NURS 506 is Liberty's MSN course in advanced physiology and pathophysiology. Its written work is three discussion forums, an annotated bibliography, two case studies that explain disease to the cellular level, and a cardiovascular-pulmonary presentation, alongside weekly quizzes and a final exam.
Liberty's catalog lists the course as NURS 506 Advanced Physiology and Pathophysiology, 3 credit hours; Canvas and the course guide file print it as NURS506.
What NURS 506 covers
The catalog description: System-focused content addresses the normal physiologic and pathologic mechanisms of disease that serve as the foundation for advanced clinical assessment, decision-making, and management. Physiologic changes are compared and contrasted over the life span and developmental physiology, normal etiology, pathogenesis, and clinical manifestations of commonly found/observed altered health states and responses to illness and treatment modalities are examined.
The course covers the mechanisms of disease that advanced assessment and management rest on, system by system, using McCance and Huether, Pathophysiology. The written assignments ask for depth in a specific way: the two case studies must discuss the pathophysiology of the selected disease to the cellular level, and so must the Week 7 presentation.
Source currency runs through every assignment. The forums, the annotated bibliography, the case studies and the presentation all require scholarly sources published within the last five years.
Textbook named in the published guide: McCance & Huether, Pathophysiology (2019). Check the current edition in your Canvas section.
NURS 506 assignments, week by week
Every graded written assignment in the published guide has its own how-to guide below. Quizzes, exams, checklists and class introductions are left out because there is nothing to write.
| Week | Assignment | Points | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Discussion Board Forum 1 | 70 | Thread at least 500 words |
| 2 | Annotated Bibliography | 150 | 5 annotated sources |
| 3 | Discussion Board Forum 2 | 70 | Thread at least 500 words |
| 4 | Oncology Case Study 1 | 120 | 3 to 4 pages, excluding the title and reference pages |
| 5 | Case Study 2 | 120 | 3 to 4 pages, excluding the title and reference pages |
| 6 | Discussion Board Forum 3 | 70 | Thread at least 500 words |
| 7 | Cardiovascular-Pulmonary Presentation | 145 | At least 15 slides, excluding the title and reference slides |
Week 1: Discussion Board Forum 1
A 500-word thread with two scholarly citations from the last five years and two 250-word replies. How to write NURS 506 Week 1 Discussion Board Forum 1.
Week 2: Annotated Bibliography
Five recent, peer-reviewed sources on your clinical area of expertise, each with a brief review of its strengths and weaknesses. How to write NURS 506 Week 2 Annotated Bibliography.
Week 3: Discussion Board Forum 2
The second forum, with the immunity and inflammation chapters: a 500-word thread and two 250-word replies. How to write NURS 506 Week 3 Discussion Board Forum 2.
Week 4: Oncology Case Study 1
A 3 to 4-page oncology case study: patient background, pathophysiology to the cellular level, and a holistic plan of care. How to write NURS 506 Week 4 Oncology Case Study 1.
Week 5: Case Study 2
The second 3 to 4-page case study, with the same background, cellular pathophysiology and holistic plan requirements. How to write NURS 506 Week 5 Case Study 2.
Week 6: Discussion Board Forum 3
The third forum: a 500-word thread with two recent scholarly citations and two 250-word replies. How to write NURS 506 Week 6 Discussion Board Forum 3.
Week 7: Cardiovascular-Pulmonary Presentation
A 15-slide-plus PowerPoint teaching nurses about a cardiovascular or pulmonary disease to the cellular level, for one age group. How to write NURS 506 Week 7 Cardiovascular-Pulmonary Presentation.
How NURS 506 is graded
The published guide totals 1,010 points. The annotated bibliography is 150, each case study 120, the cardiovascular-pulmonary presentation 145, and each of the three forums 70. Six quizzes (30 each), a final exam (75) and the checklist (10) complete the total.
| Graded item | Points |
|---|---|
| Annotated Bibliography | 150 |
| Oncology Case Study 1 | 120 |
| Case Study 2 | 120 |
| Cardiovascular-Pulmonary Presentation | 145 |
| Discussion Board Forums (3) | 210 |
| Quizzes (6) | 180 |
| Final Exam | 75 |
| Course Requirements Checklist | 10 |
The published scale puts an A at 940 to 1010 points.
Week timing in the published guide: Each course module/week begins on Monday morning at 12:00 a.m. (ET) and ends on Sunday night at 11:59 p.m. (ET). The final module/week ends at 11:59 p.m. (ET) on Friday.
How to approach NURS 506
Choose your clinical area of expertise in Week 1, because the Week 2 annotated bibliography asks for five sources on it, and a case study in the same area later reuses that reading. For the case studies, build a realistic patient with a complete background before writing the pathophysiology; the guide lists age, race, diagnosis, signs and symptoms, family and social history, and medications and allergies.
Explain disease to the cellular level every time: what happens to cells, mediators and tissues, and how that produces the signs and symptoms in your patient. That link is what separates graduate pathophysiology from a description of the disease.
Questions students ask
What does "to the cellular level" mean in NURS 506?
Explaining the disease through what happens in cells and tissues (receptors, mediators, mutations, inflammation, cell injury) and showing how those changes produce the patient's signs and symptoms.
How recent must NURS 506 sources be?
The guide asks for scholarly sources published within the last five years for the forums, the annotated bibliography, the case studies and the presentation.
Working through NURS 506 now?
Tell us the week and the assignment. A tutor who knows the course replies with a plan for the draft.