FNP Student Uses VisualDx for Differential, Orders Life-Saving Biopsy

In honor of Nurses Week, this week’s Story from the Field comes from Kyla K., a student at SUNY Upstate studying to be a family nurse practitioner. She entered her patient’s symptoms into VisualDx to narrow her differential and correctly diagnosed her patient with a biopsy.

“59 year old patient presents with headache and pain in the jaw. No pain with palpating but the headache is the worst she’s ever had. VisualDx suggest migraines, tension headache, TMJ and giant cell arteritis. Patient was sent for a temporal artery biopsy which came back positive and then started on prednisone. The ESR for this patient was only slightly elevated.”