NURS 7069 Foundations of Nursing Practice

Legacy Code 401457

Coordinator Rachel Gregory-Wilson Opens in new window

Student Contribution Band

Check your fees via the Fees page.

Restrictions

Students must be enrolled in 4785 - Master of Nursing Practice (Graduate Entry).

Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this subject, students should be able to:

  1. Identify how primary health care principles relate to the social determinants of health and integrated knowledge of regional, national and global health priorities.
  2. Perform an holistic health assessment of individuals across the lifespan utilising effective communication skills.
  3. Apply ethical and legal frameworks when carrying out simulated patient centred care.
  4. Apply the principles of safe medication administration in clinical scenarios within a simulated learning environment.
  5. Collaborate with peers to determine factors that affect the health and wellbeing of individuals.
  6. Understand the roles and functions of the nurse and their relationship to others in terms of competence, responsibilities, accountabilities and scope of practice.
  7. Critically reflect on performance of self and others to identify future learning goals and strategies.
  8. Contextualise the principles of Work Health and Safety (WH&S) applied in the clinical and simulated clinical environments.

Subject Content

Module 1 - Contexts of Nursing
1. Principles of Primary Health Care (PHC) - people, families and community groups to promote and maintain health and well-being and family focused care integrating knowledge of regional, national and global health priorities including mental health.
2. Engagement with intraprofessional and interprofessional learning for collaborative practice Working in multi-disciplinary teams
3. National Safety and Quality Health Service Standards
4. Understanding the relationship between professional and personal life
5. Introduction to diversity, culture, inclusion and cultural safety for all people
6. Reading and understanding evidence based research literature
- Communication and literacy skills for nursing
- Communication with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples
- Communication with people from diverse communities
8. Predictable/Normative life transitions across the lifespan
Module 2 - Behavioural Science
1. Sense of self
2. Human development
- Holistic overview of human development - physical, moral, social and cognitive
- Diversity in human relationships - LGBTIQF
- Attachment theory
Module 3 - Bioscience
1. Integumentary, cardiovascular, respiratory, digestive, musculoskeletal, nervous, endocrine, reproductive and urinary systems
2. Human Genomics
3. For each system, the concepts addressed are
- Anatomy and Physiology
- across the lifespan
- homeostasis and health
- activities of living
- National Health Priorities
4. Injury prevention and control
5. The ageing process
6. Introduction to pathophysiology
- Cause, pathogenesis, symptoms, course, prognosis, prevention of disease
- Relevance for nursing
7. Introduction to pharmacology for nurses
8. Microbiology and infections - relevance for nursing
- Common pathological organisms
- Sources of infection and modes of transmission
- Infection control in a health care setting
9. Immune Processes
- Immune system breakdown and role of the nurse
- Vaccination and immunisation
- The inflammatory process
10. Wound healing
Module 4 - Law and Ethics
1. Legal Principles
- The impact of law and legal principles on the role of the registered nurse
- The law and nursing practice including medication administration; digital health and technology
- monitoring and assessing patient progress
- Professional communication and documentation
2. Ethical Principles
- Defining ethics and ethical nursing practice
- Ethical theories and principles
- Bioethics including euthanasia, abortion, stem cell research
- Ethical issues confronting nurses in Australia
- Ethical decision making
- Application of legal-ethical principles
- Introduction to end-of-life care
3. Codes of Practice for Nurses
- Defining Codes of Practice for nurses in Australia
- The ICN code of Ethics for Nurses
- Code of Professional Conduct for Nurses in Australia
- Registered Nurse Standards for Practice
- Decision making framework
4. Case studies: Applying theory to practice
- The relationship between law and ethics in practice
- Ethical principles in a variety of case studies
- Legal principles in a variety of case studies
- Nursing actions when legal and ethical principles have been breached
Module 5 - Nursing Practice
1. Person centred care
2. Application of WH&S - standard precautions, transmission-based precautions, manual handling and transfers
3. Introduce safety and quality standards as they relate to health care
4. Effective written and verbal communication
- ISBAR and clinical handover
5. Holistic health assessment: gathering personal data including social, cultural, physical, emotional, spiritual and environmental factors
6. Perform blood pressure, temperature, pulse, respiration, oxygen saturation, height; weight; centile; urine analysis assessment and reporting
7. Assess level of consciousness
8. Skin assessment and maintaining skin integrity
9. Assess oral health
10. Promote comfort measures inclusive of bed making
11. Hand hygiene
12. Aseptic technique and simple wound management
13. Safe medication administration -
14. Introduction to nursing responsibilities and practices when providing care for dying people and their families in home, aged care or hospital settings
15. Identifying the person at risk - Falls assessment, Pressure injury, Venous thromboembolism
16. Routine Diagnostic Procedures - ECG, Peak flows, Blood Glucose Testing, Mini Mental Health Assessment, Drug and Alcohol Assessment
17. Peer reflection and evaluation on simulated skill practice

Assessment

The following table summarises the standard assessment tasks for this subject. Please note this is a guide only. Assessment tasks are regularly updated, where there is a difference your Learning Guide takes precedence.

Type Length Percent Threshold Individual/Group Task
Portfolio 30 minutes S/U Y Individual
Numerical Problems Solving 30 minutes each test S/U Y Individual
Professional Task 20 minutes S/U Y Individual
Practical Exam 60 minutes S/U Y Individual
Participation Each teaching activity S/U Y Individual
End of Session Exam 50 questions S/U Y Individual