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

Professional practice as a registered nurse requires a sound understanding of what professionalism means, the expectations of consumers, employers, the profession and society in general, and the implications for nursing practice. This first Professional Studies unit focuses on the development of knowledge and skills that are needed to successfully begin your journey toward becoming a professionally aware practitioner.

Aims

The aims of this unit are to enable you to develop foundation-level knowledge and skills that characterise registered nurses as contemporary professionals in the health workplace.

Objectives

To complete this unit successfully it is expected that you are able to:

1. Demonstrate a foundation-level understanding of the fundamental principles of professional nursing practice within the Australian health care system;



2. Explain the application of professional 'thinking' frameworks to the delivery of nursing care in a variety of contexts and for people across the lifespan;



3. Discuss social, societal and other influences on the development of nursing and on contemporary nursing practice; and



4. Demonstrate foundation-level skills with 'tools' that are necessary for professional practice and professional growth, including self-directed learning, critical thinking, information literacy, professional writing and reflection on experience.

Content

Key areas addressed in this unit include:

• Introduction to nursing practice: health, wellness & illness; nature of nursing, historical influences, core nursing values; caring and nursing practice; roles of the nurse; attributes of contemporary practice including holistic care, clinical judgement, evidence-based practice;



• Professionalism and nursing practice: nursing as a professional discipline; responsibility and accountability; ethical, legal and cultural perspectives; health informatics; safety and quality;



• Understanding people: individuals, families, communities; holistic nature of health and wellness; unique human needs; developmental life transitions;



• Contexts of practice: the Australian health care system; hospital & community contexts; multidisciplinary health care; inter-professional practice; and



• Developing professional skills: reasoning & arguing a position; identifying information needs, locating, evaluating and managing information; reflecting critically on experience; developing a professional portfolio.

Approaches to Teaching and Learning

This unit will be presented using face-to-face teaching approaches that are supported by online activities. You will be expected to engage actively with all the learning activities in order to meet the outcomes of this unit. Key learning and teaching approaches will include lectures, workshops that will incorporate the exploration of narratives from real world practice to assist you in mastering the key concepts, principles and skills being developed, and online quizzes and exercises to provide formative feedback on your understanding of the material being presented.

Taking responsibility for self-directed learning is essential and will be facilitated through access to online resources and exercises that can be completed individually or with a group of your peers. Assessments will be based on real world scenarios that clearly relate to your future work as nurses in the health care industry. The unit coordinator and the tutors are available for consultation throughout the semester by telephone, email and in person. You are also encouraged to develop peer networks to support a collaborative approach to learning.

Assessment

There are three summative assessments to be completed in this unit. You will also have the opportunity to receive formative feedback regarding your progress throughout the semester.The unit coordinator and the tutors will be available for consultation throughout the semester by telephone, email and in person. Feedback will be provided as part of the workshop discussions throughout semester. An in-class exercise in the first few weeks of semester will assist you in determining personal strengths / weaknesses in relation to skills required for professional writing. Online quizzes will also be available for you to check your understanding of key concepts and principles. An in-class feedback session will be run following the first summative assessment to discuss challenging aspects and provide advice on how to improve.

Assessment name: Building Professional Skills
Description: This assessment task requires you to briefly outline your personal definition of nursing that is supported with arguments for your key points that draw upon evidence from relevant literature sources. You will also need to include your information management strategy which includes the location and evaluation of information sources.
Relates to objectives: 4.
Weight: 30%
Internal or external: Internal
Group or individual: Individual
Due date: Week 6

Assessment name: Workshop Participation
Description: For this assessment task you are required to participate in workshop discussions designed to build skills and explore issues related to professional nursing practice. Your participation will be self-assessed, peer-assessed and tutor-assessed.
Relates to objectives: 1 & 3.
Weight: 30%
Internal or external: Internal
Group or individual: Individual
Due date: Throughout semester

Assessment name: Building Professional Identity
Description: This assessment task asks you to analyse given stimulus material (eg. a scenario, video clip etc.) using professional 'thinking frameworks' for nursing practice. You will need to justify your comments by arguing your points of view and supporting your arguments with published literature, including nursing research. You will also need to include an e-portfolio entry which is a self-reflection on one of your key learnings from this unit, why this is significant for you and how you plan to progress your learning in this area in future.
Relates to objectives: 1, 2 & 4.
Weight: 40%
Internal or external: Internal
Group or individual: Individual
Due date: End of semester

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

NA

Risk assessment statement

Students will be advised that if they are distressed by issues explored in the content of this unit they should approach staff or consult the University counselling service.

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: 15-Jan-2013