Facial Swelling Case Study for Nurse Practitioners

⭐️ CME Opportunity for this video below ⭐️

I had a patient last week who came in with facial swelling. It’s not a super common chief complaint in primary care, honestly, and neither were her exact symptoms or presentation. 

The whole situation brought me back to my new NP roots — 

When I first talked to this patient, I had no idea what to do! 

That feeling used to be 👏 just 👏 so 👏 uncomfortable. 

But one of the benefits to accumulating years of practice is that I’m so much more comfortable with not knowing the answer off the top of my head. I’ve learned how to navigate NOT knowing. 

I’ve built a system that helps me figure out where to go when I don’t have the answers.

Instead of feeling stressed, panicked, or inadequate, I can be curious, intrigued, EXCITED to find the answer for my patient — 

I want this for you, too. 

There is ALWAYS something new to learn in medicine, every day.

(That’s what’s so fun about it!!)

But let’s get to the good stuff. 

Approach to Facial Swelling in Primary Care

What makes this particular case study useful is that it provides a PERFECT opportunity to walk through healthcare problem solving together. We talk about facial swelling, but we also look at:

• How to approach situations when you don't know what to do with a patient's chief complaint
• Questions you can ask for a better patient history
• Evaluating potential differential diagnoses
• And what the triggers are for seeking specialist support

Check it out here:

 Update on this case (spoiler alert):

Unfortunately, this patient was lost to follow-up. Her labs came back overall normal so I referred her to allergy as well as rheumatology but didn't hear back from the patient or consults! Such a bummer!

Accessibility Matters: Read The Full Transcript Here

🎉 CME opportunity available for this video!

Here's how it works:

1. Click on this CME link: https://earnc.me/NQRIq0 Sign up for $10 for this video episode.

2. Answer 2 reflective “nudges” AKA questions about what you learned and how it applies to your practice

3. Earn 1 hour of AMA PRA Category 1 CME credit! You can download your credits when you’re ready to use them (applicable for AANP, ANCC, and NCCPA certifications!) 

This is a 3-month pilot program to see if this is something that would serve our nurse practitioners and physician associates going forward! To learn more about how you can access these CME opportunities, go to: https://info.cmefy.com 

The CME experience for The Real World NP Podcast, Youtube Channel, and Blog posts is powered by CMEfy - a seamless way for busy clinician learners to discover Internet Point-of-Care Learning opportunities that reward AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s).™ Learn more at http://about.cmefy.com/cme-info