NURS20160 - The Nurse Professional

General Information

Unit Synopsis

This unit provides you with advanced knowledge of contemporary nursing practice in the Australian healthcare industry. You will examine current legislation, registration standards and scope of practice documents in order to organise and delegate safe and effective healthcare for individuals, families and groups. Ethical and legal considerations that arise from working in the nursing profession will be critically analysed and you will consider ethical, professional and self-management implications for practice. You will be encouraged to demonstrate sound judgement in applying legal and ethical frameworks in a simulated activity. You will critically evaluate the use of evidence-informed practice in nursing and will examine its significance in clinical leadership. This allows you to design and communicate a quality improvement plan in a simulated health setting.

Details

Level Postgraduate
Unit Level 8
Credit Points 6
Student Contribution Band SCA Band 1
Fraction of Full-Time Student Load 0.125
Pre-requisites or Co-requisites

Students must be enrolled in either:

  • CH79 Graduate Certificate in Nursing (Re-Entry) or
  • CL02 Graduate Certificate in Nursing (International Registered Nurse Entry)


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 - 2023

Term 1 - 2023 Profile
Online
Term 2 - 2023 Profile
Online

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 Postgraduate 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. Written Assessment 50%
2. Online Quiz(zes) 50%

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

Past Exams

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Previous Feedback

Term 1 - 2021 : The overall satisfaction for students in the last offering of this course was 4.3 (on a 5 point Likert scale), based on a 79.17% 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: Student Survey
Feedback
Dynamism and adaptability of the teaching team during COVID-19.
Recommendation
COVID-19 will continue into the future and we will be forced to continuously adapt to the challenges it presents. To remain dynamic and agile the teaching team must practice self-care. They must also manage their resources effectively, so as not to overload themselves.
Action Taken
We were unable to achieve dynamism and adaptability in the reporting period. At times there was only one Unit Coordinator (UC) teaching into all units of this course this term. In 2021 the head of course will manage resources more effectively.
Source: Student Survey Class Feedback
Feedback
Group Accountability Study (GAS) groups - mixed results. Some found that they were disorganised, one student felt that the way the groups were split was racist, others felt that "GAS group collaboration and brainstorming was...best".
Recommendation
GAS groups will remain. The skills acquired and practised in the group are important skills for nurses. Moreover, connection with other people is a trauma-informed approach to teaching. In the future students will be able to choose their own GAS groups, however, will be encouraged to mix with other cultural groups. I will explain that having an "Aussie" in the group is just as important for that student as it is for others; we work in a multicultural environment.
Action Taken
Students chose their own groups this term with success.
Source: Student feedback
Feedback
Assessment markers were inconsistent.
Recommendation
A standard list of feedback items will be provided to markers in the future. Marking guides, videos, and one-on-one conversations do not seem to improve consistency. Some markers seem to focus on the minutia (APA referencing, spelling and grammar) rather the content. This may be related to the 30min/assessment piece model we run.
Action Taken
A guide to assessment was developed to give insight into the assessment and improve consistency.
Source: Student feedback
Feedback
Assessments lack clarity.
Recommendation
The assessment items were AQF level 8 and required thinking and revising time. They also required student autonomy and creativity. My assessment of the situation is that this feedback was more of a trust issue between the students and the teacher. In the future, I will provide formative feedback to students to improve their confidence around the assessment task.
Action Taken
Assessments were reviewed within the school of nursing prior to publishing. This will be a continuous process.
Source: Student feedback
Feedback
It is difficult to find content in the Moodle books.
Recommendation
In the FAQs, I will provide information about how students can download the Moodle Book.
Action Taken
The Moodle site has changed to the standard CQU format.
Source: Student feedback
Feedback
Spelling and grammar issues in the Moodle book content.
Recommendation
This is an ongoing problem which I address each term. As I am streamlining the content (see previous feedback), I will also check spelling and grammar. I am using the software Grammarly to assist.
Action Taken
Grammar and spelling will continue to be reviewed prior to publishing each term.
Source: Moodle feedback
Feedback
ALC classes run earlier then the week of handing in assignments would have helped me. The ALC workshops on assignment writing and referencing etc were very helpful, however, I think they needed to start earlier in the unit to assist with the first assignment.
Recommendation
ALC classes to be moved earlier into the term for term 2.
Action Taken
Nil.
Source: Moodle Feedback
Feedback
The GAS groups are a great way to engage with other students but perhaps allocating 3 or 4 times during the week where people can connect might be a better way to engage regularly.
Recommendation
GAS groups for Term 2 to be allocated.
Action Taken
Nil.
Unit learning Outcomes

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

  1. Apply legal and ethical frameworks and professional codes and guidelines to nursing practice
  2. Delegate nursing care in an appropriate manner, to optimise patient outcomes in simulated scenarios
  3. Evaluate sources of evidence in order to design an evidence-informed nursing care plan
  4. Apply the principles of clinical leadership to construct a best-practice change concept.

The unit learning outcomes are linked to the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia's "Registered Nurses Standards for Practice".

Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Learning Outcomes
Assessment Tasks Learning Outcomes
1 2 3 4
1 - Written Assessment • •
2 - Online Quiz(zes) • •
Alignment of Graduate Attributes to Learning Outcomes
• Advanced Level
• Professional Level
Graduate Attributes Learning Outcomes
1 2 3 4
1 - Knowledge • • • •
2 - Communication • •
3 - Cognitive, technical and creative skills • • • •
4 - Research •
5 - Self-management •
6 - Ethical and Professional Responsibility •
7 - Leadership • •
Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Graduate Attributes
• Advanced Level
• Professional Level
Assessment Tasks Graduate Attributes
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8