rather than recall. A one-paragraph key explaining the layout helps a grader read the diagram quickly.
How this NU104 Unit 2 example is built
The map opens with the case and its findings, then lists thirteen numbered nodes from trigger to outcome. The labeled links follow, each connecting two nodes with a process: releases, is detected by, secrete, relaxes smooth muscle, contracts endothelial cells, activates endothelium and attracts. The highlighted line explains why loss of function is drawn from pain and swelling. The branch point names the condition behind each of the three endings. A section on a link students often miss adds a dotted arrow toward fever. The map's prediction for the carpenter follows, then a note on how to read the layout, vascular events along the top and cellular events below. The three endings sit at the right edge, each with its deciding condition written beside the arrow.
Where the points sit in the NU104 Unit 2 rubric
Concept maps in NU 104 tend to earn points for accuracy of concepts, quality of the links, organization, and application to the case. Accuracy is judged on correct mediators, vascular changes and cell types in the right order. Link quality carries much of the grade: arrows labeled with specific processes score well, while bare arrows or vague words such as leads to score poorly. Organization rewards a layout that a reader can follow from trigger to outcome without hunting. Application is credited when the map explains the patient's actual findings and predicts an outcome. A short written explanation and an APA 7 reference list usually account for the remaining points. Neatness and legibility of the diagram itself also count in most sections.
NU104 Unit 2 help from the desk
Concept maps lose points when arrows are left unlabeled, which hides whether the student understands the connection. Another frequent problem is a map that lists the five cardinal signs without tracing each to its cause. Some maps stop at the signs and leave out outcomes, or show outcomes without the conditions that decide them. Others become so crowded that the main chain disappears. Label every arrow with a verb, trace each sign back to a mediator or vascular event, show at least resolution and repair as endings, explain what decides between them, keep the main chain visible, and anchor the whole map to one patient. Test the finished map by reading one path aloud as a sentence.
Get an NU104 Unit 2 example written to your instructions
A free first concept map for Unit 2 is built to the template, rubric and inflammation scenario you upload, and it returns within 24-48h. Whatever layout your instructions fix, a boxed hierarchy, a table, or a set narrative length, is followed as given. No real person's history appears on the page. The paper above is an original model document written by our desk, not a submitted student paper and not an official Purdue University Global document.
More NU104 papers and BSN samples
- NU104 Unit 1: Discussion Board Post
- NU104 Unit 3: Case Study Analysis
- NU104 Unit 4: Mechanism Write-up
- NU104 Unit 5: Systems Review
- NU104 Unit 6: Seminar Reflection
- NU104 Unit 7: Lab Value Interpretation
- NU104 Unit 8: Case Study Analysis
- NU104 Unit 9: Concept Map
- NU104 Unit 10: Final Synthesis Paper
NU104 Unit 2 questions, answered
Where can I find a free NU104 Unit 2 sample paper?
The complete NU104 Unit 2 concept map is on this page, covering the case, thirteen nodes, every labeled link, the branch point to three outcomes, the missed fever link and the prediction for the patient, with three references. You can request a map built on your own assigned case.
What does a labeled link mean in an NU104 concept map?
It is an arrow that names the process joining two concepts, such as histamine relaxes smooth muscle, causing vasodilation. Labeled links show how one event produces the next, which is what instructors grade most heavily.
Why does the carpenter's thumb head toward an abscess?
A fragment of the splinter is still in the tissue. Neutrophils keep arriving and dying around it, forming pus that is walled off by fibrin, so the map predicts an abscess unless the fragment is removed.
Is resolution of inflammation passive?
No. As neutrophils die and are taken up by macrophages, new mediators actively switch the response off. The sample cites a review describing resolution as a program that begins early in the response.
How should I show the five cardinal signs on a concept map?
Trace each to its cause: redness and heat to vasodilation, swelling to exudate, pain to mediators and pressure on nerves, and loss of function to pain and swelling together, as the sample's links do.