What are the types of nursing case study writing?

Introduction

A nursing case study is referred to unfolding the clinical care scenarios which assist the nursing student in critically thinking about the way issues in care are to be resolved. The use of nursing case study writing is important for nursing students because it allows them to gather an increased amount of information which are unable to be theoretically gathered by simply going through books and journals. Case study writing is also important for the nurses to develop an idea regarding the way evidence-based information is to be gathered and used in practice. In this aspect, different types of nursing case studies are present which are required to be known and written by the nurses.

How to Write a Nursing Case Study

1. Collective case study: In nursing, a collective case study involves examining a group of individuals suffering from the same disease.

It is executed to determine the way a single disease can differently impact each person to make them develop different needs and demands of care. This nature of nursing case study often includes the nurses examining the selected group of people in a hospital or community. The facts to be identified from the case study are the way resources are to be shared in society so that each of the individuals suffering from the common health issues irrespective of their different health needs can improve their health and well-being.  For example, the nurse may explore the way type-2 diabetes is affecting people with poor socio-economic conditions. It is required to highlight the different health determinants which are influencing their adverse health condition and the way healthcare resource distribution is affecting their condition. The collective case studies are also used to examine the factors associated to promote the effectiveness of a caring approach targeted to improve the health and well-being of a group of individuals in the community. It helps the nurses to understand the way the health promotion approach is to be further changed to ensure a greater positive effect regarding the management of the disease in the community.

2. Descriptive case study: In nursing, the descriptive case study is used to tell the story of a person or group of individuals who are cared for in the healthcare environment. The story to be explained contains the definition of a real-world health problem suffered by the individual or group along with providing important facts regarding the health condition. It is structured in such a way that the interesting facts regarding the main individuals are shared in the study. The solutions were chosen to be implemented in overcoming the health issue and the way they failed is also informed in the case study. The second part of the nursing research writing includes analysing each of the interventions taken for the patient or group as explained in the case study to determine their effectiveness and the reason behind their poor or beneficial impact on the patient. The descriptive case study is mainly developed to create a lesson for the nurses regarding the problems to be faced in delivering care in the real-world environment. It also educates the student nurses regarding the appropriate action to be taken regarding any specific disease to be managed. The case study acts to provide concepts to the student nurses regarding the way a specific disease could be controlled and managed in a given situation.

3. Explanatory case study: The explanatory case study is mainly created for the student nurses to execute causal investigations. This means the student nurses are required to identify the key factors which may have contributed to the occurrence of certain diseases in people. Thus, this nature of the case study is focused on exploring the question of why regarding any condition or treatment faced or used by the patients. For example, the case study could be regarding asking the question about the reason more people are involved in hindered diet and intake of increased carbohydrate food irrespective of wider facts being shared regarding the impact of a healthy diet on health in society. Thus, the explanatory case study focuses on explaining the cause of certain health conditions in people or persons rather than merely describing the care process. It helps the nurses in predicting the future situation expected to be faced in healthcare and makes them aware of the improvement to be made to overcome the health issue to be worsening in the future. This is because the reason for the occurrence of an uncontrolled condition or health issue in public can be identified through the case study process.   
4. Intrinsic case study: In nursing, intrinsic case study writing is used by the nurses to gather understanding regarding any case for their learning. The nurses may be involved in closely observing the patient to determine the way they react to different care approaches. It is to gradually develop learning regarding the actions to be avoided for the patient as well as in similar situations in the future. The intrinsic case study helps the nurses to develop care theories of their own regarding the way individual suffering from a certain disease is to be treated. The limitation of such a case study is that it hinders the free will of the student nurses to later act in the practical environment due to their steady theoretical assumption for a certain disease or care. However, it helps the student nurses later in their career to more effectively remain alert about the dos and don’ts in caring for particulate health conditions in the patient.
5. Instrumental case study: In nursing, the instrumental case study is used and written by the nurses to gain deeper insight regarding any care phenomenon. For example, the student nurses may have an interest in childhood diabetes and set a case study with the children suffering from diabetes to determine the cause of the condition along with the likely care effective for their health. In this condition, the key focus is understanding the result of the intervention and the care used. This means that the key focus is understanding the relationship between the mentioned intervention and its effect on children or child with diabetes along with the reason children or specific child is exposed to suffer from diabetes.   
Conclusion
These examples illustrate how writing a good case study or multiple cases helps us to better understand the phenomenon in question. Nursing Case study methodology serves to provide a framework for the evaluation and analysis of interventions taken for the patient issues. It shines a light on the intrinsic nature of nursing practice and offers a perspective that informs improved patient care.