Overview
In this unit, you will continue to develop your skills in recognising, diagnosing and managing patients presenting with complex and/or less commonly encountered acute and life-threatening disease processes, throughout the life span. You will integrate your developing knowledge of anatomy and physiology, pathophysiology and pharmacology with patient assessment, diagnostic evaluations and clinical history to formulate a provisional diagnosis. You will use this information to design and implement the most appropriate clinical management in line with contemporary industry guidelines and protocols, and emerging evidence-based practices, displaying safe, ethical and professional practice. Case-based learning combined with high fidelity simulation will contextualise your essential clinical skills, clinical decision making and problem-solving abilities.
Details
Pre-requisites or Co-requisites
Pre-requisites- PMSC12001 Procedures & Skills in Paramedic CarePMSC11004 Paramedic Medical Emergencies 1Co-requisite-PMSC12004 Advanced Electrophysiology and Coronary Care
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 2 - 2022
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).
Residential Schools
This unit has a Compulsory Residential School for distance mode students and the details are:
Click here to see your Residential School Timetable.
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 'Have your say'
The Verso platform used for the clinical discussion assessment was difficult to navigate for some students.
The Verso platform used for the clinical discussion will be removed moving forward as this assessment piece will no longer form part of the assessment pieces. Will be replaced by a compulsory Residential School.
Feedback from 'Have your say'
Students enjoyed having a basic revision of anatomy and physiology prior to diving into the lecture topic.
Will continue with this teaching method.
Feedback from Self-reflection.
After reviewing the unit, a residential school must be implemented for students to apply the content and management of the conditions covered in this unit.
A residential school will be added to this unit as of term two, 2022. A change of unit proposal will be submitted.
- Evaluate patients systematically and comprehensively, including clinical history and assessment data, in a safe, ethical and culturally appropriate manner
- Formulate and justify a provisional diagnosis by applying knowledge of underpinning foundational pathophysiology of complex and/or less commonly encountered acute and life-threatening disease processes, and implement appropriate pharmacological management.
- Develop effective clinical management interventions through comprehensive knowledge and implementation of evidence-based practice, incorporating the principles of safe, professional and ethical practice.
It is now a requirement of the Paramedicine Board of Australia that units align with the AHPRA Professional Capabilities for Registered Paramedics. These are broken down into five (5) domains. Below aligns the proposed learning outcomes with these domains, with each domain also listed below:
- Learning outcome 1 aligns with professional capabilities for registered paramedics Domain 1, 3 & 5
- Learning outcome 2 aligns with professional capabilities for registered paramedics Domain 3 & 5
- Learning outcome 3 aligns with professional capabilities for registered paramedics Domain 1, 2, 3, 4 & 5
Domain 1 - Professional and ethical conduct:
- Practice ethically and professionally, consistent with relevant legislation and regulatory requirements
- Provide each patient with an appropriate level of dignity and care
- Assume responsibility, and accept accountability, for professional decisions
- Advocate on behalf of the patient, when appropriate within the context of the practitioner's practice as a paramedic
Domain 2 - Professional communication and collaboration:
- Communicate clearly, sensitively and effectively with the patient and other relevant people
- Collaborate with other health practitioners
Domain 3 - Evidence-based practice and professional learning:
- Make informed and reasonable decisions
- Use clinical reasoning and problem-solving skills to determine clinical judgements and appropriate actions
- Draw on appropriate knowledge and skills in order to make professional judgements
- identify ongoing professional learning, developmental needs and opportunities
Domain 4 - Safety, risk management and quality assurance:
- Protect and enhance patient safety
- Maintain safety of self and others in the work environment
- Operate effectively in an emergency care environment
- Maintain records appropriately
- Monitor and review the ongoing effectiveness of their practice and modify it accordingly
- Audits, reflects on and reviews practice
- Participate in the mentoring, teaching and development of others
Domain 5 - Paramedicine practice:
- Use patient information management systems appropriately
- Assess and monitor the patient capacity to receive care
- understand the key concepts of the bodies of knowledge which are specifically relevant to paramedicine practice
- Conduct appropriate diagnostic or monitoring procedures, treatment, therapy or other actions safely
- Demonstrate the requisite knowledge and skills to participate in mass casualty or major incident situations
- Formulate specific and appropriate patient care and treatment actions
Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Learning Outcomes
| Assessment Tasks | Learning Outcomes | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | |
| 1 - Practical Assessment - 50% | |||
| 2 - Online Quiz(zes) - 30% | |||
| 3 - Presentation - 20% | |||
Alignment of Graduate Attributes to Learning Outcomes
| Graduate Attributes | Learning Outcomes | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | |
| 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 | |||
Textbooks
Textbook of Adult Emergency Medicine
Fifth Edition (2020)
Authors: Peter Cameron, Mark Little, Biswadev Mitra, Conor Deasy.
