| Course | NURS 215 Post-licensure Pathophysiology (NURS215) |
|---|---|
| Module/Week | 4 |
| Assignment | Health Education Brochure |
| Paper type | Patient education brochure |
| Length | about 690 words, 3 double-spaced pages plus title page and references. Course guide: a health education brochure on a disease covered in the course, in current APA format, citing at least 5 peer-reviewed references published within the last 10 years |
| Format | APA 7 student paper |
| Points | 100 |
| School | Liberty University Online |
| Program | BSN |
| Where it sits | Module/Week 4 in Liberty's published NURS 215 course guide; current sections can differ |
| Updated | October 2026 |
Free sample paper for NURS 215 Week 4
Your Kidneys, Your Health: A Patient Brochure on Living Well With Chronic Kidney Disease
[Student Name]
School of Nursing, Liberty University
NURS 215: Post-licensure Pathophysiology
Health Education Brochure
[Instructor Name]
[Date]
The brochure is an original patient education piece; the textbook and the peer-reviewed sources cited are real.
Your Kidneys, Your Health: A Patient Brochure on Living Well With Chronic Kidney Disease
Front Panel: Your Kidneys, Your Health
For adults who have been told their kidneys are not working as well as they should. Chronic kidney disease is common: more than one in ten adults around the world has it, which is over 800 million people (Kovesdy, 2022). Most people with early kidney disease feel fine, and that is why learning about it now matters.
What Your Kidneys Do
Your two kidneys sit below your ribs on each side of your back. Every day they clean your blood by removing waste and extra water, which leave your body as urine. They also help control your blood pressure, keep minerals such as potassium in balance and make a hormone that helps your body make red blood cells (Grossman & Porth, 2014). When the kidneys are damaged, these jobs slowly become harder for them to do.
What Chronic Kidney Disease Means
Chronic kidney disease means your kidneys have been damaged or working less well for more than three months (Chen et al., 2019). Two simple tests show how your kidneys are doing.
GFR is a number from a blood test that shows how well your kidneys filter. A GFR below 60 for three months or more means kidney disease.
Urine albumin is a test for protein in your urine. Healthy kidneys keep protein in the blood, so protein in the urine is an early sign of damage.
Your care team uses both numbers together to decide how often to check your kidneys and which treatments will help most (Stevens et al., 2024).
Why It Happens and Why You May Not Feel It
The most common causes are diabetes and high blood pressure, which damage the tiny blood vessels in the kidneys over many years (Chen et al., 2019). Early kidney disease usually causes no symptoms. In one review, fewer than 5% of people with early kidney disease knew they had it (Chen et al., 2019). Feeling well does not mean your kidneys are well, so keep your checkups even when you feel fine.
What You Can Do
Keep your blood pressure in your target range. High pressure damages kidney blood vessels, so take blood pressure medicine every day as prescribed, even when you feel fine.
If you have diabetes, keep your blood sugar in your target range to protect the small vessels in your kidneys.
Use less salt. Salt raises blood pressure and makes your body hold water. Guidelines suggest keeping sodium under about 2,000 mg a day (Stevens et al., 2024). Read food labels and choose fresh foods over canned and packaged ones.
Ask about protein. Eating very large amounts of protein can make kidneys work harder; your care team or a dietitian can tell you how much is right for you (Kalantar-Zadeh & Fouque, 2017).
Avoid ibuprofen and naproxen. These common pain relievers can harm the kidneys (Chen et al., 2019). Ask your pharmacist which pain reliever is safe for you, and tell every doctor and dentist that you have kidney disease.
Take kidney-protecting medicines if prescribed. Some medicines protect the kidneys as well as the heart. In a large study, people with kidney disease who took one of these medicines, dapagliflozin, were much less likely to have their kidney disease get worse, need dialysis or die from kidney or heart causes than people taking a placebo (Heerspink et al., 2020). Ask your provider whether a medicine like this is right for you.
Stay active. Aim for about 30 minutes of walking or other activity on most days, if your provider agrees.
Do not smoke. Smoking damages blood vessels, including those in the kidneys.
When to Call Your Care Team
Call your provider if you notice swelling in your feet, ankles or face; much less urine than usual; shortness of breath; unusual tiredness or itching; or a weight gain of more than 2 to 3 pounds in a day. Call 911 for chest pain, severe shortness of breath or confusion.
Questions to Ask at Your Next Visit
What are my latest GFR and urine albumin results, and are they getting better or worse? What blood pressure number should I aim for? Which medicines and pain relievers should I avoid? Should I see a dietitian or a kidney specialist? How often should my kidneys be checked? Kidney disease is often silent, but it is not hopeless: the steps you take now can slow it down.
References
Chen, T. K., Knicely, D. H., & Grams, M. E. (2019). Chronic kidney disease diagnosis and management: A review. JAMA, 322(13), 1294-1304. https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.2019.14745
Grossman, S. C., & Porth, C. M. (2014). Porth's pathophysiology: Concepts of altered health states (9th ed.). Wolters Kluwer Health/Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.
