NURS 3025 Week 7 Abdominal and MSK Write-Up Example

Health Assessment Walden University Free custom sample in 24 to 48h

This NURS 3025 Week 7 abdominal and musculoskeletal write-up example documents a composite 41-year-old warehouse worker who lifts boxes and reports six weeks of lower back stiffness, worst on waking and easing after about 20 minutes, rated 3 out of 10, and intermittent bloating. Red flags are asked about and recorded as absent: no radiating pain, numbness, weakness or bladder and bowel changes. The abdominal examination listens before it touches, with each quadrant named. The musculoskeletal examination records posture, range of motion in degrees, strength graded out of 5 and a straight leg raise. A summary closes the note. Walden NURS 3025, Health Assessment, pulls nearly every RN to BSN rubric line toward precise objective language. Sources include the Jarvis text and the ACP guidance on red flags in low back pain.

CourseNURS 3025 Health Assessment
WeekWeek 7
Paper typeAbdominal and musculoskeletal write-up
LengthAbout 510 words, 4 pages
FormatAPA 7 student paper
SchoolWalden University
ProgramBachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN)
UpdatedOctober 2026

Free sample paper for NURS 3025 Week 7

1

Abdominal and Musculoskeletal Write-Up: Lower Back Stiffness and Intermittent Bloating in a 41-Year-Old Warehouse Worker

Student Name

College of Nursing, Walden University

NURS 3025: Health Assessment

Instructor Name

Month Day, Year

What this page is doingTwo systems share one record, and the title names both complaints. Each system keeps its own examination order in the write-up below.
2

Abdominal and Musculoskeletal Write-Up: Lower Back Stiffness and Intermittent Bloating in a 41-Year-Old Warehouse Worker

Subjective Data

A composite 41-year-old man who lifts boxes in a warehouse. Reports lower back stiffness for 6 weeks, worst on waking and easing after about 20 minutes of movement; rates it 3 out of 10. Denies pain radiating into the legs, numbness, weakness, bladder or bowel changes, fever, night pain, or weight loss, which are recorded because they are features that change the evaluation of back pain (Chou et al., 2007). Reports bloating "a few evenings a week" for 2 months, after large meals; denies abdominal pain, vomiting, bloody or black stools, and any shift in his usual bowel pattern. Bowel movements daily. Reports drinking 2 or 3 energy drinks a day.

Abdomen

Examined supine with knees slightly bent, listening before any hands-on steps, since pressing on the abdomen can change what the stethoscope picks up (Bickley et al., 2021).

Inspection: abdomen flat, symmetric; umbilicus midline; no visible masses, scars, or pulsations; skin without lesions. Auscultation: gurgling sounds heard in each quadrant, counted at 8 in one minute over the right lower quadrant; listening over the aortic, both renal, and both iliac areas finds no bruit. Percussion: tympany over most of the abdomen, slightly increased in the left upper quadrant; dullness of the liver spans 10 cm along the right midclavicular line; no shifting dullness. Palpation: light palpation soft, nontender in all quadrants, no guarding; deep palpation without masses or tenderness; liver edge not palpable below the costal margin; spleen not palpable; percussion over each costovertebral angle causes no pain.

What this page is doingThe abdomen is examined in its distinctive order, auscultation before palpation, and the record says why. Each finding is placed by quadrant.
3

Musculoskeletal

Examined standing and then supine, comparing sides joint by joint. Muscle strength uses the 0 to 5 grading of the Medical Research Council, where 0 is no visible contraction and 5 holds against full resistance (Medical Research Council, 1976).

Spine, inspection: normal cervical, thoracic, and lumbar curves; shoulders and iliac crests level. Palpation: mild tenderness over the right and left lumbar paraspinal muscles at L3 to L5, equal on both sides; no tenderness over the spinous processes. Range of motion, lumbar: forward flexion to fingertips 18 cm from the floor, with stiffness reported at the end of range; extension 20 degrees; lateral bending 25 degrees to each side, equal; rotation equal to both sides.

Hips: flexion 115 degrees on the right and 115 degrees on the left; internal and external rotation equal and without pain. Knees: full extension and flexion to 135 degrees on both sides; no effusion. Straight leg raise: negative on both sides to 80 degrees.

Strength, right and left: hip flexion 5/5 and 5/5; knee extension 5/5 and 5/5; ankle dorsiflexion 5/5 and 5/5; great toe extension 5/5 and 5/5; plantar flexion 5/5 and 5/5. Gait: steady, normal heel and toe walking.

Summary

Abdominal examination without tenderness, masses, organ enlargement, or fluid; bowel sounds present in all quadrants. Lumbar paraspinal tenderness equal on both sides with mildly reduced forward flexion; strength full and equal in both legs; straight leg raise negative bilaterally. Findings are reported without interpretation for the provider's evaluation.

What this page is doingSides are compared joint by joint and the strength scale is named. The summary restates findings and leaves interpretation to the provider, as the assignment asks.
4

References

Bickley, L. S., Szilagyi, P. G., Hoffman, R. M., & Soriano, R. P. (2021). Bates' guide to physical examination and history taking (13th ed.). Wolters Kluwer.

