DNP 606 Module 1 Case Study 1: Status Asthmaticus Example

Reviewed by Ingrid Vasterling, MSN, RN Arizona State University Updated October 2026

This DNP 606 Module 1 sample is case study 1 in Principles of Pediatric Acute Care I, the first theory course in the pediatric acute care NP specialty of ASU's Doctor of Nursing Practice. ASU DNP 606 grades three faculty-assigned cases, each answered in five set parts, from a data summary and a health-maintenance-first problem list to a short differential and a team plan. Because the real case is posted in Canvas, this composite case is of the same kind: a 9-year-old boy with a severe asthma exacerbation in the emergency department. The answer names the information still missing, lists four differentials and sets out a stepwise plan with bronchodilators, ipratropium, steroids and magnesium, supported by Cochrane reviews, with teaching and trust-building for his mother.

CourseDNP 606 Principles of Pediatric Acute Care I
ModuleModule 1
Paper typePediatric acute care case study
LengthAbout 601 words, 5 pages
FormatAPA 7 student paper
SchoolArizona State University
ProgramDoctor of Nursing Practice
UpdatedOctober 2026

Free sample paper for DNP 606 Module 1

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Fighting for Air: A Pediatric Acute Care Case Study of Status Asthmaticus in a 9-Year-Old

Student Name

Edson College of Nursing and Health Innovation, Arizona State University

DNP 606: Principles of Pediatric Acute Care I

Instructor Name

Month Day, Year

What this page is doingThe title names the clinical emergency and the patient's age, the two facts that shape every decision in the plan.
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Fighting for Air: A Pediatric Acute Care Case Study of Status Asthmaticus in a 9-Year-Old

Case

A 9-year-old boy with persistent asthma arrives at the emergency department with two days of cough after a cold and six hours of worsening breathlessness. He speaks in short phrases, has suprasternal and intercostal retractions, diffuse expiratory wheeze and saturations of 89% breathing room air. Heart rate is 142 and respiratory rate 38. He was prescribed a daily inhaled corticosteroid but has not used it for two months. He has had one prior PICU admission.

1. Summary

Key issues. This is a severe asthma exacerbation in a child with a previous PICU stay, poor controller adherence and hypoxemia, all markers of high risk. A validated severity score, such as the Pediatric Respiratory Assessment Measure, which combines oxygen saturation, retractions, scalene use, air entry and wheeze, can guide and track treatment (Ducharme et al., 2008).

Missing information. Albuterol use at home in the past 24 hours, time of last dose, any oral steroid courses this year, triggers, smoke exposure, vaccination status including influenza, weight for dosing, a repeat PRAM score after the first treatments and, if he worsens, a blood gas.

What this page is doingThe summary separates the high-risk features from the information still needed, which is the first scoring element of the case format and shows clinical reasoning before treatment.
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2. Problem List

1. Health maintenance: influenza vaccination status unknown; asthma action plan out of date.

2. Severe acute asthma exacerbation with hypoxemia.

3. Poorly controlled persistent asthma with nonadherence to controller therapy.

4. Viral upper respiratory infection as a likely trigger.

5. Caregiver knowledge gap and possible barriers to medication access.

3. Differential Diagnosis

1. Acute asthma exacerbation triggered by a viral infection: most likely, given his history, diffuse wheeze and a recent cold.

2. Pneumonia: possible if fever, focal crackles or a focal finding persists after bronchodilators; a chest radiograph is indicated if he does not improve as expected.

3. Foreign body aspiration: less likely at his age without a choking history, but unilateral wheeze or sudden onset would raise concern.

4. Pneumothorax or pneumomediastinum: a complication of severe asthma; sudden chest pain, asymmetric breath sounds or subcutaneous air would prompt imaging.

4. Plan of Care

Immediate treatment. Give oxygen to keep saturation at or above 92%. Start inhaled short-acting beta-agonist treatments in rapid succession and add inhaled ipratropium to the first treatments. In a Cochrane review of 20 trials with 2,697 children, adding an anticholinergic to a short-acting beta-agonist reduced hospital admission (risk ratio 0.73; number needed to treat 16) (Griffiths & Ducharme, 2013). Give systemic corticosteroids within the first hour.

If he does not respond. Reassess the PRAM score after the first hour. For a child with a continuing moderate to severe exacerbation, consider intravenous magnesium sulfate. A Cochrane review found that it reduced hospital admission in children with moderate to severe asthma in the emergency department (odds ratio 0.32), though the evidence came from only five small studies (Griffiths & Kew, 2016). Escalate to continuous albuterol, a PICU consult and consideration of noninvasive ventilation if work of breathing or gas exchange worsens.

Consults. Respiratory therapy for treatments and monitoring; PICU if he fails initial therapy; social work if cost or access contributes to nonadherence; pharmacy for an affordable controller and spacer.

Complementary approaches. Breathing techniques may help some children feel more in control once stable, but they are not a substitute for medication during an exacerbation.

Education and trust. Review the reason for the controller with his mother without blame, ask what made daily use hard, teach spacer technique with teach-back and update a written asthma action plan before discharge. Arrange follow-up with his primary care provider within a few days, consistent with national asthma guidance (Cloutier et al., 2020).

