Aim

The aim of this assessment is for you to examine the fundamental role of communication in nursing and explain communication strategies that will enable you to develop professional relationships in your nursing practice. You will also begin to explore how you can adapt your communication to different nursing contexts and identify your own communication strengths and challenges.

Instructions

Please follow the steps below to complete your assessment task:

1. Complete the short answer tasks (described below) after engaging in the weekly learning content.

2. Submit your responses to the tasks on the template provided.

Portfolio task instructions:

Task 1: Registered nurse standards for practice. Standard 2: Engages in therapeutic and professional relationships.

‘RN practice is based on purposefully engaging in effective therapeutic and professional relationships. This includes collegial generosity in the context of mutual trust and respect in professional relationships’ (Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia, 2016).

After reading Standard 2 of the Registered nurse standards for practice, and watching the video about the standards in Moodle, describe an incident that you have witnessed that would not adhere to the professional standard.

Word limit: 200 words

Task 2: Getting your message across. Module 2 discusses numerous strategies to assist you to build meaningful professional/therapeutic connections. Using up to date peer reviewed references, in 300 words explore how the meaning of a message may be constructed or received and what may influence how this meaning is constructed or received.

Word limit: 300 words

Task 3: Active listening.

Active listening is an essential component of nursing. Choose one active listening stage and in 200 words, utilising peer reviewed literature describe how chronic pain may affect this stage

Word limit: 200 words

Task 4: Responding to a person experiencing distress – reflective activity.

Explain the role of trauma informed care in helping you respond appropriately to a person in distress? You should answer the following questions within your response.

What is trauma informed care?

What are the benefits of utilising trauma informed care when responding to a person in distress?

Word limit: 300 words (total)

Task 5: The power of non-verbal communication.

Touch is such a fundamental component of nursing, In 150 words, explain one example of a time when touch may be detrimental to forming a therapeutic relationship.

Word limit: 150 words

Task 6: The impact of the external environment and communication.

Artifactual communication is generally associated with the messages communicated by ‘things’ made by humans. In 200 words using up to date peer reviewed references discuss how can artifactual communication influence your professional relationships/communication?

Word limit: 200 words

Literature and references

In this assessment use literature of no more than 10 years old (from peer-reviewed sources) to support your discussion. You may also use seminal scholarly literature where relevant. Suitable references include peer-reviewed journal articles as well as textbooks and credible websites. When sourcing information, consider the 5 elements of a quality reference: currency, authority, relevance, objectivity, and coverage. Grey literature sourced from the internet must be from reputable websites such as from government, university, or peak national bodies: for example, the Australian College of Nursing or the Australian Association of Social Workers.

Requirements

• Use a conventional and legible size 12 font, such as Times New Roman, with 2.0 line spacing and 2.54cm page margins (standard pre-set margin in Microsoft Word).
• Include page numbers on the top right side of each page in a header.
• You may write in the first-person perspective (I, my) for reflective writing tasks, or as directed by your lecturer.
• Write in the third-person perspective.
• Use formal academic language.
• Use the seventh edition American Psychological Association (APA) referencing style. The CQUniversity Academic Learning Centre has an online CQU APA Referencing Style Guide.
• The word count is considered from the first word of the response to the last word of response in each individual task. The word count excludes the reference list but includes in-text references and direct quotations.
• Introductions and conclusions are not required for individual tasks.

Resources

• You can use unit provided materials and other credible sources (e.g. journal articles, books) to reference your argument. The quality and credibility of your sources are important.
• We recommend that you access your discipline specific library guide: the Nursing and Midwifery Guide.
• You may use EndNote to manage your citations and reference list. More information on how to use EndNote is available at the CQUniversity Library website.
• For information on academic communication please go to the Academic Learning Centre Moodle site. The Academic Communication section has many helpful resources including information for students with English as a second language.
• Submit a draft before the due date to review your Turnitin Similarity Score before making a final submission. Instructions are available here.

Submission

1. Submit your assessment via the unit Moodle site in Microsoft Word format only.

Learning Outcomes Assessed

1. Examine the fundamental role of communication in nursing practice as informed by professional standards.
2. Explain communication strategies that enable effective professional relationships.
3. Adapt communication strategies to facilitate effective communication in one-on-one and group contexts.
4. Analyse and evaluate your communication strengths and identify communication challenges you may encounter in future clinical practice.

