15.14 Clinical Judgment: Case Study

A 45-year-old female, presents to the clinic for her annual physical examination. During the assessment, she mentions that she has noticed a lump in her right breast over the past month. She reports that the lump is not painful but feels firm and immobile. She has no significant family history of breast cancer, and her last mammogram, conducted a year ago, was normal. She is concerned about the lump and seeks advice on the next steps.[1]

What initial assessment should the nurse perform on the patient breast to evaluate the lump?

What additional information should the nurse gather from the patient’s medical and family history?

How should the nurse educate the patient about self-breast examination and the importance of regular breast screenings?


  1. OpenAI. (2024). ChatGPT. [Large language model]. https://chat.openai.com/chat. Content was reviewed by authors for accuracy.

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Nursing Physical Assessment Copyright © 2024 by Barbara Gawron and Meenu James is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.

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