PMSC11003 - Principles of Paramedic Practice

General Information

Unit Synopsis

This unit provides you with an introduction to the many facets of communication used in the pre-hospital setting. You will learn communication skills across many areas including therapeutic, personal and professional communication, medical terminology and drug calculations. You will learn to be sensitive to the cultural backgrounds of your patients with a particular focus on aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. Strategies developed in this unit will provide you with a solid communication foundation on which to base your future paramedic practice.

Details

Level Undergraduate
Unit Level 1
Credit Points 6
Student Contribution Band SCA Band 2
Fraction of Full-Time Student Load 0.125
Pre-requisites or Co-requisites There are no pre-requisites for the unit.

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 3 - 2024

There are no availabilities for this unit on or after Term 3 - 2024

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. Presentation and Written Assessment 50%
2. Online Quiz(zes) 0%
3. 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 2 - 2019 : The overall satisfaction for students in the last offering of this course was 84.09% (`Agree` and `Strongly Agree` responses), based on a 26.19% 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 Feedback
Feedback
Assessment requirements for written assessment 1 need to be clarified.
Recommendation
A more informative breakdown of the assessment requirements will be done in the future.
Action Taken
Feedback noted. Assessment requirements were outlined on unit profile, Moodle page and in lectures.
Source: Student feedback and self reflection.
Feedback
Review assessment requirement format and timings.
Recommendation
Enhance the documents that outline assessment tasks. Noted for future units.
Action Taken
In Progress
Source: Student feedback and self reflection.
Feedback
Content often repetitive and overlaps.
Recommendation
This unit has been discontinued and content has been absorbed into new units from 2020 to avoid this.
Action Taken
In Progress
Source: Student feedback
Feedback
Clear unit structure with Moodle page easy to navigate.
Recommendation
Continue to use a consistent format.
Action Taken
In Progress
Unit learning Outcomes

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

  1. Communicate professionally in accordance with paramedicine practices
  2. Identify appropriate verbal and non-verbal communication strategies in pre-hospital care
  3. Discuss the influence of culture on verbal and non-verbal communication within the health context
  4. Use appropriate medical terminology and drug therapy calculations as applicable to paramedicine.

The learning outcomes align with the Council of Ambulance Authorities paramedic professional competency standards:

4 - Develops and maintains professional relationships.

4.1 Works, where appropriate, in partnerships with other professionals and support staff.

4.2 Demonstrates effective and appropriate skills in communicating information, advice, instruction and professional opinion to colleagues, service users, their relatives and carers.

4.3 Effectively communicates throughout the care of the patient.

Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Learning Outcomes
Assessment Tasks Learning Outcomes
1 2 3 4
1 - Presentation and Written Assessment • •
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 • •
8 - Ethical practice • • • •
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