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NURS28008 - Nursing Foundations

General Information

Unit Synopsis

The 21st-century nursing profession is a product of historical and contemporary, socio-political and cultural influences. You will explore these while considering legal and ethical frameworks, the role of professional governing bodies and governance while investigating the profession of nursing. You will validate the personal skills, inherent requirements and attributes required in the profession and consider what your personal journey towards becoming a registered nurse will require. You will discuss the important role of communication in nursing practice and devise strategies to effectively communicate as a nurse. You will examine types of communication strategies that are relevant to different health contexts. In addition, you will acquire fundamental knowledge and skills to provide basic nursing care. In particular, you will be able to conduct a holistic assessment and assist a person with their activities of daily living in the simulated environment. You will be introduced to the significance of the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia (NMBA) Registered Nurse Standards for Practice (2016) and other policies, codes, and guidelines relevant to professional nursing practice. You will explore the importance of the National Safety and Quality Health Service (NSQHS) Standards (2021) to all nursing practice in Australia and commence using the Patient Safety Competency Framework (PSCF) (Levett-Jones et al., 2017) in your practice as a nursing student. You will become familiar with scope of practice using the decision-making framework (DMF) (NMBA, 2020). As part of this unit, you are required to participate in either 32 hours of compulsory on-campus workshops if enrolled in the internal mode or a residential school if enrolled in the mixed mode.

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

Pre-requisite:

Must be enrolled in Master of Nursing (Graduate 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).

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Residential School Compulsory Residential School
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Unit Availabilities from Term 3 - 2024

Term 1 - 2025 Profile
Mixed Mode
Term 2 - 2025 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. Online Test 0%
2. Essay 30%
3. Reflective Practice Assignment 40%
4. Objective Structured Clinical Examinations (OSCEs) 30%

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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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.

Unit learning Outcomes

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

  1. Adapt skills and knowledge to communicate effectively in nursing practice to underpin patient safety
  2. Evaluate the role of professional governing bodies for professional nursing practice, patient safety and governance
  3. Demonstrate, analyse and evaluate foundation nursing practice in relation to the four major bioethical principles
  4. Perform a holistic health assessment and physical examination and execute appropriate documentation to support patient safety
  5. Deconstruct the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia (NMBA) Registered nurse standards for practice (2016) for decision-making, to promote the provision of evidence-based nursing care
  6. Demonstrate knowledge and application of safe supply and administration of parenteral and non-parenteral medication.

Content in this unit incorporates a number of professional nursing requirements

Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia (NMBA) 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 (NMBA) Code of Conduct

Legal compliance

Person-centred practice

Cultural practice and respectful relationships

Professional behaviour

Research in health

Health and wellbeing

International Council of Nurses Code of Ethics for Nurses

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

Communicating for safety

Patient Safety Competency Framework

Person-centred care

Therapeutic communication

Cultural competence

Teamwork and collaborative practice

Evidence-based practice

Preventing, minimising and responding to adverse events

Aged Care Quality Standards

Consumer dignity and choice

Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Learning Outcomes
Assessment Tasks Learning Outcomes
1 2 3 4 5 6
1 - Online Test •
2 - Essay • •
3 - Reflective Practice Assignment • • • •
4 - Objective Structured Clinical Examinations (OSCEs) • • • •
Alignment of Graduate Attributes to Learning Outcomes
• Professional Level
• Advanced Level
Graduate Attributes Learning Outcomes
1 2 3 4 5 6
1 - Knowledge • • • • • •
2 - Communication • •
3 - Cognitive, technical and creative skills • • •
4 - Research •
6 - Ethical and Professional Responsibility • • • •
Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Graduate Attributes
• Professional Level
• Advanced Level
Assessment Tasks Graduate Attributes
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8