NU651 Unit 10 Pancreatitis Case Presentation Example

Course	NU651 AGACNP Introduction to Acute Care Management Clinical I
Unit	Unit 10
Paper type	Admission-to-discharge case presentation
Length	About 930 words, 6 pages double-spaced
Format	APA 7 student paper
School	Purdue University Global
Program	MSN
Updated	September 2026

Free sample paper for NU651 Unit 10

A Triglyceride of 2,840 and a Lipase of 1,860: An Admission-to-Discharge Case Presentation of Hypertriglyceridemia-Induced Pancreatitis in a 44-Year-Old Man

[Student Name]

Purdue University Global

NU651: AGACNP Introduction to Acute Care Management Clinical I

Unit 10 Admission-to-Discharge Case Presentation

[Instructor Name]

[Date]

The patient is composite; values, rates and dates are bracketed. Slide text is given first on each slide, followed by the speaker notes.

What this part is doingThe presentation is organized by the decisions the team faced, not by the calendar, so quiet hours stay off the slides.

Slide 1: One-Liner and Arrival

Slide text: [44]-year-old man, type 2 diabetes off medication for [three] months; [18] hours of epigastric pain radiating to the back with vomiting; lipase [1,860] U/L; serum visibly milky.

Speaker notes: Mr. [P.] is a warehouse supervisor who ran out of metformin in [June] and did not refill it. He drinks [two to three] beers on weekends. He arrived with constant epigastric pain boring through to his back. Pulse [112], blood pressure [138/86], temperature [37.6], saturation [96] percent without oxygen. The laboratory called about his sample: the serum was lipemic, milky enough to interfere with some measurements.

Slide 2: Is It Pancreatitis, and What Caused It?

Slide text: 2 of 3 criteria met (typical pain, lipase over three times normal). Triglyceride [2,840] mg/dL. Ultrasound: no gallstones, no duct dilation. Alcohol intake modest. Glucose [382]; A1c [10.4] percent.

Speaker notes: The diagnosis needs any two of three findings, and he had the pain and an enzyme level more than tripled, which made imaging unnecessary for the diagnosis itself (Tenner et al., 2024). The more important question was the cause, because the cause changes treatment. Gallstones were excluded by ultrasound and his liver tests were near normal. His alcohol intake was not enough to explain it. A triglyceride above 1,000 mg/dL is a recognized cause of pancreatitis, and at 2,840 it was the explanation, driven by months of uncontrolled diabetes. His sodium read [128] on the first panel; with lipemic serum, that may be a measurement artifact, so it was rechecked on a direct method, where it was [136].

What this part is doingThe cause slide comes before any treatment slide, because the triglyceride answer is what makes the rest of the plan specific.

Slide 3: Which Bed?

Slide text: SIRS [2] of 4 (pulse, white count [14,200]). BUN [18]. No organ failure. Medical floor with vital signs every [two] hours for [24] hours.

Speaker notes: He met two SIRS criteria but had no organ failure, a normal creatinine and a normal saturation. The team placed him on the floor with frequent vital signs and a plan to move him to step-down if his oxygen need, urine output or pressure changed. The decision was reviewed at [12] hours, and he stayed.

Slide 4: How Much Fluid?

Slide text: Lactated Ringer's, [10] mL/kg bolus, then [1.5] mL/kg/h; reassess at [12], [24], [48] and [72] hours. Not aggressive.

Speaker notes: This was the slide the team debated. The WATERFALL trial randomized patients with acute pancreatitis to aggressive or moderate resuscitation with lactated Ringer's. It was stopped early because fluid overload occurred in 20.5 percent of the aggressive group and 6.3 percent of the moderate group, with no significant difference in progression to moderately severe or severe disease (de-Madaria et al., 2022). He weighed [96] kg, so the moderate plan meant about [960] mL as a bolus, because he was dry, then about [145] mL an hour, adjusted to his urine output and blood urea nitrogen at each reassessment.

Slide 5: Lowering the Triglyceride

Slide text: Insulin infusion [0.1] units/kg/h with dextrose to keep glucose [150 to 200]; triglyceride checked every [12] hours; goal below [500] mg/dL; plasmapheresis not needed.