Elsevier
Chatswood Chatswood , NSW , Australia
ISBN: 978-0-7020-7624-4
Binding: Paperback
Additional Textbook Information
Both the paper and eBook versions can be purchased at the CQUni Bookshop here: http://bookshop.cqu.edu.au
IT Resources
- CQUniversity Student Email
- Internet
- Unit Website (Moodle)
- Computer
- Headphones or speaker and a microphone
- Camera and microphone for attending Zoom tutorials and completing presentation assessment task
All submissions for this unit must use the referencing style: American Psychological Association 7th Edition (APA 7th edition)
For further information, see the Assessment Tasks.
c.legros@cqu.edu.au
e.moore@cqu.edu.au
Module/Topic
Week 1 will cover all drugs associated with PMSC12005. You will refer to this topic throughout the whole unit. You will also explore neurological emergencies encountered by paramedics.
Chapter
Textbook of Adult Emergency Medicine
Chapter 8: p.352-355, 364-368, 379-382.Chapter 22: p.660-664.
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Week 2 and 3 will explore some cardiovascular emergencies encountered by paramedics.
Chapter
Textbook of Adult Emergency Medicine
Chapter 5: p.223-237, 254-261.
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Week 4 and 5 will explore some airway and respiratory emergencies encountered by paramedics.
Chapter
Textbook of Adult Emergency Medicine
Chapter 6: p.262-269, 271-290.Events and Submissions/Topic
The presentation is due on Friday the 12th of August at 23:55.
Presentation Due: Week 5 Friday (12 Aug 2022) 11:55 pm AEST
Module/Topic
Enjoy the break!
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Week 6 and 7 will explore some gastrointestinal and genitourinary emergencies encountered by paramedics.
Chapter
Textbook of Adult Emergency Medicine
Chapter 7: p.302-335, 339-343.
Chapter 9: p.402-408.
Chapter 10 in its entirety.
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Week 8 and 9 will explore some endocrine, metabolic and haematologic emergencies encountered by paramedics.
Chapter
Textbook of Adult Emergency Medicine
Chapter 11: p.472-487, 497-504.
Events and Submissions/Topic
The quiz will open on Monday the 12th of September at 06:00 and will close on Sunday the 18th of September at 23:55. Content from weeks 1-9 will be used for this quiz. The quiz is completed in week 9 in preparation for upcoming residential schools.
Online Quiz Due: Week 9 Monday (12 Sept 2022) 11:55 pm AEST
Module/Topic
Week 10 will explore the world of shock and sepsis and we will dive deeper into the management of anaphylaxis.
Chapter
Textbook of Adult Emergency Medicine
Chapter 2: p.35-47, 59-66.
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Revision and preparation for the residential schools (on-campus assessment)
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Multiple residential schools available in Cairns, Townsville and Rockhampton in week 11 and 12. Limited places available for each residential school. Please book your preferred residential school early to avoid disappointment. On-campus assessment completed at the residential school.
You are required to attend a compulsory Residential School for this unit. You must nominate your preferred Residential School location through MyCQU, under My Timetable in the My Units tab. Numbers at Residential Schools are capped and a position at your preferred Residential School is not guaranteed. Geographical proximity to and previous attendance at a particular Residential School location does not guarantee placement at your preferred location. The unit coordinator will play no role in assisting in residential school changes if you did not receive your preferred residential school allocation.
You must allocate for your preferred residential school by the end of week four of the term. If student numbers are considered low at a particular school, you may be requested to change the date of your attendance to enhance the overall student experience. A student will not be asked to change residential school location if they have been nominated correctly before week four.
Attendance at Residential School is compulsory and you must attend 100% of your Residential School days. If for any reason, you cannot participate in a day at Residential School, you must immediately notify the Unit Coordinators and provide appropriate evidence, as per Assessment Policy and Procedure, to justify your absence. You will be responsible for making arrangements with the Unit Coordinators to make up for all missed learning and assessments.
1 Presentation
For this task, you will develop a 5-7 minutes video presentation on a topic from the list provided below. The presentation should be aimed at clinicians for a live online continuing professional development (CPD) conference. The presentation will require you to use PowerPoint slides and a video of you delivering your presentation. The lectures provided as part of this unit is an example of what is required of you to produce.