Re-Attempts

A re-attempt is where you are given a second opportunity to demonstrate your achievement of one or more of the unit’s learning outcomes before you can progress to new learning or participate in subsequent learning activities. If you fail this assessment, you may be given the opportunity to re-attempt this assessment but will only achieve a mark no greater than the minimum for a pass standard (50%). You must:

Have shown a reasonable attempt to complete the initial assessment (a reasonable attempt includes fully completing at least 4 of the 6 portfolio tasks).

Be granted a re-attempt by your unit lead/coordinator.

Not have received a fail mark due to the application of late penalties.

Make changes to the nominated assessment task which you have failed and resubmit the revised work for marking within seven consecutive days from notification, no extensions will be approved.

Please note that you can only be offered one re-attempt.

References

Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia. (2016). Registered Nurse Standards for Practice. https://www.nursingmidwiferyboard.gov.au/codes-guidelines-statements/professional-standards/registered-nurse-standards-for-practice.aspx

Robinson, J., Gott, M., Gardiner, C., & Ingleton, C. (2018). The impact of the environment on patient experiences of hospital admissions in palliative care. BMJ Supportive & Palliative Care, 8(4), 485-492.

Aim

The aim of this assessment is for you to demonstrate your understanding of the role of communication in nursing practice, and your understanding of communication strategies that can be used to enhance professional relationships in clinical practice.

Instructions

1. Complete the six tasks that relate to your learning across the term.

2. Complete the tasks with your group members (as per the task instructions outline below) and answer the task questions individually.

3. Use the template provided in Moodle to present your portfolio.

4. To complete task 6, use the Student Peer Assessment tool (SPA) within Moodle.

Contact your coordinators if you do not understand the task instructions or are experiencing difficulties within your group.

Portfolio task instructions:

Task 1: Appearances

This activity is based on your learning from Module 7.

“It is important for a nurse to dress professionally but there is not a single clothing approach that relates to all nursing environments, in some areas there are different clothing requirements”.

Choose a topic and discuss with you group.

Topic choices:

• Scrubs versus casual clothing.

• All health care workers should wear uniforms.

• What you wear doesn’t mean much as what you know – it is what you know that is important.

Task notes: This should be a discussion presenting the pros and cons of each option. You can choose to have a debate style discussion, or each group member may present their individual opinions (that include pros and cons of each). During your discussion you will need to use communication skills you have learnt during the term to ensure the message you are sending is heard correctly and that you as the listener are accurately receiving the message from your group members.

After your group debate/discussion report the outcome of your debate/discussion by reflecting on your discussion. Your reflection should be guided by the following questions:

• What communication skill did you use to ensure your message was heard correctly?

• What active listening skill did you use to ensure you received the sender’s message accurately?

• Were there any barriers (for example noise) that impacted on your ability to communicate effectively?

• What did you do to reduce these barriers?

• Would you change how you communicated during this discussion? Why/Why not?

Word limit: 300 words

Task 2: Health literacy

This task relates to your learning in Week 8.

Choose a discussion topic from the list below, then, in your group discuss it.

Topic choices:

• You should only provide education on a health condition if you have personally experienced the condition.

• Nurses are the only professionals in a position to really understand their patient’s health education needs.

• Providing health education is not a necessary task.

After your group discussion utilise the information and literature from the term (especially Weeks 1-3) and in 300 words report on the processes used in this discussion.

You should include the following considerations in your report:

• After listening to your colleagues how did you ensure you heard what was being said?

• What did your group members share with you that you had not considered before?

• Has this information changed your views/opinion of the myth? Why/why not?

Word limit: 300 words

Task 3: ISBAR

This task relates to your learning in Module 9.

Choose your group based on the scenarios below.

• Aged care:

Manfred Elderman, an 87-year-old man, is a resident you are caring for in an aged care facility. Manfred has a diagnosis of dementia and has become very irritable and verbally aggressive. He is ambulant. It is noted that he has a low grade fever and has not passed urine for 12 hours.

• Paediatric

6 year old Edwina Suite has a diagnosis of type 1 diabetes. She presents with an altered consciousness. She is pale, diaphoretic and cool to cold to touch. You take her observations and note her pulse is 164Bpm. She is becoming confused and slurring her speech.

• Adult medical

Fred Ringer (62) is walking into your ward to visit his wife Shirley. Out of the corner of your eye, you see him slip on a freshly mopped floor. When you get to him he is conscious but drowsy and has a moderate laceration on his forehead that is bleeding quite heavily. You note that his right foot has a notable internal rotation and he is moaning with pain.

Present an ISBAR to your group members based on your choice of scenario. Once you and your group members have each presented, answer the following questions:

• What did you do well?

• What could you improve upon?

• What did your group members do well?

