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Unit Synopsis
In this unit, you will explore foundational pharmacological principles and their application in midwifery practice across the childbearing continuum. You will examine how drugs and medicines interact with maternal, fetal, and neonatal physiology, including pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics, and adverse drug reactions. The unit will emphasise the midwife’s role in promoting the quality use of medicines, supporting safe and evidence-based decision-making from pregnancy through to the postnatal period and lactation. You will also consider the implications of prescribed and over-the-counter medications, as well as vaccinations relevant to newborn care.
Details
| Level | Undergraduate |
|---|---|
| Unit Level | 2 |
| Credit Points | 6 |
| Student Contribution Band | SCA Band 1 |
| Fraction of Full-Time Student Load | 0.125 |
| Pre-requisites or Co-requisites |
Pre-requisites: Professional Midwifery Practice 2 Legal, Ethical, and Professional Midwifery Practice Co-requisites: Sociocultural Contexts of Midwifery 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). |
| Class Timetable | View Unit Timetable |
| Residential School | No Residential School |
Unit Availabilities from Term 1 - 2026
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.
Assessment Tasks
| Assessment Task | Weighting |
|---|---|
| 1. Online Quiz(zes) | 40% |
| 2. Case Study | 60% |
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%).
Past Exams
All University policies are available on the Policy web site, however you may wish to directly view the following policies below.
This list is not an exhaustive list of all University policies. The full list of policies are available on the Policy web site.
No previous feedback available
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.
On successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:
- Demonstrate knowledge of pharmacology, pharmacokinetics, and pharmacodynamics in relation to maternal, fetoplacental, and neonatal physiology for midwifery practice
- Interpret medication orders and apply accurate numeracy skills to support dosage calculation, administration, and evaluation of pharmacotherapeutic use in midwifery care
- Identify and determine the effects of prescribed medications and over-the-counter drugs on maternal, fetal or neonatal wellbeing
- Apply evidence-based knowledge and current guidelines to support safe, ethical, and woman-centred decision-making in relation to the use of pharmacotherapeutics across the childbearing continuum.
The unit content and learning outcomes address the following:
ANMAC Midwifery Education Standards (2021)
Standard 1: Safety of the public
Standard 3: Program of study
NMBA Code of Conduct for Midwives (2018)
Principle 1: Legal compliance
Principle 2: Woman-centred practice
Principle 3: Cultural practice and respectful relationships
Principle 4: Professional behaviour
Principle 6: Research in health
Principle 7: Health and wellbeing
NMBA Midwife Standards for Practice (2018)
Standard 1: Promotes health and wellbeing through evidence based midwifery practice
Standard 2: Engages in professional relationships and respectful partnerships
Standard 3: Demonstrates the capability and accountability for midwifery practice
Standard 4: Undertakes comprehensive assessments
Standard 5: Develops a plan for midwifery practice
Standard 6: Provides safety and quality in midwifery practice
Standard 7: Evaluates outcomes to improve midwifery practice
International Confederation of Midwives (ICM) International Code of Ethics for Midwives (2014)
1. Midwifery relationships
2. Practice of midwifery
3. Professional responsibilities of midwives
4. Advancement of midwifery knowledge and practice
NPS Prescribing Competencies Framework: Embedding quality use of medicines into practice (2021)
All competency areas apply
The National Safety and Quality Health Service Standards (2021)
All standards apply
National Nursing and Midwifery Digital Health Capability Framework (2020)
| Assessment Tasks | Learning Outcomes | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | |
| 1 - Online Quiz(zes) | • | • | • | • |
| 2 - Case Study | • | • | • | |
| 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 | • | |||
| Assessment Tasks | Graduate Attributes | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 10 | |