Microorganism Profile Assignment 

 Microorganism Profile Assignment

Microorganism Profile

General Education Competency – Scientific Literacy

Purpose:  The purpose of this assignment is for you to communicate the scientific knowledge you gain both inside and outside the microbiology classroom about a particular microorganism.  All possible pathogens, are microbes that you encounter in your nursing career and therefore are relevant to your nursing success.  As you progress through the Microorganism Profile Project, you will research your organism and provide written explanations in your own words.  All written communication is expected to meet accepted standards for grammar, syntax, and punctuation.  The completed paper is to be in APA format and is to be submitted electronically via the Assignment Drop Box in Canvas

Purpose of this assignment is to help you practice the following skills that are essential to your success in a microbiology course.  In this assignment you will:

• Access and collect needed information from appropriate scholarly materials.
• Communicate scientific information in your own words.
• Compose a well-organized, clear, concise, essay expanding your knowledge on an assigned organism.
• Correctly reference cited material using APA formatting.

Knowledge:  This assignment will also help you to become familiar with the following important content knowledge in this discipline:

• Fundamentals of microbiology.
• The interaction between microbe and host.
• Use of appropriate scientific vocabulary.
• Explain the chain of transmission for your assigned microbe.
• Explain treatments for microbial infection.
• Identify preventative measures used for the pathogen.
• Identify clinical relevance for nurses and or patients.
• Understand the presentation of a patient with this microbe.

1. Type of microorganism you have
2. Gram reaction (if any), shape and arrangement
3. Virulence factors
4. How the organism evades the immune system
5. Diseases your organism can cause.
6. How your organism can spread to others
7. Ways to prevent infection
8. How your organism will be treated
9. What a nurse needs to know about your organism
10. Prepare an APA format typed essay that documents YOUR understanding of the information and how it pertains to your assigned organism. APA is 12 point font Times New Roman with one-inch margins. Include a title and reference page and 3 to 5 content pages (total 5 to 7 pages).
11. Include at least 4 APA style references from scholarly articles or resources. For each reference, you will provide an in-text citation by providing a quote or paraphrasing the author’s information.

See the Rubric for complete requirements.

Criteria for success: (Grading Rubric)

1.  The student has thoroughly described the structure of the assigned microbe in detail, including the microbiological tools that would be necessary to observe the organism and virulence factors.

2.  The student has thoroughly described the infectious disease caused by the assigned microbe, including conditions, duration of infection, complications, and predisposing factors.

3.  All aspects concerning the interactions between the microbe and the human immune system were fully addressed. (all items or terms that are listed are described or explained in a very complete manner).

4.  All aspects concerning the transmission of the assigned microbe between hosts are fully addressed. An original diagram created by the student is used to address epidemiology.

5.  All aspects concerning the chemotherapeutic options for the assigned microbe are fully addressed.

6. All aspects concerning the clinical relevance of the assigned microbe are fully addressed.

7. The student can accurately interpret and communicate information using scientific vocabulary using written and/or graphical means consistently throughout the assignment.

8.  The overall presentation is 100% complete, orderly, and demonstrates scholarly achievement including APA format, proper grammar, and punctuation.

9. At least 4 sources have been referenced, cited in-text, and references are from reputable sources.