Seven medical mimics of late-life depression, each paired with a deciding test, are ranked for a composite retired mechanic in an NU673 Unit 2 differential paper. Searches like "nu 673 unit 2 assignment example", "nu673 unit 2 sample" and "nu673 unit 2 example" land here.
What a finished NU673 Unit 2 medical differential paper looks like
A differential table and five pages of prose. The table's columns are condition, features for, features against, deciding test and what a positive result would change. Rows cover hypothyroidism, vitamin B12 deficiency, hypercalcemia, anticholinergic burden from [oxybutynin], early Parkinson's disease, obstructive sleep apnea and a neurocognitive disorder. Hypoactive delirium is considered and set aside in a sentence, since a five-month course without fluctuation argues against it, though the Confusion Assessment Method is noted for any sudden change. Prose sections take each row in order of likelihood. The anticholinergic section scores his medication list on the Anticholinergic Cognitive Burden scale. The Parkinson's section explains that apathy and depression can precede motor signs by years, and that his tremor and reduced facial expression call for a neurological examination. Its last paragraph lists the diagnoses still open.
How a NU673 Unit 2 example is structured
Ranking is the paper's spine. Its rule, likelihood in this man weighted by how harmful a missed diagnosis would be, is given up front so the order can be checked against it. Each prose section then follows a fixed sequence: the condition, what in the history supports it, what argues against it, the test and its limits, and the consequence of a positive result for the psychiatric plan. Limits are stated honestly; a low-normal B12 prompts a methylmalonic acid level instead of a verdict. Findings that belong to other clinicians are routed to them, with the neurological examination and a sleep study referral named rather than performed on paper. Depression is not dismissed. The final section keeps it on the list with a Geriatric Depression Scale planned, and explains that confirming a medical cause might still leave a depressive disorder needing treatment.
A rule for the order
Likelihood multiplied by the cost of missing it sets the ranking. Stating the rule first lets a reader see why sleep apnea ranks above a rarer condition with a more dramatic consequence, and why the medication review comes near the top.
A bladder pill on the list
Oxybutynin carries a high anticholinergic score, and its start date precedes the change his wife describes. The paper names it as the most readily reversible explanation on the page and refers the question of stopping it to the clinician who prescribed it.
Tremor worth an examination
A resting tremor and a flattened face can look like depression from across a room. The paper describes what his wife has noticed and asks for a neurological examination, stopping short of diagnosing Parkinson's disease from a description.
Tests with their limits
Each test is reported with what it cannot show. A normal calcium does not end the parathyroid question if albumin is low, and a borderline B12 needs a second marker, so the paper avoids treating any single number as a verdict.
Depression still in the running
Late-life depression stays on the list throughout. Finding a medical contributor might reduce symptoms without removing a mood disorder, so both possibilities stay open until results and examination come back.
Where marks go in NU673 Unit 2
Specificity and consequence are what this paper is graded on. Listing conditions that cannot fit, such as a tumor with no supporting feature, pads the table without adding reasoning, and graders say so. Candidates that fit but come with no test lose credit, and tests with no stated consequence lose more, since the paper exists to show how each result would alter what happens next. Missing the medication list is an expensive omission when the case includes an anticholinergic drug, because it is the most readily reversible cause on the page. Neurological signs should be routed to an examination rather than diagnosed from a description. Deductions also land on a B12 result treated as binary, on delirium ignored or overstated, and on depression dropped once a medical cause appears.
Get a NU673 Unit 2 example written to your instructions
Send your NU673 Unit 2 case exactly as written, including any starting list of conditions the prompt supplies, with the rubric. Ranking every candidate under a stated rule, pairing each with a deciding test and saying what a positive result would change, the first paper is free and ready within 24-48h.
NU673 Unit 2 questions, answered
Should the differential include rare conditions?
Include a rare condition when something in the presentation points toward it or when missing it would be catastrophic, and say which reason applies. Otherwise leave it out. A differential crowded with unlikely possibilities reads as a textbook inventory rather than reasoning about the person described, and it is usually graded as one.
How detailed should the testing section be?
Name each test, say what it is meant to detect, and state its main limitation. Reference ranges are rarely needed unless the case supplies results to interpret. Where one test leads to another, as a borderline B12 leads to methylmalonic acid, show the sequence. A test named without its purpose earns little.
What if every test in the case comes back normal?
Then the paper says so and explains what that result supports. Normal findings across a well-chosen workup strengthen the case for a primary psychiatric diagnosis, which is the point of doing it. The paper can also note any test still pending or any finding that would reopen the differential if symptoms change.