| Course | NSG 120 Nursing Pathophysiology |
|---|---|
| Unit | Unit 3 |
| Paper type | Complication watch list |
| Length | About 850 words, 6 pages |
| Format | APA 7 student paper |
| School | Herzing University |
| Program | BSN |
| Updated | October 2026 |
Free sample paper for NSG 120 Unit 3
Watching a Heart That Is Covering for Missing Blood: A Complication Watch List for a 38-Year-Old Woman With Chronic Anemia From Heavy Periods
Student Name
Department of Nursing, Herzing University
NSG 120: Nursing Pathophysiology
Instructor Name
January 30, 2026
Watching a Heart That Is Covering for Missing Blood: A Complication Watch List for a 38-Year-Old Woman With Chronic Anemia From Heavy Periods
The Patient and the Problem the Body Is Working Around
A composite 38-year-old woman, a middle-school teacher, has had very heavy periods for about two years, soaking through a pad every hour on the heaviest days and passing clots. She has put her growing tiredness down to work. She is admitted overnight after fainting at a family gathering. Her hemoglobin is 8.1 g/dL, well below the usual range for adult women, and her red cells are small and pale on the blood count, the pattern of iron-deficiency anemia. Each period removes blood, and with it iron, faster than her diet replaces it, so the bone marrow cannot make enough hemoglobin (Camaschella, 2015).
The body cannot fix this problem, because the loss continues every month and the missing ingredient is iron. What it can do is make the hemoglobin she has go further. The heart carries most of that load.
The Compensation, Described Plainly
What has increased: heart rate and the amount of blood pumped with each beat, so more blood passes through the lungs and tissues each minute. In healthy volunteers whose hemoglobin was lowered in a controlled study, heart rate, stroke volume, and cardiac output all rose while resistance in the blood vessels fell (Weiskopf et al., 1998). Her resting heart rate is 98.
What has been diverted: blood flow is redirected away from the skin and, to a lesser extent, the kidneys and gut, toward the heart muscle and brain. This is why she looks pale even beyond what her low hemoglobin alone would explain.
What has changed in the blood itself: red cells make more of a compound called 2,3-bisphosphoglycerate, which loosens hemoglobin's grip on oxygen, so more oxygen is released in the tissues from each red cell (Rogers, 2023).
What it costs: the heart works harder all the time, at rest as well as with effort, and has less reserve left for anything extra. Any added demand, such as exercise, fever, standing up quickly, or another heavy period, has to be met by a heart already running above its usual rate.
The Watch List, Ordered by How Soon Each Would Show
1. Dizziness or fainting on standing. Why it is likely in her: blood has already been diverted away from the skin and other areas, and her heart is already beating fast, so when she stands and blood pools in her legs there is little reserve to keep blood flowing to the brain. Her admission faint probably happened this way. First finding: a rise in heart rate of more than about 20 beats a minute, or lightheadedness, when she moves from lying to standing.
2. Breathlessness and a racing heart with small efforts. Why: her heart is near the top of what it can deliver at rest, so a short walk to the bathroom pushes it higher still. First finding: heart rate above 120 or needing to stop and rest after walking a short distance.
3. Worsening at her next period. Why: another heavy bleed lowers the hemoglobin further while the compensation is already stretched. First finding: a heavier pad count than usual, a faster resting heart rate, or new dizziness during her period.
4. Chest pain or pressure with exertion. Why: the heart muscle itself needs more oxygen because it is working harder, while the blood carrying that oxygen is thin. In the volunteer study, two participants developed ECG changes of reduced blood supply to the heart at very low hemoglobin (Weiskopf et al., 1998). First finding: chest tightness, jaw or arm discomfort, or unusual breathlessness during activity.
5. Signs of the heart beginning to fail. Why: a heart that works above its usual rate for months can eventually struggle to keep up, a form of high-output heart failure. This is the latest complication and the least likely at her age. First finding: swelling of the ankles, needing more pillows to breathe at night, or crackles at the base of the lungs.
Related Findings That Are Not Part of the Compensation
Some findings in iron deficiency come from the missing iron itself rather than from the heart's work, and they are recorded separately so they are not confused with signs of decompensation: brittle or spoon-shaped nails, cracks at the corners of the mouth, a sore tongue, and cravings for ice (Camaschella, 2015). She reports chewing ice every day. This is recorded, but it does not signal that her compensation is failing.
Sources and Ranges
The description of cardiac compensation for anemia comes from the course pathophysiology text (Rogers, 2023) and the volunteer study by Weiskopf et al. (1998), which lowered hemoglobin quickly in healthy people; chronic anemia develops slowly and the body adapts more fully, so the findings in this patient are milder than in that study. The iron-deficiency findings come from Camaschella (2015). Normal hemoglobin ranges and heart rate thresholds for concern differ between laboratories and facilities, and the numbers here were checked against the course's own reference materials rather than treated as universal.
References
Camaschella, C. (2015). Iron-deficiency anemia. New England Journal of Medicine, 372(19), 1832-1843. https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJMra1401038
Rogers, J. L. (Ed.). (2023). McCance & Huether's pathophysiology: The biologic basis for disease in adults and children (9th ed.). Elsevier.