Chou, R., Qaseem, A., Snow, V., Casey, D., Cross, J. T., Jr., Shekelle, P., Owens, D. K., Clinical Efficacy Assessment Subcommittee of the American College of Physicians, & American College of Physicians/American Pain Society Low Back Pain Guidelines Panel. (2007). Diagnosis and treatment of low back pain: A joint clinical practice guideline from the American College of Physicians and the American Pain Society. Annals of Internal Medicine, 147(7), 478-491. https://doi.org/10.7326/0003-4819-147-7-200710020-00006

Medical Research Council. (1976). Aids to the examination of the peripheral nervous system. Her Majesty's Stationery Office.

NURS 3025 Week 7 instructions, in plain terms

Week 7 of NURS 3025 commonly asks for a write-up of the abdominal and musculoskeletal examinations. You record history with red flags, examine the abdomen in the correct sequence with quadrants named, examine the musculoskeletal system with range of motion and strength grades, and summarize. Faculty grade precise objective language. Cite the course text in APA 7. Absent findings should be recorded because they rule out danger. Some sections assign only one of the two systems. The patient should be composite. NURS 3025 faculty want each abdominal quadrant named and the exam in the correct order. Give range of motion in degrees and grade strength out of five. List red flags with their answers. Summarize findings without a diagnosis.

How this NURS 3025 Week 7 example is built

Four pages. A short subjective section records bowel pattern, appetite, the bloating's timing relative to meals, and the back stiffness by onset, duration and effect on daily tasks, all attributed to the patient. The abdominal section documents inspection of contour and skin, bowel sounds by quadrant, percussion notes, then light and deep palpation with any tenderness located by quadrant and described by the patient's response. The musculoskeletal section inspects posture and gait, then lists each examined joint with range of motion described as full or limited and in which direction, and muscle strength recorded on the zero-to-five grading scale with left and right side by side. A small table sets the bilateral comparisons in rows. Findings that were looked for and not elicited, such as rebound tenderness, are stated as absent.

NURS 3025 Week 7 rubric: what earns full marks

Precision in objective language is the thread nearly every line of this rubric pulls on. Tenderness described as 'some discomfort in the stomach area' loses points that 'tenderness to light palpation, left lower quadrant, patient grimaced' keeps. Sequence is marked for the abdomen specifically, and a write-up documenting palpation before auscultation is routinely docked. Bilateral comparison carries its own weight in the musculoskeletal portion, where findings recorded for one side only leave the rubric's symmetry question unanswered. Scales named and used consistently earn a smaller line. The deduction many submissions do not see coming lands on subjective data that migrates into the objective section, such as 'patient's back is stiff' recorded as a finding rather than as a report, which the grader reads as a failure to separate sources.

NURS 3025 Week 7 help: mistakes that cost marks

Write-ups lose points when tenderness is described as some discomfort in the stomach area. Name the quadrant and describe the finding. Another common gap is examining the abdomen out of order, palpating before auscultating. Follow the sequence. Writers also skip red flags for back pain. Ask and record them. Avoid estimating range of motion without degrees. Give strength a grade out of five. Keep reported and observed data apart. End by flagging findings for follow-up. Writers also forget to ask about lifting technique and work demands, which matter for back stiffness. Ask. Another frequent slip is recording bowel sounds after palpation. Listen first. Keep the pain rating consistent.

Get a NURS 3025 Week 7 example written to your instructions

Send the Week 7 prompt with its rubric, and note whether your section pairs abdomen with musculoskeletal or assigns them separately. The write-up is matched to that pairing, examination order kept, bilateral findings tabled. Grading scales follow your course materials when you include them. First sample free, back within 24-48 hours.

Request this week free All NURS 3025 weeks Finished samples

More NURS 3025 papers and BSN samples

NURS 3025 Week 7 questions, answered

What if my section assigns only the abdominal exam this week?

Then the sample covers only the abdomen, in fuller detail than the paired version shown here. Sections split and pair these systems differently, and the desk writes to the pairing your prompt sets. The documentation standards stay the same either way: quadrant addressing, the abdomen's accepted sequence, and tenderness described by location and the patient's response.

Why record findings that were absent?

An absent sign is a result, and leaving it unwritten erases the evidence that the examination looked for it. The example states that rebound tenderness was absent and that no joint swelling was observed, so the next reader knows those questions were asked. Rubrics in this course often treat an unmentioned sign the same as an unexamined one, which costs completeness points.

Is the back stiffness patient real?

The patient is invented. Stiffness, bloating and every measured finding were assembled for this example, and no clinical record contributed a line. That holds for every sample on the site. If you are documenting an encounter from your own practice for class, the privacy rules of your employer and your program decide what can appear in it, not the sample.

Where can I find a free NURS 3025 Week 7 sample paper?

The back stiffness and bloating write-up is shown here with red flags recorded, the abdominal exam in sequence, the musculoskeletal exam and the summary.

What red flags are asked about in NURS 3025 Week 7?

Radiating pain, numbness, weakness and bladder or bowel changes, all recorded as absent.