Course Coordinator: Jo Perry
Phone: +61 8 8313 2010
Email: jo.perry@adelaide.edu.au
Location: School of Nursing, University of Adelaide

Tutor: Liz Kraft
Phone: +61 8 8222 5525
Email: liz.kraft@adelaide.edu.au
Location: Level 3, Eleanor Harrald Building, Royal Adelaide Hospital

School Office
Phone: +61 8 8313 3595
Email: nursing.studentliason@adelaide.edu.au
Location: Level 3, Eleanor Harrald Building, Royal Adelaide Hospital

1	Define perioperative nursing delivery parameters
2	Examine the various roles and responsibilities of perioperative nurses
3	Discuss core duties of the perioperative nurse, specifically in the operating theatre
4	Describe the patient perioperative journey and how perioperative nurses support it
5	Demonstrate a minimal practical competency
6	Practice collaborative professional dialogue
7	Debate perioperative practice issues
8	Devise and construct peer education materials
9	Evaluate the logistics of perioperative nursing within a global paradigm

This course will require the following texts and other resources:

Prescribed texts
Hamlin, L., Richardson-Tench, M. & Davies, M. 2009. Perioperative Nursing – An introductory text, 1st Ed., Elsevier Australia, Chatswood, NSW

Electronic version (Ebook) available

Reader
The readings for this course are available electronically via MyUni.
Please note: it is your responsibility to organise printing should you prefer a hard copy of the reader

Perioperative
Australian College of Operating Room Nursing (ACORN), 2012-2013, ACORN standards for perioperative nursing, ACORN, Adelaide.

Phillips, N & Sedlak, PK 2010, Surgical instrumentation, Delmar Cengage, Clifton Park.
Rothrock 2011, Alexander’s care of the patient in surgery, 14th edition, Mosby, St. Louis.

Anaesthetic Practice
Aitkenhead, AR Smith, G & Rowbotham, DJ 2007, Textbook of anaesthesia, (5th edition) Churchill Livingstone, Edinburgh.

Postanaesthesia Recovery Practice
Schick, L & Windle, PE 2010, Perianesthesia nursing core curriculum: preprocedure, phase I and II PACU nursing, (2nd edition), WB Saunders, St. Louis.

Note: You are not required to buy recommended texts. However, they provide valuable supplementary reading on various aspects of the material covered within this course and you are encouraged to have a look at them.

Online Lecture Content
The lecture content associated with this course is accessible from within the lecture content section of this course available via the MyUni website.

Please note that the required lecture content for this course will be made available within MyUni. Each week’s sessions are designed to go ‘live’ on the Friday immediately prior to the academic week (i.e. if the week starts on Monday 10 March 2014, then that week’s content will be available from Friday 7 March 2011).

Please listen to the content as presented and look at the associated handouts and websites to develop your own notes for this course. You are strongly advised to have completed all preparatory requirements prior to all Virtual Classroom sessions to gain maximum benefit.

Virtual Classroom Tutorials
The virtual classroom (VC) technology will be used for tutorial discussions on a weekly basis each Tuesday from 1830-2030 (SA time) during this semester. Some information on the VC should have been provided to you, you need to familiarise yourself with this technology to become reasonably comfortable with using it prior to the start of the semester.

MyUni
All students enrolled in a postgraduate coursework nursing program have access to the School of Nursing – Postgraduate Coursework Student Centre on MyUni. If you would like the opportunity to network with other students, you can use the Communication features in the site. This site will also feature information about the latest news and events at the School of Nursing.

Unified
http://unified.adelaide.edu.au/
UNIFIED is your one-stop shop for email, calendar, MyUni and Access Adelaide. It even allows you to search the Library.
UNIFIED is available to all active students; with a single login you can access your student systems and personal information through a central website. Login with your Student ID ("a1234567") and Password.

For more information, including easy to follow instructions visit https://unified.adelaide.edu.au/web/mycampus/home.

Library Resources
Help for Nursing Students
The University of Adelaide Library has a website to help nursing students use the library and its resource (www.library.adelaide.edu.au/guide/med/nursing).

Remote student library service
The University of Adelaide Library provides a document delivery and loans service to non-metropolitan students who do not visit a University of Adelaide campus to attend classes (www.adelaide.edu.au/library/docdel/external.html).

