In Progress
Please note that this Unit Profile is still in progress. The content below is subject to change.Overview
Acute alterations in health occur suddenly, may be severe in onset, and may be exacerbated in chronic health conditions. In this unit, you will learn how to conduct clinical reasoning for people across the lifespan who experience acute, severe alterations in health. You will focus on care delivery, communication, person-centred care, and working in partnership with the interdisciplinary health care team to care for the deteriorating person in a complex care environment. This unit challenges you to think innovatively to justify and prioritise nursing care requirements to enable optimal health outcomes for people facing the challenges of an acute alteration in their health.
Details
Pre-requisites or Co-requisites
Pre-requisites: NURS12163 Chronic Health and Community Care NURS12164 Professional Experience Placement 3 or NURS13133 Clinical Nursing Practice 4
Important note: Students enrolled in a subsequent unit who failed their pre-requisite unit, should drop the subsequent unit before the census date or within 10 working days of Fail grade notification. Students who do not drop the unit in this timeframe cannot later drop the unit without academic and financial liability. See details in the Assessment Policy and Procedure (Higher Education Coursework).
Offerings For Term 1 - 2025
Attendance Requirements
All on-campus students are expected to attend scheduled classes - in some units, these classes are identified as a mandatory (pass/fail) component and attendance is compulsory. International students, on a student visa, must maintain a full time study load and meet both attendance and academic progress requirements in each study period (satisfactory attendance for International students is defined as maintaining at least an 80% attendance record).
Recommended Student Time Commitment
Each 6-credit Undergraduate unit at CQUniversity requires an overall time commitment of an average of 12.5 hours of study per week, making a total of 150 hours for the unit.
Class Timetable
Assessment Overview
Assessment Grading
This is a graded unit: your overall grade will be calculated from the marks or grades for each assessment task, based on the relative weightings shown in the table above. You must obtain an overall mark for the unit of at least 50%, or an overall grade of 'pass' in order to pass the unit. If any 'pass/fail' tasks are shown in the table above they must also be completed successfully ('pass' grade). You must also meet any minimum mark requirements specified for a particular assessment task, as detailed in the 'assessment task' section (note that in some instances, the minimum mark for a task may be greater than 50%). Consult the University's Grades and Results Policy for more details of interim results and final grades.
All University policies are available on the CQUniversity Policy site.
You may wish to view these policies:
- Grades and Results Policy
- Assessment Policy and Procedure (Higher Education Coursework)
- Review of Grade Procedure
- Student Academic Integrity Policy and Procedure
- Monitoring Academic Progress (MAP) Policy and Procedure - Domestic Students
- Monitoring Academic Progress (MAP) Policy and Procedure - International Students
- Student Refund and Credit Balance Policy and Procedure
- Student Feedback - Compliments and Complaints Policy and Procedure
- Information and Communications Technology Acceptable Use Policy and Procedure
This list is not an exhaustive list of all University policies. The full list of University policies are available on the CQUniversity Policy site.
Feedback, Recommendations and Responses
Every unit is reviewed for enhancement each year. At the most recent review, the following staff and student feedback items were identified and recommendations were made.
Feedback from Student feedback: SUTE data
Content was useful and tutorials were very relevant, however assignment task sheets were unclear at times.
Unit coordinators will review assignment task sheet to ensure better clarity is provided.
Feedback from Student feedback: SUTE data
Having markers more aligned would be helpful in relation to assessments.
Although the moderation process was followed by the Unit Coordinators as per the University policy, several students within the small number of students who responded to the survey identified this as key issue. Moderation plan supporting information assessment marking and grading is recommended as per the DDLT.
Feedback from Student feedback: SUTE data
I appreciated the real life scenarios shared and feel this will help immensely with future patient care.
Unit coordinators will ensure to include relevant scenarios to link realistically to clinical setting. Invited expert guest speakers will also be sought to provide additional context, linking to our industry partners.
Feedback from Student feedback: SUTE data
Assessment feedback could be improved, for example how you could have expanded a topic
Unit coordinators will work closely with all markers and provide further direction on providing clearer and more constructive feedback. Moderation plan supporting information assessment marking and grading is recommended as per the DDLT.
- Explain the pathophysiological changes that occur when a person experiences acute alterations in health.
- Apply the decision-making framework for nursing (NMBA 2020) to prioritise and justify care for the person experiencing acute alterations in health.
- Examine the role of the nurse and other members of the interdisciplinary team in the care of a person in a complex care environment.
- Analyse and apply the best available evidence, for safe, quality practice for a person experiencing an acute alteration in health.
Content in this unit incorporates a number of professional nursing requirements
Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia decision-making framework (DMF) - nursing
Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia Registered Nurse Standards for Practice
Thinks critically and analyses nursing practice
Maintains the capability for practice
Develops a plan for nursing practice
Evaluates outcomes to inform nursing practice
Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia Nursing Code of Conduct
Legal compliance
Person-centred practice
Cultural practice and respectful relationships
Professional behaviour
Teaching, supervising and assessing
Research in health
Health and wellbeing
International Council of Nursing Code of Ethics for Nursing
Nurses and People
Nurses and Practice
Nurses and the Profession
Nurses and co-workers
National Safety and Quality Health Service Standards
Clinical governance
Partnering with consumers
Preventing and Controlling healthcare-associated infection
Medication safety
Comprehensive care
Communicating for safety
Blood management
Recognising and responding to acute deterioration
Patient Safety Competency Framework
Person-centred care
Therapeutic communication
Cultural competence
Teamwork and collaborative practice
Clinical reasoning
Evidence-based practice
Preventing, minimising and responding to adverse events
Infection prevention and control
Medication safety
Aged Care Quality Standards
Consumer dignity and choice
Ongoing assessment and planning with consumers
Personal care and clinical care
Services and supports for daily living
Organisation’s service environment
Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Learning Outcomes
| Assessment Tasks | Learning Outcomes | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | |
| 1 - Presentation - 50% | ||||
| 2 - Case Study - 50% | ||||
Alignment of Graduate Attributes to Learning Outcomes
| Graduate Attributes | Learning Outcomes | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | |
| 1 - Communication | ||||
| 2 - Problem Solving | ||||
| 3 - Critical Thinking | ||||
| 4 - Information Literacy | ||||
| 5 - Team Work | ||||
| 6 - Information Technology Competence | ||||
| 7 - Cross Cultural Competence | ||||
| 8 - Ethical practice | ||||
| 9 - Social Innovation | ||||
| 10 - Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Cultures | ||||