Speaker notes: Insulin activates lipoprotein lipase, which clears triglyceride-rich particles from the blood, and in a patient who is also hyperglycemic it treats both problems at once. Reviews of hypertriglyceridemia-induced pancreatitis describe insulin infusion as the usual first measure, reserving plasmapheresis for severe cases or failure to respond, with limited evidence that plasmapheresis changes outcomes (Garg & Rustagi, 2018). His triglyceride fell to [1,410] at [24] hours and [620] at [48] hours. When it fell below [1,000] and he was eating, the infusion was replaced by subcutaneous insulin.

What this part is doingEach treatment slide names the evidence and the number that decides when the treatment stops.

Slide 6: Feeding and Pain

Slide text: Oral low-fat diet started at [30] hours as pain eased; no prophylactic antibiotics; pain controlled with scheduled acetaminophen and hydromorphone as needed.

Speaker notes: Early oral feeding as tolerated is favored over keeping patients without food, and prophylactic antibiotics are not recommended in acute pancreatitis without infection (Tenner et al., 2024). He tolerated a low-fat liquid diet at [30] hours and a solid low-fat diet the next morning.

Slide 7: Discharge Plan

Slide text: Fenofibrate [145 mg] daily. Basal insulin glargine [20] units plus metformin restarted. Very low-fat diet until triglyceride below [500], then a standard diabetes diet. Alcohol stopped. Lipid panel and A1c in [four to six] weeks.

Speaker notes: The Endocrine Society guideline recommends a fibrate as first-line treatment for severe hypertriglyceridemia to reduce the risk of pancreatitis, alongside diet, weight management and control of secondary causes such as diabetes (Berglund et al., 2012). The biggest secondary cause here is his diabetes, so the glucose plan is as much a pancreatitis-prevention plan as the fibrate. He was told why alcohol, even in modest amounts, must stop while his triglyceride is high.

Slide 8: What Must Happen After Discharge

Slide text: Primary care in [seven] days: glucose log, fenofibrate tolerance, triglyceride. Diabetes education referral. Recurrence risk explained.

Speaker notes: The most important part of this admission happens after it. If his diabetes is uncontrolled again in three months, his triglyceride will rise again and so will his risk of another attack. The discharge summary names the triglyceride target, the date of the next lipid panel and who is responsible for checking it.

References

Berglund, L., Brunzell, J. D., Goldberg, A. C., Goldberg, I. J., Sacks, F., Murad, M. H., & Stalenhoef, A. F. H. (2012). Evaluation and treatment of hypertriglyceridemia: An Endocrine Society clinical practice guideline. The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, 97(9), 2969-2989. https://doi.org/10.1210/jc.2011-3213

de-Madaria, E., Buxbaum, J. L., Maisonneuve, P., García García de Paredes, A., Zapater, P., Guilabert, L., Vaillo-Rocamora, A., Rodríguez-Gandía, M. Á., Donate-Ortega, J., Lozada-Hernández, E. E., Collazo Moreno, A. J. R., Lira-Aguilar, A., Llovet, L. P., Mehta, R., Tandel, R., Navarro, P., Sánchez-Pardo, A. M., Sánchez-Marin, C., Cobreros, M., . . . Bolado, F. (2022). Aggressive or moderate fluid resuscitation in acute pancreatitis. New England Journal of Medicine, 387(11), 989-1000. https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJMoa2202884

Garg, R., & Rustagi, T. (2018). Management of hypertriglyceridemia induced acute pancreatitis. BioMed Research International, 2018, Article 4721357. https://doi.org/10.1155/2018/4721357

Tenner, S., Vege, S. S., Sheth, S. G., Sauer, B., Yang, A., Conwell, D. L., Yadlapati, R. H., & Gardner, T. B. (2024). American College of Gastroenterology guidelines: Management of acute pancreatitis. The American Journal of Gastroenterology, 119(3), 419-437. https://doi.org/10.14309/ajg.0000000000002645

NU651 Unit 10 instructions, in plain terms

The Unit 10 assignment asks you to present one patient from admission to discharge, usually as slides with speaker notes or as a written equivalent. You open with a one-liner and the presentation, then walk through the key clinical decisions of the stay with the evidence behind each, and close with the discharge plan and follow-up. Most sections expect ten to fifteen slides and notes of 1,000 to 1,500 words. The presentation should argue rather than narrate: each section answers a question the team faced. Sources are expected for the diagnosis, the main treatments and the discharge plan. The final slide should say what must happen after discharge and who is responsible for it.