Weiskopf, R. B., Viele, M. K., Feiner, J., Kelley, S., Lieberman, J., Noorani, M., Leung, J. M., Fisher, D. M., Murray, W. R., Toy, P., & Moore, M. A. (1998). Human cardiovascular and metabolic response to acute, severe isovolemic anemia. JAMA, 279(3), 217-221. https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.279.3.217
What the NSG 120 Unit 3 instructions ask for
Unit 3 asks you to build a watch list of complications a nurse should monitor for in a patient, based on the underlying process. Expect to describe the patient and the problem, explain how the body compensates, list complications in a logical order with reasons and findings, and separate related findings that are not part of the compensation. Many versions ask how many entries belong and whether a watch list is the same as a nursing plan. Check whether your section expects a specific order. A watch list predicts what could go wrong and how it would show; a care plan adds interventions. Order by timing or likelihood. Each entry needs a reason tied to the mechanism. Cite sources for normal ranges and thresholds.
Inside the NSG 120 Unit 3 example
The list opens with the patient's history and labs, then explains the compensation in plain words. The watch list itself orders entries by how soon each would appear, which helps a nurse know what to look for first. Each entry has three parts: the finding, why it is likely in this patient and what would be recorded. Early entries include orthostatic dizziness and a fast resting pulse. Later entries include signs of high-output strain. The related findings section explains that some symptoms come from iron deficiency in other tissues, not from the heart's compensation, which keeps the list focused. Sources and ranges are named at the end. The format would fit on one page beside a care plan.
NSG 120 Unit 3 rubric: what full points look like
Herzing's rubric for a complication watch list usually covers the description of the problem, explanation of compensation, the order and logic of entries, reasons tied to mechanism, recordable findings and sources. Graders look hardest at the reasons: each complication must follow from the compensation rather than come from memory. Compensation points reward a clear account of what has increased and why. Order criteria look for a logical sequence. Recordable finding points go to specific observations and values. Separating unrelated findings is often credited. Sources should support ranges. Camaschella's review and the course text belong in the APA 7 list.
NSG 120 Unit 3 help before you submit
Watch lists in Unit 3 often slip by listing complications from a textbook without tying them to this patient's compensation. Another frequent problem is no order, so urgent findings sit beside late ones. Students often confuse a watch list with a care plan and add interventions. Recordable findings are vague, such as monitor vital signs. Findings unrelated to the compensation are mixed in. Ranges are not sourced. The compensation itself is not explained. Too many entries dilute the list. Finally, say why each complication is likely in this patient, because graders reward a list built from the mechanism rather than one copied from a general reference.
Get a NSG 120 Unit 3 example written to your instructions
Send the Unit 3 instructions and the rubric from your NSG 120 classroom, with the case or condition the list should cover. We write a custom example that describes the compensation and its cost first, gives every entry a process and a first finding, and orders the list by when things would appear. First custom sample free, back in 24 to 48 hours.
More NSG 120 papers and BSN samples
- NSG 120 Unit 1: Disease process summary
- NSG 120 Unit 2: Sign and symptom rationale
- NSG 120 Unit 4: Body system comparison
- NSG 120 Unit 5: Laboratory value pattern study
- NSG 120 Unit 6: Condition study set
- NSG 120 Unit 7: Risk factor and prevention table
- NSG 120 Unit 8: Patient teaching rationale
- NSG 122 Unit 3: Measurable goal and outcome sheet
- NSG 123 Unit 3: Nursing intervention rationale
- NSG 124 Unit 3: Administration rights walkthrough
- NSG 126 Unit 3: Standards of practice review
NSG 120 Unit 3 questions, answered
How many entries belong on the list?
Fewer, reasoned properly, generally beats more. Where your instructions set a count, meet it, and where they do not, four or five entries each carrying a process and a detectable finding usually reads stronger than a dozen names. Every item you add has to earn its place from this patient's compensation, and thin reasoning across a long list is the common result.
Is a watch list the same as a nursing plan?
No, and keeping them apart protects the submission. A watch list says what could happen, why this body makes it likely, and what would show first. What is then done about it belongs to a plan, to the standing arrangements of a setting and to a licensed nurse. Course examples stay on the recognizing side of that line unless your instructions ask otherwise.
Where do I get the findings that would appear first?
From your course reading and the assessment text your section uses, and cite them. Descriptions of early findings vary between sources, and an entry naming where its finding came from is defensible in a way a remembered one is not. If two of your sources word it differently, say so in a line rather than choosing silently between them.
Where can I find a free NSG 120 Unit 3 sample paper?
This page shows the whole NSG 120 Unit 3 anemia watch list for free, compensation explained and complications ordered by timing. A watch list for another condition can be written on request.
How does the heart compensate for anemia?
It beats faster and pumps more blood with each beat, so more blood reaches tissues to make up for its lower oxygen content. This sample builds a watch list of what happens when that compensation strains, from dizziness to heart strain.