Units

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Sample subject outline - Semester 1 2013

Note: Subject outlines often change before the semester begins. Below is a sample outline.

Rationale

As a third year student you have been exposed to core content of the course. You can approach this clinical practice unit with a better developed knowledge, understanding and skill base to evolve your clinical practice to the level of beginner practitioner.

Aims

The aim of this unit is to develop your patient care to a level where you can confidently take the lead when managing more complex clinical presentations. During this clinical placement your mentor will be expecting more leadership and decision-making from you.

Objectives

On the successful completion of this unit you should be able to demonstrate:

1. A developing confidence and leadership style in your approach to patient care.


2. Excellent handover and communication skills when dealing with hospital staff.


3. A broad range of knowledge and skill regarding acute illness and injury.


4. The ability to be reflective and critically analyse aspects of out of hospital emergency care and contribute to intellectual enquiry.


5. The ability to manage uncontrolled scenes and patients with complex clinical presentations.


6. An appreciation of the ageing population and how this influences your patient care.

Content

Clinical Practice in the out of hospital phase.

Clinical Practice will be conducted in the out-of-hospital environment under the supervision of an ambulance crew. One of the crew members will be an appropriately qualified clinical instructor.

Approaches to Teaching and Learning

Field Practicum

Your mentored clinical experience is vital. It is during this time that you begin to transfer your knowledge and skills into the environment where you will practise as an ambulance paramedic. Your Paramedic Mentor will guide and support you throughout this and your future field practicums. In your clinical placement 2 you became a functional team member. Your role as a supervised student paramedic continues, however you will now need to begin demonstrating your ability to take the lead in more complex scenarios. Patient contact continues to be the key in this unit and unfortunately remains unpredictable. While a minimum number of patient contacts are needed to give you the necessary experience, real patients with the appropriate clinical presentations may not present. If this is the case, simulation will make up the patient contact shortfall.

This clinical field placement will be six weeks in duration.

Assessment

Note: This is a designated unit. Designated units are units which are deemed to be critical in a student's progress in the course. Such units include professional experience units, units requiring the development of particular skills and units requiring the demonstration of certain personal qualities. At the end of each year students who have failed to achieve a satisfactory level of performance in a designated unit will be eligible for exclusion. A satisfactory level of performance in a designated unit is a grade of 4 (pass) or higher, or S - Satisfactory, where appropriate. Supplementary Assessment will NOT be granted to students enrolled in designated units.

Formative Assessment

Off Campus
You will receive continuous ongoing feedback and support from your clinical mentors identifying strengths and opportunities for improvement. It is also expected that you will begin to demonstrate self assessment and identification of your learning needs.

You will be required to maintain a journal of your supervised clinical experience. Education staff will review your journal and if necessary extra clinical placements and/or simulation will be arranged. Adequate mentored clinical experience is a vital for completing this unit.

Summative Assessment

As detailed in Assessment Components. This unit will be assessed as satisfactory/unsatisfactory and both items of assessment must receive a satisfactory to gain an overall satisfactory in this unit.Designated unit
This is a designated unit. Designated units include professional experience units, units requiring the development of particular skills, and units requiring the demonstration of certain personal qualities, and are deemed to be critical to progress in your course. If you fail to achieve a passing grade in this unit on two occasions you will be issued with an unsatisfactory academic performance notice and could be excluded from the course. Supplementary Assessment will NOT be granted to students enrolled in designated units.

Assessment name: Essay
Description: Critical reflections on selected clinical cases.
Relates to objectives: 3,4
Internal or external: Internal
Group or individual: Individual
Due date: Week 13

Assessment name: Placement Performance
Description: Clinical mentors will provide feedback via a specially designed assessment tool as completion of placement.
Relates to objectives: 1,2,3 & 5
Internal or external: External
Group or individual: Individual
Due date: End of Placement

Academic Honesty

QUT is committed to maintaining high academic standards to protect the value of its qualifications. To assist you in assuring the academic integrity of your assessment you are encouraged to make use of the support materials and services available to help you consider and check your assessment items. Important information about the university's approach to academic integrity of assessment is on your unit Blackboard site.

A breach of academic integrity is regarded as Student Misconduct and can lead to the imposition of penalties.

Resource materials

Texts

Cameron P etal (Ed.) (2006) Textbook of Paediatric Emergency Medicine, Edinburgh. Elsevier

Queensland Ambulance Service, Clinical Practices, website https://desportal.emergency.qld.gov.au/content/Policies_and_Procedures/Operational/Clinical_Practice/cpm_index.jsp

References

Bledsoe, B E, Porter, R S & Cherry, R A (2001), Paramedic care: principles & practice. Upper Saddle River, NJ, Brady Prentice Hall

Cameron P (Ed.) (2005) Textbook of Adult Emergency Medicine, (2nd ed.) Edinburgh. Churchill Livingstone

Dunn (Ed.) (2003) The emergency medicine manual, (3rd ed.) Lakes Shore, S Aust, Venom Publishing

Risk assessment statement

Blue card
The Commission for Children and Young People and Child Guardian Act (2000) requires that students undergo a criminal history check and be issued with a blue card by the Commission prior to undertaking field experience in a school or centre, or undertaking activities in any unit which may involve contact with children. You will require a blue card for clinical placement/practicum in this unit. You should apply for a blue card at least 12 weeks before any clinical placement/practicum. Current blue card holders must register their card with QUT. For more information visit www.bluecard.qut.edu.au

Out of hospital care can be hazardous. You are required to work as part of an operational crew responding to emergency calls. There is regular exposure to high speed driving, heavy lifting, body fluids, medical sharps, defibrillators and some times aggressive patients in the off campus phase of the unit. Your clinical practice is supervised at all time during this unit and appropriate personal protective equipment will be supplied.

Disclaimer - Offer of some units is subject to viability, and information in these Unit Outlines is subject to change prior to commencement of semester.

Last modified: 29-Oct-2012