Topics for your presentation:
- Malignant hyperthermia
- Trigeminal neuralgia
Your presentation must cover the following items:
- Description and overview of the disease
- Pathophysiology of the disease
- Clinical features and causes of the disease
-
Specific questioning related to the chosen topic you could ask your patient as a practitioner to assist you in your provisional diagnosis
- In-hospital management
- Pharmacodynamic explanation of the drugs utilised during in-hospital treatment.
- Your anaphylaxis management plan in case the patient develops anaphylaxis post drug administration.
The presentation ought to be between 5 and 7 minutes maximum.
A list of your references used for your presentation is to be included on the last slide/slides of your presentation. A minimum of 5 peer-reviewed journal articles is required for this presentation. The reference list must follow the APA referencing style mentioned in this unit profile.
The presentation must be uploaded in a MP4 format on Moodle in the presentation assessment tab.
Week 5 Friday (12 Aug 2022) 11:55 pm AEST
Staff will aim to return assessments results within 2 teaching weeks of closing date
Criteria of the presentation discussed = 20 marks
Flow of information presented in a logical way = 4 marks
Adherence to presentation time = 1 mark
APA referencing = 5 marks
In-depth marking rubric information will be available on the Moodle site.
In the absence of an approved extension, a penalty of 5% of the total marks for the assessment will be deducted for each full or part calendar day the assessment is overdue, in accordance with Assessment Policy and Procedure. An extension request must be submitted via the ‘Request Extension’ link on the unit Moodle page, and each case will be assessed in accordance with the relevant policy and procedure.
Students are advised that to attain a passing grade for this unit, ALL assessment items must be completed. Furthermore, a passing grade of 50% must be attained for each assessment (practical assessment, online quiz and presentation). Failure to attain this standard will cause an overall ‘Fail’ grade for this unit. Students may be eligible to a supplementary assessment if the meet all the criteria set out in the CQU assessment policy and procedure.
- Evaluate patients systematically and comprehensively, including clinical history and assessment data, in a safe, ethical and culturally appropriate manner
- Formulate and justify a provisional diagnosis by applying knowledge of underpinning foundational pathophysiology of complex and/or less commonly encountered acute and life-threatening disease processes, and implement appropriate pharmacological management.
- Develop effective clinical management interventions through comprehensive knowledge and implementation of evidence-based practice, incorporating the principles of safe, professional and ethical practice.
2 Online Quiz(zes)
You will be required to complete an online quiz in week 9. The quiz will open on Monday the 12th of September at 06:00 and will close on Sunday the 18th of September at 23:55. Content from weeks 1-9 will be used for this quiz. You will have one hour (60 minutes) to complete the quiz. Only one attempt is allowed for this quiz.
Questions associated with this quiz will be extracted from the content presented in PMSC12005 and this includes, lecture slides, lecture recordings and recommended readings. Quizzes will include multiple-choice, short and long answer questions. This is NOT an open-book assessment.
1
Week 9 Monday (12 Sept 2022) 11:55 pm AEST
The quiz will open on Monday the 12th of September at 06:00 and will close on Sunday the 18th of September at 23:55.
Staff will aim to return assessments results within 2 teaching weeks of closing date
Answering the questions correctly will result in full marks. Partial marks can be allocated but are dependent on the question. No partial marks will be allocated for any multiple-choice questions. The quiz must be completed and submitted by the time indicated in the assessment task. In the absence of an approved extension for the quiz, there will be no opportunity to complete the tasks after the specified dates, and there will be no opportunity to apply a late penalty of 5%per day.
Students are advised that to attain a passing grade for this unit, ALL assessment items must be attempted. Furthermore, a passing grade of 50% must be attained for each assessment (practical assessment, online quiz and presentation). Failure to attain this standard will cause an overall ‘Fail’ grade for this unit. Students may be eligible to a supplementary assessment if all the criteria set out in the CQU assessment policy and procedure are met.
- Formulate and justify a provisional diagnosis by applying knowledge of underpinning foundational pathophysiology of complex and/or less commonly encountered acute and life-threatening disease processes, and implement appropriate pharmacological management.
- Develop effective clinical management interventions through comprehensive knowledge and implementation of evidence-based practice, incorporating the principles of safe, professional and ethical practice.
3 Practical Assessment
Theoretical knowledge and the practical application of this knowledge is vital when performing the role of paramedic. In this assessment, you will need to articulate and apply your theoretical knowledge gained within this unit to successfully complete a variety of assessments to an intermediate level.
You will need to complete the tasks below. All of these will be conducted at a residential school using simulated environments and patients.
Task Description
You will need to complete two (2) tasks, each designed to assess your knowledge and practical skills acquired during this unit.