Heerspink, H. J. L., Stefánsson, B. V., Correa-Rotter, R., Chertow, G. M., Greene, T., Hou, F. F., Mann, J. F. E., McMurray, J. J. V., Lindberg, M., Rossing, P., Sjöström, C. D., Toto, R. D., Langkilde, A. M., & Wheeler, D. C. (2020). Dapagliflozin in patients with chronic kidney disease. New England Journal of Medicine, 383(15), 1436-1446. https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJMoa2024816
Kalantar-Zadeh, K., & Fouque, D. (2017). Nutritional management of chronic kidney disease. New England Journal of Medicine, 377(18), 1765-1776. https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJMra1700312
Kovesdy, C. P. (2022). Epidemiology of chronic kidney disease: An update 2022. Kidney International Supplements, 12(1), 7-11. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.kisu.2021.11.003
Stevens, P. E., Ahmed, S. B., Carrero, J. J., Foster, B., Francis, A., Hall, R. K., Herrington, W. G., Hill, G., Inker, L. A., Kazancıoğlu, R., Lamb, E., Lin, P., Madero, M., McIntyre, N., Morrow, K., Roberts, G., Sabanayagam, D., Schaeffner, E., Shlipak, M., . . . Levin, A. (2024). KDIGO 2024 clinical practice guideline for the evaluation and management of chronic kidney disease. Kidney International, 105(4S), S117-S314. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.kint.2023.10.018
What the NURS 215 Week 4 instructions ask
The Health Education Brochure is the only assignment due in Module/Week 4 of NURS 215, a week whose readings are Grossman and Porth's chapters 17, 18, 20 and 21 with one presentation. The course guide asks students to submit a health education brochure on any disease from the course's eight modules, prepared in current APA format, with at least five peer-reviewed references published within the last ten years. A brochure is written for patients, not for nurses, so the challenge is to keep the language plain while making sure every health claim rests on current evidence and is cited.
How this NURS 215 Week 4 example is built
The sample is laid out as the panels of a trifold brochure, each under its own heading. The front panel states the topic and who the brochure is for. Inside panels explain what the kidneys do, what chronic kidney disease is and how it is found, its main causes and why it often has no symptoms. The action panels give specific steps, each with a short reason. A panel lists warning signs that need a call to the care team, and the back panel offers questions to ask at the next visit. Citations appear in APA style after each claim, with the reference list at the end.
NURS 215 Week 4 grading rubric: where the points go
Brochures are generally graded on accuracy of the health information, appropriateness for a patient audience, plain language and readability, organization and visual layout, support from at least five peer-reviewed sources from the last ten years, correct APA citations and references and a clear connection to the disease's pathophysiology as studied in the course. Faculty notice when a brochure uses medical jargon without explanation or gives advice the evidence does not support. Specific, practical steps, such as naming which pain relievers to avoid, are more useful to patients than general advice to live healthily. Faculty also look for the link between the brochure's advice and the disease's mechanism, since the course is about pathophysiology.
NURS 215 Week 4 help: mistakes that cost points
Choose a disease you teach patients about at work, and write for a patient who has just heard the diagnosis. Use short sentences and everyday words, and explain any medical term you must use. Give each action step a reason in one sentence. Check every claim against a recent peer-reviewed source and cite it in APA format, even though the audience is patients. Read your draft aloud or check its reading level with a readability tool; simpler is almost always better for patients. Lay out the panels so the most important actions are easy to find, and end with questions patients can bring to their next appointment. Before submitting, have someone with no medical background read it and say what they would now do differently.
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- NURS 215 Week 2: Research Paper Part 1
- NURS 215 Week 3: Discussion Board Forum 2
- NURS 215 Week 5: Research Paper Part 2
- NURS 215 Week 6: Discussion Board Forum 3
- NURS 215 Week 7: Research Paper Part 3
- NURS 215 Week 8: Discussion Board Forum 4
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NURS 215 Week 4 questions, answered
What is the NURS 215 Health Education Brochure?
A 100-point Module/Week 4 assignment in which students create a patient brochure on a disease from the course, in APA format, citing at least five peer-reviewed sources from the last ten years.
Where can I find a free NURS 215 Week 4 sample paper?
Students can study, free, an entire NURS 215 Week 4 patient brochure on chronic kidney disease, panel by panel with APA references, free to read.
How is chronic kidney disease defined?
As a lasting abnormality in kidney structure or function for more than three months, such as an estimated GFR below 60 or urine albumin of 30 mg or more per day.
Why should people with kidney disease avoid ibuprofen?
Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs such as ibuprofen and naproxen can reduce blood flow to the kidneys and worsen kidney function, so they are listed among potential nephrotoxins to avoid.
What reading level should a patient brochure use?
Aim for language most adults can read easily, roughly the level of a middle school text, with short sentences, everyday words and medical terms explained when they must be used.
Use it as a model, or ask for your own
This paper is an original model written by our desk for study. It is not a submitted student paper and not an official Liberty University document. Read it for structure and reasoning, then write your own to the instructions in your Canvas course. If you want a version built to your exact prompt and rubric, the first custom sample is free and arrives in 24 to 48 hours.
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