Inside the NU651 Unit 10 example

The example is organized by decision rather than by hospital day. Each slide gives its text first and then speaker notes. The diagnosis slide explains why imaging was not needed and why the triglyceride, not gallstones or alcohol, was the cause, including a note on the artifact that lipemic serum causes in sodium readings. The fluid slide reports the WATERFALL results and converts the moderate regimen into milliliters for his weight. The triglyceride slide explains how insulin lowers it and when plasmapheresis would be considered. Discharge and follow-up get their own slides, because the recurrence risk depends on what happens after he leaves.

Reading the NU651 Unit 10 grading rubric

The Unit 10 rubric looks at organization, clinical reasoning at each decision point, use of evidence, the discharge plan, and delivery or slide design. Organization earns full credit when the presentation follows decisions rather than days. Reasoning is judged at each slide: why this cause, why this bed, why this fluid rate. Evidence counts when it supports a specific decision, such as WATERFALL for the fluid rate. The discharge plan must address the cause, here diabetes and triglycerides, not only the symptoms. Slides should hold short text with the detail in the notes, which also helps timing. Graders also check that each statistic on a slide matches its source.

NU651 Unit 10 help from the desk

The most common mistake is a day-by-day narrative in which the important decisions get the same space as quiet hours. Another is treating all pancreatitis the same way and missing the cause, which changes the treatment. Students often order aggressive fluids by habit despite newer evidence. Slides crowded with text are hard to present. Some discharge plans cover pain and diet but forget the diabetes that caused the triglyceride rise. Follow-up is often listed without a named test and date. And speaker notes that simply repeat the slide text add nothing for the listener. Time the talk, too, since most final presentations have a strict limit and the grader will stop you at it.

Get an NU651 Unit 10 example written to your instructions

Provide the NU651 Unit 10 case parameters, slide or page limits and the rubric, saying too whether the presentation is spoken, recorded or written. The first model costs nothing and arrives within 24-48h, tracing an invented patient from the emergency department to the discharge plan, organized around the decisions that shaped the stay rather than the days it lasted. 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 NU651 papers and MSN samples

NU651 Unit 10 questions, answered

Can the final presentation use a patient I actually cared for?

Many sections ask for a patient from the rotation, with identifying details removed, and the student provides that case. The sample uses an invented patient to show the structure. Hours, encounter logs and the end-of-rotation evaluation are the student's, and nothing in a sample stands in for them or for the presentation itself.

Why organize by decisions instead of by hospital day?

Because the decisions are what a listener needs to follow and what a grader is assessing. A day-by-day account gives equal space to quiet days and buries the choices that mattered. Organizing around each question the team faced lets the presentation spend its time on reasoning, and hospital days can still be marked on the slides for orientation.

Where can I find a free NU651 Unit 10 sample paper?

The complete NU651 Unit 10 case presentation is on this page, eight slides with speaker notes from arrival to discharge. If your final presentation centers on a different admission, you can request a free presentation built from your case.

How much fluid does the NU651 Unit 10 patient receive?

A moderate regimen based on the WATERFALL trial: a 10 mL per kilogram bolus because he was dry, then 1.5 mL per kilogram per hour of lactated Ringer's, adjusted at each reassessment. Aggressive fluids caused more fluid overload in that trial without better outcomes.

How is the triglyceride lowered in NU651 Unit 10?

With an insulin infusion and dextrose, which activates lipoprotein lipase and treats his high glucose at the same time. The triglyceride is checked every 12 hours with a goal below 500 mg/dL, and plasmapheresis is kept for severe cases or no response.