This course will be delivered through the following means:

1. Flexible delivery mode with Virtual Classroom contact
2. Lecture content will be self running online presentations linked to relevant electronic resources such as professional documents, websites and e-books.
3. Virtual Classroom contact will be to discuss the content for the week and to discuss how students would apply the knowledge into their clinical practice setting.

It is expected that you will need to invest about 24 hours per week of study to successfully complete this course. This includes all study activities, virtual classrooms, readings and assessment. Thus some weeks it will be more and others less. It is recommended that you plan your time commitment to the course at the beginning of the semester.

A patient’s pathway through the perioperative environment, looking firstly at the pre procedural phase (including patient assessment & admission processes), followed by the intraoperative phase (including anaesthetic, circulating and instrument nurse’s knowledge & skills) and finally to the postoperative phase (including postanaesthetic recovery assessment & intervention knowledge and skills).

The 12 weeks cover the following content, based upon this patient pathway:

1. Principles & Standards of perioperative practice,
2. Preparing the perioperative environment
3. Preparing the perioperative environment
4. Anaesthesia delivery systems and equipment
5. Anaesthesia patient care – airways, general and regional anaesthesia
6. PARU/DSU recovery
7. Circulating nurse duties
8. Instrument nurse duties – instruments and equipment
9. Instrument nurse duties – flow and process
10. Endoscopic considerations/Catchup week
11. Wound Healing
12. Surgical Interventions

Assessment Task	Assessment Type	Weighting	Learning Outcome(s) being addressed
Essay Plan	Formative	0%
Essay	Summative	30%
Learning Portfolio A	Summative	10%
Learning Portfolio B	Summative	30%
Education Guide and Presentation	Summative	30%
Clinical Skills Checklist		NGP/NGF

Assessment 1
Essay Plan
Each week of this course covers a different tenet of perioperative practice. There are questions for each week which will guide your discussion board submissions. Do not use one of these for your essay. These are designed to stimulate discussion based on the readings.
As you reflect on the topics presented over the semester, you may have an issue of your own which arises in your practice, and you would like to investigate for your essay. Pick a topic from one of the 12 covered in this course, then isolate an issue of concern for you from within that topic.
You will be required to write an essay about your issue of concern. At the end of Week 3 it is expected that you have read through the study guide, and have started to formulate your essay topic. You will submit the topic you have chosen, search strategy for literature about your topic, and a plan for your essay.
You may put your plan in bullet point form, but please note that there is an expectation of format as set out in the University of Adelaide writing guides. You need to include aspects of your planned direction for content and discussion. You will also need to include 5 of the references found in your preliminary search strategy.
The essay is to be submitted in full later in the semester. You can expect feedback on your essay proposal approximately 1 week after submission.
For further guidance on essay writing and planning, please view the “Essay Writing 101” presentation posted under the Extra Resources tab of the Content area in MyUni.

Assessment 2
Essay
For this course, you will be required to critically analyse a topic relevant to your practice in the perioperative environment. The choice may be any aspect of circulating and/or instrument and/or anaesthetic and/or postanaesthesia recovery nursing and can include discussion on policies, procedures, and equipment or professional standards. The only limitation is that it must not be a topic already covered within the course content. You may, however, wish to expand on a particular aspect of a topic already presented—this is acceptable, but must be at greater depth than the original presentation.
The purpose of this essay is for you to analyse a single aspect of your practice. You may choose something you support and give arguments as to why you support the current practice (such as Team Time Out), or you may choose an aspect you disagree with (such as answering Dr’s phones or pagers). In this case you would state the policy/practice, then give reasons for your opinion that it should be changed.
This essay should take a discussion form, giving multiple perspectives and be based on research. You may include anecdotes (if relevant), but referencing must be strictly adhered to, maintaining anonymity.
The expectation is that this essay will be centred around evidence based practice, and involve a critical discussion of the topic, including current references to the literature surrounding it.
Please refer to the presentation “Essay Writing 101” for further information about essay writing and referencing. Also, there are many comprehensive resources available online from the University of Adelaide Writing Centre.

Assessment 3
Learning Portfolio A
Students are expected to submit a portfolio of activities. Students must choose at least ONE activity to complete for EACH of the 12 weeks within the course. You are encouraged to plan your work and complete your activity of choice on a weekly basis. The portfolio is to be submitted in two parts; Part A covering activities from Week 1 through to Week 3, and Part B covering activities from Week 4 to Week 12.

