Viewing Future Unit Information

The information below will be relevant from 02/03/2026.
Click Here to view current information

NURS11166 - Fundamentals of Professional Nursing

General Information

Unit Synopsis

This unit aims to develop fundamental knowledge, values and skills for professional practice as a registered nurse. You will explore the personal skills, inherent requirements and attributes required in the profession and consider what your journey towards becoming a registered nurse will involve. You will learn about reflective practice, critical thinking, clinical decision-making and the nursing process. You will examine factors that impact nursing practice in the contemporary Australian healthcare system. Throughout this unit, you will acquire fundamental knowledge, professionalism and skills, including application of mathematical principles for medication administration, necessary to provide nursing care at entry level. In particular, you will be able to conduct a holistic assessment, assist a person with their activities of daily living, practice infection control measures and recognise the legal and administration process for the safe delivery of medication within the simulated environment. You are required to participate in compulsory on-campus workshops or a residential school (24 hours) for this unit.

Details

Level Undergraduate
Unit Level 1
Credit Points 6
Student Contribution Band SCA Band 1
Fraction of Full-Time Student Load 0.125
Pre-requisites or Co-requisites

Must be enrolled in CL91 Bachelor of Nursing.

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 Compulsory Residential School
View Unit Residential School

Unit Availabilities from Term 1 - 2026

Term 1 - 2026 Profile
Mixed Mode
Rockhampton
Term 2 - 2026 Profile
Mixed Mode
Rockhampton

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).

Assessment Overview

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. Practical Assessment 0%
2. In-class Test(s) 0%
3. Online Quiz(zes) 0%

This is a pass/fail (non-graded) unit. To pass the unit, you must pass all of the individual assessment tasks shown in the table above.

Past Exams

To view Past Exams,
please login
Previous Feedback

Term 1 - 2025 : The overall satisfaction for students in the last offering of this course was 94.55% (`Agree` and `Strongly Agree` responses), based on a 13.58% response rate.

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.

Source: SUTE
Feedback
This unit was very interesting and allowed us to understand different procedures and ways to conduct assessments on the body. The objectives of each week are very clear and easy to understand. The resources collected supported and enriched our studies.
Recommendation
Coordinators will continue to review the unit to enable updates of contemporary resources and evidence to ensure the best student experience.
Action Taken
Coordinators reviewed the unit to enable updates of contemporary resources and evidence to ensure the best student experience.
Source: SUTE
Feedback
This was an amazing unit with a lot of information at first so it was difficult to put it into context with the learning materials at home. However, the 3 days of residential classes helped me cement the information. I did find this unit tremendously informative and well put together. Thank you all for everything.
Recommendation
Coordinators will ensure the unit continues to maintain a strong alignment with the residential school to ensure students can apply theory with practice.
Action Taken
Coordinators ensured that the unit maintains strong alignment with the residential school, allowing students to apply theory to practice.
Source: SUTE
Feedback
The teachers were great, very approachable and helpful. More prompts to research evidence would help get the hang of it.
Recommendation
Teachers and coordinators will continue to be approachable, supportive and helpful. Prompts to research evidence will be included in the unit and Zoom sessions.
Action Taken
Teachers and coordinators continued to be approachable, supportive and helpful. Prompts to research evidence were included in the unit and Zoom sessions.
Source: SUTE
Feedback
The structuring of the practical assessments in the Res School could have been better. Due to the size of our Res School class, it took over four hours for the instructors to complete all the assessments. We were told we could work on other assignments while we waited to be assessed but for those of us who didn't have anything else to do, it was wasted time.
Recommendation
Within the residential school students are given organised activities to engage in whilst assessments are being undertaken. Teachers will be pre-briefed to ensure these activities are undertaken on each campus.
Action Taken
Within the residential school, students were given organised activities to engage in whilst assessments were being undertaken. Teachers were pre-briefed to ensure these activities were undertaken on each campus.
Source: SUTE data
Feedback
This unit was extremely beneficial in gaining the foundational knowledge of nursing.
Recommendation
Unit coordinators will continue to ensure that this unit maintains the most contemporary foundational knowledge for students related to nursing.
Action Taken
In Progress
Source: SUTE data
Feedback
The residential school was enjoyable while being interactive. Most definitely the best first-year nursing unit, hands down.
Recommendation
Moving forward, residential schools will continue to be interactive and immerse students in the foundations of nursing.
Action Taken
In Progress
Source: SUTE data
Feedback
The amount of content in some weeks was heavy. The residential school did not address all of the things it was supposed to, as indicated throughout the weekly Moodle content.
Recommendation
Students are advised to familiarise themselves with the information contained within the residential school tile prior to attending the face-to-face classes. Residential school and Moodle content will continue to be reviewed before the commencement of each term, and Unit Coordinators will ensure that students are aware of how Moodle content clearly links to residential school.
Action Taken
In Progress
Unit learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:

  1. Analyse historical and contemporary factors that continue to influence the image, status and nature of nursing practice.
  2. Investigate the role of professional governing bodies in relation to professional nursing practice, patient safety and governance.
  3. Apply the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia (NMBA) Registered nurse standards for practice (2016) in the provision of safe evidence-based nursing care, including application of mathematical principles for medication administration, while assisting a person with their activities of daily living using simulated modalities.
  4. Perform a holistic assessment of a person including the completion of appropriate documentation, using simulated modalities.

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

Engages in therapeutic and professional relationships

Maintains the capability for practice

Comprehensively conducts assessments

Develops a plan for nursing practice

Provides safe, appropriate and responsive quality 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

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

Partnering with consumers

Preventing and Controlling healthcare-associated infection

Medication safety

Comprehensive care

Communicating for safety

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

Feedback and complaints

Human resources

Organisational governance

Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Learning Outcomes
Assessment Tasks Learning Outcomes
1 2 3 4
1 - Practical Assessment • • •
2 - In-class Test(s) •
3 - Online Quiz(zes) • •
Alignment of Graduate Attributes to Learning Outcomes
• Introductory Level
• Intermediate Level
• Graduate Level
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 • • •
Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Graduate Attributes
• Introductory Level
• Intermediate Level
• Graduate Level
Assessment Tasks Graduate Attributes
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10