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

An important component of our health system is the services provided for those who are dying. The health and support needs of individuals who are dying are diverse and often change over time. To respond effectively to these needs, nurses require knowledge and skills to provide a palliative approach to care. In this unit, you will extend your knowledge of the needs of individuals diagnosed with various life-limiting illnesses. The unit will enable you to develop further your understanding of the core components of a palliative approach to care for these individuals. This unit will extend the understandings that you have developed in other theoretical studies and experiences in clinical practice.

Aims

The aim of this unit is to provide you with more detailed knowledge and understanding about the health and support needs of people with life-limiting conditions and their families, and the concepts and principles of a palliative approach to care in your practice as a nurse.

Objectives

Successful completion of this unit requires that you are able to:

1. Discuss the influence of social and cultural contexts on community perceptions about death and dying and bereavement in contemporary society (GC 1,6; ANMC 2);



2. Reflect critically on how your own values and beliefs about death and dying affect your personal and professional responses and interactions with people with life-limiting illnesses and their families (GC 1,6; ANMC 2, 4);



3. Outline the various care contexts and the roles of the interdisciplinary team in caring for people with life-limiting illnesses and their families (GC 1,5; ANMC 10);



4. Demonstrate the ability to apply principles of communication to selected client situations involving people with life-limiting illnesses and their families (GC 3; ANMC 9);



5. Discuss strategies for facilitating collaborative decision-making about care goals with people with life-limiting illnesses and their families (GC 1,5; ANMC 10);



6. Describe the epidemiological and clinical features along the illness trajectories of specific life-limiting illnesses (GC 1; ANMC 5); and



7. Demonstrate the ability to critically apply relevant palliative care principles to the assessment and evidence-based clinical decision making for people with life-limiting illnesses (GC 1,2-4; ANMC 3,6-7).

Key skills addressed in this unit:

QUT Graduate Capabilities
GC 1 Knowledge & Skills
GC 2 Critical & Creative Thinking
GC 3 Effective Communication
GC 4 Lifelong Learning
GC 5 Independence & Collaboration
GC 6 Social & Ethical Responsibility
GC 7 Self Reliance & Leadership

ANMC Competency Domains (2005)
Professional Practice 1-2
Critical Thinking & Analysis 3-4
Provision & Co-ordination of Care 5-8
Collaborative & Therapeutic Practice 9-10

Content

Concepts addressed in this unit include, but are not limited to: social and cultural attitudes to dying and death; reflection and self evaluation of one's professional and personal experiences and their impact on the self and others; models and standards for delivering palliative care services; principles for communication in the context of an individual's responses to loss and grief, existential challenges, uncertainty and changing goals of care; human and clinical responses to life-limiting illness; illness trajectories; principles for assessment and management of clinical and supportive care needs of people with life-limiting conditions; optimising function for people with life-limiting conditions.

Approaches to Teaching and Learning

This unit will involve participation in interactive web based learning activities. Four specific modules, each based around a theme integral to developing the desired graduate capabilities and supported by a case study provide the structure for the web-based learning activities. These modules include:

• Principles of palliative care;


• Communicating with people who have a life-limiting illness;


• Clinical assessment and intervention in palliative care;


• Optimising function in palliative care.

The four modules are accompanied by supplementary text based learning materials and teaching resources. Each module is based around a case scenario that:

• Is centred around the personal experience of the person with a life limiting illness and their family, and provides learning opportunities to enable the development of the core knowledge and skills in palliative care;



• Hints to scaffold student learning as necessary;



• Expert opinion on key aspects of the scenario, including an expert thinking aloud about the clinical situation;



• Includes the following features:




• Overview, objectives and expected learning outcomes;



• Supplementary materials that present the clinical and social context of the individual's circumstances;



• Audio-visual resources that extend the information available about the scenario;



• A series of learning activities that challenge students in their thinking about particular aspects of the scenario and facilitate reflection on learning/practice;



• Teaching and learning tools which include:




• a range of 'thinking' tools;


• a notepad/journaling function for private reflection;


• selected readings and/or links to relevant resources.

The assessment that you will undertake in this unit is also a key learning activity and is an integral part of the overall approach to teaching and learning. You will also have access to academic staff who will be available in person (during consultation times) and/or by email.

Assessment

This unit has two assessments to be completed as you progress through the semester. The details of these are set out below.NA

Assessment name: Journal
Description: You will be required to submit a journal which includes responses to selected learning activities incorporated throughout the web-based learning resource. The learning activities have been designed to require you to think critically about particular palliative care issues, and review concepts and principles related to caring for people with life-limiting conditions. The learning activities also emphasise the importance of reflection on the factors influencing responses of yourself and others to the experiences and concepts being studied. Students will be required to incorporate relevant literature and other materials as appropriate in preparing their responses to the learning activities to demonstrate their understanding of the evidence in the field.
Length: 1,500 words.
Relates to objectives: 1-6.
Weight: 50%
Internal or external: External
Group or individual: Individual
Due date: Week 7

Assessment name: Case Study
Description: You will be required to develop a care plan for a selected case study. Your assignment should aim to demonstrate your ability to understand the experience of the person with a diagnosis of a life-limiting condition, and to demonstrate an evidence-based approach to assessment and clinical decision making for this person's care. The case study requires you to think critically and creatively about the selected health needs of the person, review concepts and principles related to palliative care. The emphasis is on a clear understanding of the individual's palliative needs and the context of care. Your work should demonstrate an evidence-based approach through the use of relevant literature, systematic reviews, clinical care guidelines and other materials as appropriate. This will require you to use the CINAHL, Medline and/or Meditext databases, Cochrane library, as a minimum, to retrieve information.
Length: 1,500 words.
Relates to objectives: 3, 6-7.
Weight: 50%
Internal or external: External
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

Recommended Text:

Brown, D., & Edwards, H. (2012). Lewis's medical-surgical nursing (3rd ed.). Sydney: Elsevier.

Ferrell, B.R., & Coyle, N. (2010) Textbook of palliative nursing (3rd ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press.

O'Connor, M., Lee, S., & Aranda, S. (eds). (2012). Palliative care nursing - A guide to practice (3rd ed.). Melbourne: Ausmed.

Websites
Caresearch
www.caresearch.com.au

Palliative Care Australia
www.pallcare.org.au

Risk assessment statement

There are no out of the ordinary risks associated with this unit.

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: 07-Feb-2013