LACE readmission scores and STEADI fall screens sort twelve composite discharges into three tiers, with one documented override, in this finished NU470 Unit 4 exercise. Searches like "nu 470 unit 4 assignment example", "nu470 unit 4 sample" and "nu470 unit 4 example" land here.
What a finished NU470 Unit 4 risk stratification exercise looks like
Twelve rows of caseload open the exercise across two pages. Every row lists a composite patient's age, admitting diagnosis, living situation, LACE index with its four components, STEADI screening score, and assigned tier. LACE runs from [3] for a 58-year-old after an elective knee replacement to [15] for an 81-year-old with heart failure and three emergency visits in six months. Three patients land in the top tier for care management, five in a rising-risk middle tier, four in self-management support, following the familiar three-level population pyramid. One man with a LACE of [7] moves up a tier: he lives alone, screened [8] on STEADI and has no car. Two pages of narrative follow, defending the tiers and the override, and naming a first nursing action per tier.
How a NU470 Unit 4 example is structured
Scores come first and judgment second, and the exercise keeps the two visibly apart. The table reports each tool as published, with LACE's length of stay, acuity, comorbidity and emergency visit components shown separately so an error can be traced. Tier rules are stated before any patient is placed: LACE of 10 or more, or a STEADI score of 4 or more combined with living alone, sends a patient up. The override paragraph then argues from factors the scores cannot see, isolation and transport, and records the decision the way a chart note would. The narrative spends its most careful paragraph on the middle tier rather than the top, contending that rising-risk patients are where a phone call, a medication review or a balance class changes what happens next. Limits close the paper: LACE was validated in Ontario hospitals, and local recalibration is flagged.
Four components shown
Length of stay, acuity of admission, Charlson comorbidity and emergency visits in six months each get their own column, so the LACE total for every patient can be rebuilt by a reader.
Rules before placement
LACE at 10 or above, or STEADI at 4 or above with the patient living alone, moves someone up a tier; stating the rule first keeps the sorting from bending toward impressions.
One override, charted
A man scoring [7] on LACE lives alone, screened [8] on STEADI and gave up driving last spring. The exercise moves him up and writes the reason in two sentences of chart-note prose.
The middle tier argued
Five rising-risk patients get the longest paragraph, since a medication review, a balance class referral or one follow-up call is more likely to change their next month than anything added to the top tier.
Where the scores come from
LACE was derived and validated in Ontario hospitals and STEADI is a CDC fall prevention initiative, and the paper notes that a local program would check both against its own outcomes before relying on them.
Where marks go in NU470 Unit 4
Transparent method earns most of the credit in a stratification exercise. A caseload sorted by overall impression, with tiers asserted rather than derived, gives the marker nothing to verify, and a total score without its components is commonly questioned. Credit goes to tools cited and scored as published, tier rules stated before placement, and at least one documented case where judgment adjusts a score for a stated reason. Linking each tier to an action matters, because stratification without a response is only a list. Rubrics often reward attention to the rising-risk group, where prevention has the most room to work. Tool limitations earn marks when they are specific, naming where a score was developed and what it omits, rather than a closing line that all tools have limits.
Get a NU470 Unit 4 example written to your instructions
Caseload size and tool choice differ; some sections supply patients and a named score, others leave both to the writer. Send the Unit 4 prompt and rubric plus any caseload provided, and a model stratification scored on your tools is written within 24-48h, at no cost for a first request.
NU470 Unit 4 questions, answered
Which risk tool should the exercise use?
The one your prompt names, if any. LACE is common for readmission, STEADI for falls, and others exist for pressure injury or frailty. Choose a tool that predicts the event the exercise asks about, cite where it was validated, and report its components. Using two tools for two different next events, as the sample does, is often welcomed.
Is it acceptable to override a score?
Yes, when the reason is stated and documented. Scores miss factors such as living alone, transport or a caregiver's health, and clinical judgment is expected to add them. What markers look for is transparency: the original score, the adjusted tier, and a sentence explaining the change. An override with no reason reads as ignoring the tool.
Are the twelve patients drawn from a real hospital?
No. The caseload is composite, and every score was assigned to illustrate the method. If your section asks you to stratify patients from a placement, follow your program's privacy procedures for any details used; the assessments and any sign-offs belong to your clinical work, and the sample only shows how the written exercise is presented.