• What will you ‘steal’ from your group members and why?

Word limit: 350 words

Task 4: Who’s in a family?

This task relates to learning from Module 10.

In your group from Task 3, discuss what family is to you and who you would consider your next of kin (NOK) to be.

Then, in 300 words discuss what you have learnt about families and NOK, paying particular attention to ideas that you weren’t aware of or hadn’t considered prior to the discussion.

Some ideas to get you started:

• Cultural differences

• Minority groups

• Age

Word limit: 300 words

Task 5: Diversity.

Meet with your group again this week and explore the diversity within your group.

Then in 450 words, write a report that describes the diversity as well as how you came to know this information. To accomplish this task, support your discussion with the tools, reading and learnings presented throughout the unit.

Word limit: 450 words

Task 6: Student peer assessment.

This task relates to your learning in Module 12 and your group work from Task 3-5.

There are 2 components to this task. It is important to complete both components to ensure that you are eligible for full marks.

1. Reflect on your group meetings during Tasks 3-5.

2. Open the Student Peer Assessment (SPA) tool in Moodle and answer the criteria statements. Within the tool you will give your group members a score utilising the criteria statements and Likert scale as well as written feedback (Question 10 in SPA) on how they have performed within the group. Your scoring should consider how your group members have performed in the group according to standard 2 of the registered nurse standards for practice “Engages in therapeutic and professional relationships”. The score you give will contribute to your group members score for this assessment. The criteria statements included in the SPA tool are detailed below.

3. Copy the written feedback you have provided in SPA into the word document/template. You will be marked according to the feedback you have given your group members.

Criteria statements for SPA tool:

1. Was dependable in attending group meetings.

2. Willingly accepted assigned tasks.

3. Contributed positively to group discussions.

4. Completed work on time or made alternative arrangements.

5. Helped others with their work when needed.

6. Did work accurately and completely.

7. Contributed their fair share of the work.

8. Worked well with other group members.

9. Overall was a valuable member of the team.

10. Additional comments (this is where you will enter the written feedback).

Word limit: Maximum 300 words

Literature and references

In this assessment use literature of no more than 10 years old (from peer-reviewed sources) to support your discussion. You may also use seminal scholarly literature where relevant. Suitable references include peer-reviewed journal articles as well as textbooks and credible websites. When sourcing information, consider the 5 elements of a quality reference: currency, authority, relevance, objectivity, and coverage. Grey literature sourced from the internet must be from reputable websites such as from government, university, or peak national bodies: for example, the Australian College of Nursing or the Australian Association of Social Workers.

Requirements

• Use a conventional and legible size 12 font, such as Times New Roman, with 2.0 line spacing and 2.54cm page margins (standard pre-set margin in Microsoft Word).

• Include page numbers on the top right side of each page in a header.

• You may write in the first-person perspective (I, my) for reflective writing tasks, or as directed by your lecturer.

• Write in the third-person perspective.

• Use formal academic language.

• Use the seventh edition American Psychological Association (APA) referencing style. The CQUniversity Academic Learning Centre has an online CQU APA Referencing Style Guide.

• The word count is considered from the first word of the response to the last word of response in each individual task. The word count excludes the reference list but includes in-text references and direct quotations.

• Introductions and conclusions are not required for individual tasks.

Resources

• You can use unit provided materials and other credible sources (e.g. journal articles, books) to reference your argument. The quality and credibility of your sources are important.

• We recommend that you access your discipline specific library guide: the Nursing and Midwifery Guide.

• You may use EndNote to manage your citations and reference list. More information on how to use EndNote is available at the CQUniversity Library website.

• For information on academic communication please go to the Academic Learning Centre Moodle site. The Academic Communication section has many helpful resources including information for students with English as a second language.

• Submit a draft before the due date to review your Turnitin Similarity Score before making a final submission. Instructions are available here.

Submission

Submit your assessment via the unit Moodle site in Microsoft Word format only.

For task 6 you will complete the Student Peer Assessment (SPA) tool and include a copy of the written feedback provided to your group members within the submitted word document.

Marking Criteria

Refer to the marking rubric on the Moodle site for more detail on how marks will be assigned.

Learning Outcomes Assessed

1. Examine the fundamental role of communication in nursing practice as informed by professional standards.

2. Explain communication strategies that enable effective professional relationships.

3. Adapt communication strategies to facilitate effective communication in one-on-one and group contexts.

4. Analyse and evaluate your communication strengths and identify communication challenges you may encounter in future clinical practice.

Re-attempts

There is NOT the opportunity to re-attempt this assessment.