Task one (1) will be in the form of an Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) where you will be allocated 20 minutes to complete the assessment. The OSCE will be in the format of a structured scenario. The OSCE is designed to assess your knowledge and understanding of the material covered throughout the unit in a structured practical environment. Furthermore, the OSCE will assess your ability to perform a thorough and accurate patient assessment and history, and use this information to formulate a provisional diagnosis. In combination with your patient assessment and provisional diagnosis, you will implement appropriate and timely interventions, procedures and/or skills. Your ability to communicate effectively and overall scene management will also be assessed.
Task two (2) will be in the form of a short case assessment, and you will be allocated 15 minutes to complete the task. Examples of a short case assessment includes, but are not limited to:
- Viva Voce
- Mini scenario
This assessment will be completed at a residential school chosen by the student.
Students will be informed if they have successfully completed this assessment at the end of the residential school. Marks will be available within two teaching weeks following attendance of a residential school
Each task is worth 50% of the overall marks available for this assessment item. To pass this assessment, students must achieve a minimum of 50% overall. Students who fail to reach 50% overall for the practical assessment MAY be offered one (1) additional re-attempt/resit . To be offered a re-attempt/resit at the end of the last day of the residential school, students MUST have at least achieved 50% for one of the tasks discussed in the task description above. Should a student receive an additional attempt/resit and successfully completes it, the maximum score for the re-attempt task will be 50%.
CRITICAL ERRORS:
Critical errors in this unit will be classed as anything that causes immediate harm to yourself, partner, patient or bystanders and/or any procedure that is performed outside the paramedic scope of practice. During any form of assessment, if any of the following are witnessed no marks will be given for that item:
Unsafe defibrillation.
Incorrect joules were delivered during defibrillation.
Defibrillation of a non-shockable rhythm.
Failure to recognise cardiac arrest (>1minute).
Failure to shock a shockable rhythm in a timely manner ( <2 minutes).
Failure to perform a complete drug check, including dose, volume, indications and contra-indications.
Failure to check indications and contra-indications before performing a skill or procedure.
Performing a skill or procedure outside your scope of practice.
Administering a drug or drug dose outside your scope of practice.
Incorrect sharps disposal or unsafe practice with a sharp.
Any grossly unsafe practice, as determined by the assessing academic.
Students are advised that to attain a passing grade for this unit, ALL assessment items must be attempted. Furthermore, a passing grade of 50% must be attained for each assessment (practical assessment, online quiz and presentation). Failure to attain this standard will cause an overall ‘Fail’ grade for this unit. Students may be eligible to a supplementary assessment if all the criteria set out in the CQU assessment policy and procedure are met.
No submission method provided.
- Evaluate patients systematically and comprehensively, including clinical history and assessment data, in a safe, ethical and culturally appropriate manner
- Formulate and justify a provisional diagnosis by applying knowledge of underpinning foundational pathophysiology of complex and/or less commonly encountered acute and life-threatening disease processes, and implement appropriate pharmacological management.
- Develop effective clinical management interventions through comprehensive knowledge and implementation of evidence-based practice, incorporating the principles of safe, professional and ethical practice.
As a CQUniversity student you are expected to act honestly in all aspects of your academic work.
Any assessable work undertaken or submitted for review or assessment must be your own work. Assessable work is any type of work you do to meet the assessment requirements in the unit, including draft work submitted for review and feedback and final work to be assessed.
When you use the ideas, words or data of others in your assessment, you must thoroughly and clearly acknowledge the source of this information by using the correct referencing style for your unit. Using others’ work without proper acknowledgement may be considered a form of intellectual dishonesty.
Participating honestly, respectfully, responsibly, and fairly in your university study ensures the CQUniversity qualification you earn will be valued as a true indication of your individual academic achievement and will continue to receive the respect and recognition it deserves.
As a student, you are responsible for reading and following CQUniversity’s policies, including the Student Academic Integrity Policy and Procedure. This policy sets out CQUniversity’s expectations of you to act with integrity, examples of academic integrity breaches to avoid, the processes used to address alleged breaches of academic integrity, and potential penalties.
What is a breach of academic integrity?
A breach of academic integrity includes but is not limited to plagiarism, self-plagiarism, collusion, cheating, contract cheating, and academic misconduct. The Student Academic Integrity Policy and Procedure defines what these terms mean and gives examples.
Why is academic integrity important?
A breach of academic integrity may result in one or more penalties, including suspension or even expulsion from the University. It can also have negative implications for student visas and future enrolment at CQUniversity or elsewhere. Students who engage in contract cheating also risk being blackmailed by contract cheating services.
Where can I get assistance?
For academic advice and guidance, the Academic Learning Centre (ALC) can support you in becoming confident in completing assessments with integrity and of high standard.
What can you do to act with integrity?