Assessment 4
Learning Portfolio B
Students are expected to submit a portfolio of activities. Students must choose at least ONE activity to complete for EACH of the 12 weeks within the course. You are encouraged to plan your work and complete your activity of choice on a weekly basis. The portfolio is to be submitted in two parts; Part A covering activities from Week 1 through to Week 3, and Part B covering activities from Week 4 to Week 12. This will be much more conducive to your learning than grouping activities together.

Assessment 5
Education Guide and Presentation
In the perioperative environment we have certain pieces of equipment or instrumentation which we use infrequently, yet when we do, a background instruction and troubleshooting guide to refresh us since the last time we used it would be prudent. For this assignment, you will choose an instrument or piece of equipment which is not used frequently, which many are unfamiliar with, or there are poor instructions for use on. For this instrument/equipment you will then research, by means of inservice from the rep, internet resources from the company or other means, the normal instructions for use and troubleshooting. You will then write a 2 page quick reference instructional guide for the chosen item. On page 1 will be the instructions for use, and on page 2 will be the troubleshooting guide. You will submit your two pages by Friday 24th of May in a Microsoft Word form. You will then be required to present your guide to your classmates in Week 13 of the Online Classroom session. This will be in a PowerPoint format. You will submit your PowerPoint presentation by Friday 24th of May 2013.

Your PowerPoint will consist of background information about the item, how frequently it is used in your perioperative environment, some of the problems of use which have been encountered (why you chose this item), and how providing the guide will help with the safe and effective use of this item when it is needed.
Presentations are expected to occur within a 10 minute timeframe and are limited to 8 slides. All student presentations must have been undertaken by the due date. Assistance in preparing your presentation is available for students who require it.
We understand that some students may find presentations stressful. However, a well-prepared session will go a long way towards reducing this stress. You are advised to check with the course coordinator regarding specific requirements; however, the following guidelines may be useful.
Preparing your presentation
Ensure you plan it carefully as you would an essay. Prepare notes, which will act as cues for you during the presentation. Avoid reading out loud from detailed notes, as this can be very boring for the audience.

The presentation should have:
an introduction, in which you state the title or topic and the aims of your presentation. Try to make the introduction interesting to catch the attention of your audience a main body of the presentation, with clearly defined main points presented in a logical fashion a conclusion, clear and convincing, begins with the words 'in summary' or 'in conclusion'. Formally finish your presentation, for example by saying 'thank you for your attention' or 'any questions'
a discussion time, in which you are expected to lead a debate and answer questions. If possible involve all students in the discussion and ensure the debate relates to the subject of your presentation. It is advisable to prepare some questions that may stimulate debate. (Please note that this will occur following your presentation within a Online Classroom tutorial once all student presentations have been completed)
Each student will download the Marking guide - Presentation (found on the next page) and fill one out for each presentation. These will then be submitted back to the course coordinator with the aim of rich feedback from multiple sources for the education guide.

Assignments must be submitted in electronic format to the Course Coordinator via email only.

An Assignment Coversheet must be submitted with each assessment. The coversheet should be the first page of your assessment. A word version of the Assignment Coversheet is available to download at www.health.adelaide.edu.au/nursing/students/resources. The Plagiarism Statement must be signed and dated for your assessment to be marked (please note the details stated on the Assignment Coversheet). More information on avoiding Plagiarism is available at www.adelaide.edu.au/clpd/plagiarism/.

Plagiarism
Students are reminded that plagiarism and other forms of academic dishonesty constitute a serious offence and can result in disciplinary procedures. Students are advised to read the policy Academic Honesty and Assessment Obligations for Coursework Students Policy & Coursework Students: Academic Dishonesty Procedures policy, available at www.adelaide.edu.au/policies/230/. The following definitions should be noted.

Referencing: providing a full bibliographic reference to the source of the citation (in a style as determined by the School).
Quotation: placing an excerpt from an original source into a paper using either quotation marks or indentation, with the source cited, using an approved referencing system in order to give credit to the original author.
Paraphrasing: repeating a section of text using different words which retain the original meaning.
Please note: changing just a few words does not constitute paraphrasing.