What this page is doingThe plan moves stepwise from first-line therapy to escalation, cites the evidence for each added drug with its effect size and closes with education built around the family's barriers, matching every element the case format asks for.
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References

Cloutier, M. M., Baptist, A. P., Blake, K. V., Brooks, E. G., Bryant-Stephens, T., DiMango, E., Dixon, A. E., Elward, K. S., Hartert, T., Krishnan, J. A., Lemanske, R. F., Ouellette, D. R., Pace, W. D., Schatz, M., Skolnik, N. S., Stout, J. W., Teach, S. J., Umscheid, C. A., & Walsh, C. G. (2020). 2020 focused updates to the asthma management guidelines: A report from the National Asthma Education and Prevention Program Coordinating Committee Expert Panel Working Group. Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, 146(6), 1217-1270. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaci.2020.10.003

Ducharme, F. M., Chalut, D., Plotnick, L., Savdie, C., Kudirka, D., Zhang, X., Meng, L., & McGillivray, D. (2008). The Pediatric Respiratory Assessment Measure: A valid clinical score for assessing acute asthma severity from toddlers to teenagers. Journal of Pediatrics, 152(4), 476-480. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpeds.2007.08.034

Griffiths, B., & Ducharme, F. M. (2013). Combined inhaled anticholinergics and short-acting beta2-agonists for initial treatment of acute asthma in children. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, (8), Article CD000060. https://doi.org/10.1002/14651858.CD000060.pub2

Griffiths, B., & Kew, K. M. (2016). Intravenous magnesium sulfate for treating children with acute asthma in the emergency department. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, (4), Article CD011050. https://doi.org/10.1002/14651858.CD011050.pub2

DNP 606 Module 1 instructions, in plain terms

In the posted syllabus, DNP 606 sets three case studies chosen by faculty, each scored out of 20 and typed into a Canvas essay quiz before its deadline. The answer has a fixed shape. Open by pulling out the data that matter and saying what you still need to know. List the patient's problems, putting health maintenance first. Offer three or four likely diagnoses, each with a line of reasoning. Then write a plan the whole team could follow, naming drugs, any complementary measures, specialists to call, what to teach the child and family and how you will earn their trust, and finish with peer-reviewed sources in APA style. This first case comes after the respiratory and cardiovascular weeks, so a breathing or heart problem is likely. The full rubric sits in Canvas; answer the case as written rather than reviewing the topic.

How the DNP 606 Module 1 example is put together

The answer restates the composite case briefly and then follows the five required parts with numbered headings. The summary separates high-risk features from missing information and introduces a validated severity score. The problem list starts with health maintenance. Four differentials each carry a one-line rationale and the finding that would change the plan. The plan of care moves from immediate treatment to escalation, citing two Cochrane reviews with effect sizes, then lists consults, a note on complementary approaches and education with teach-back and an action plan. Four sources support it, including a national asthma guideline update. Doses are left to weight-based references.

Reading the DNP 606 Module 1 grading rubric

The syllabus lists the parts each case answer must contain, and the rubric in Canvas assigns points to them. Faculty are likely to look for a summary that identifies the most important data and what is missing, a prioritized problem list beginning with health maintenance, plausible differentials with reasons, an evidence-based and interprofessional plan and correct APA references. Answers earn more when the plan is stepwise and tied to reassessment. Citing reviews or guidelines for each major treatment shows evidence-based practice. Education that addresses the family's real barriers, rather than generic teaching, meets the trust-building element. Faculty may also check that the missing information you list would actually change the plan, such as a blood gas if the child tires.

DNP 606 Module 1 help from the desk

Many drafts throw every possible treatment into one paragraph. Show the order and the trigger for each step. Another is leaving health maintenance off the first line of problems, though the format puts it there. Name the information you would still collect; faculty treat that as reasoning. If you would like help working through your own assigned case, send the desk the case text and your draft. Check every drug against a pediatric reference for weight-based dosing. Keep each section labeled to match the rubric. State the reassessment point for each step, such as a repeat severity score after the first hour.

Write yours, or have the desk draft it

This paper is an original model document written by our desk, not a submitted student paper and not an official Arizona State University document. Read it for the moves, then write your own to the instructions in your classroom. If you want one built to your exact prompt and rubric, the first custom sample is free and arrives in 24 to 48 hours.

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More DNP 606 and Doctor of Nursing Practice sample papers

DNP 606 Module 1 questions, answered

Where can I find a free DNP 606 Module 1 sample paper?

You can read a full DNP 606 case study 1 sample on pediatric status asthmaticus, with a summary, problem list, differentials and an evidence-based plan, right here.

What sections does a DNP 606 case study need?

Five parts, in order: key data and gaps, problems led by health maintenance, three or four likely diagnoses, a team plan and peer-reviewed APA sources.

How much are DNP 606 case studies worth?

The posted syllabus lists three case studies at 20 points each.

Does ipratropium help children with acute asthma?

A Cochrane review found that adding ipratropium to albuterol reduced hospital admissions, with about 16 children treated to prevent one admission.

When is magnesium used for pediatric asthma?

For moderate to severe exacerbations not responding to initial therapy; a Cochrane review found it may reduce hospital admission.