NURSING 7203 - Introducing Professional Nursing

North Terrace Campus - Semester 1 - 2015

This course will introduce nursing as a profession and the Acts, standards and competencies that govern the scope of practice. Evidence based practice, and quality and safety of health care will also be addressed. The importance of beginning reflective processes on learning and development will be established.

Open All

Course Details

Course Code	NURSING 7203
Course	Introducing Professional Nursing
Coordinating Unit	Adelaide Nursing School
Term	Semester 1
Level	Postgraduate Coursework
Location/s	North Terrace Campus
Units	3
Contact	Up to 4 hours per week
Available for Study Abroad and Exchange	N
Restrictions	Available to M.Clin Nurs students only
Assessment	Literature search and essay

Course Staff

Course Coordinator: Dr Tammy Page

Course Coordinator: Dr Frank Donnelly
Phone: +61 8 8313 3639
Email: frank.donnelly@adelaide.edu.au
Location: Room 3-23, School of Nursing, University of Adelaide

School Office
Phone: +61 8 8313 3595
Email: nursing.studentliason@adelaide.edu.au

Course Timetable

The full timetable of all activities for this course can be accessed from Course Planner.

Course Learning Outcomes

1	Discuss the historical and contemporary factors influencing health care systems
2	Differentiate health care services based on primary, secondary and tertiary categories
3	Articulate and communicate to others the role of the professional nurse and the scope of nursing practice
4	Identify the purposes of nurse practice Acts and standards for nursing practice
5	Adopt a beginning level of evidence-based practice as it is used to inform thinking and decision-making in practice
6	Develop skills in reflection to support ongoing development through learning experiences
7	Debate the ethico-legal frameworks of nursing
8	Apply foundational and factual knowledge of occupational health & safety
9	Discuss quality and safety within nursing practice and the health care system

University Graduate Attributes

This course will provide students with an opportunity to develop the Graduate Attribute(s) specified below:

University Graduate Attribute	Course Learning Outcome(s)
Knowledge and understanding of the content and techniques of a chosen discipline at advanced levels that are internationally recognised.	1-9
The ability to locate, analyse, evaluate and synthesise information from a wide variety of sources in a planned and timely manner.	3-5, 9
An ability to apply effective, creative and innovative solutions, both independently and cooperatively, to current and future problems.	5-6, 8-9
Skills of a high order in interpersonal understanding, teamwork and communication.	2, 3, 6, 9
A proficiency in the appropriate use of contemporary technologies.	1, 6, 9
A commitment to continuous learning and the capacity to maintain intellectual curiosity throughout life.	1, 4, 6
A commitment to the highest standards of professional endeavour and the ability to take a leadership role in the community.	2-5, 7-9
An awareness of ethical, social and cultural issues within a global context and their importance in the exercise of professional skills and responsibilities.	1-3

Learning Resources

Required Resources

Crisp, J Taylor, C, Douglas, C & Rebeiro, G, 2013, Potter and Perry’s Fundamentals of Nursing 4th edn, Mosby Elsevier, Australia.

Recommended Resources

Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia (2006) National competency standards for the registered nurse

Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia (2006) Code of Ethics

McIlwraith & Madden 2014 Health Care and the Law 6th Ed, LawbookCo; Rozelle, NSW

Learning & Teaching Modes

This course uses a blend of lectures, tutorials and workshops to identify situations that impact the daily environment of nursing practice. Students are encouraged to consider their ‘arrival’ at the career of nursing and to actively reflect on what they consider to be the professional skills and attributes. Role plays and self -directed learning opportunities help to facilitate the reflective nature of this course.

Workload

The information below is provided as a guide to assist students in engaging appropriately with the course requirements.

The workload for this course requires attendance at:
• 2 x 1 hour lectures / week (2 hour lectures may also be provided).
• 1 x 2 hour tutorial / week

Non contact hours for assessment and tutorial preparation will be 6-9 hours per week.

Learning Activities Summary

The tables below indicate the lecture and tutorial outlines for Introducing Professional Nursing. Please refer to the timetable above for details on class and time. Other tutorials may be provided as required.

Introducing Professional Nursing

Lecture Series

Professional issues
1. History of nursing
2. The role of the professional nurse
3. Primary, secondary and tertiary care within the Australian health care system
4. Scopes of practice
5. Legislation in nursing
6. Consent and negligence
7. Professional standards and guidelines
8. Ethical theories
9. Ethics issues in health care
10. An introduction to evidenced based practice
11. Introduction to critical theory

Safety and quality / OHS
12. Core principles of Occupational Health and Safety (OHS)
13. OHS in the health care setting
14. Safety and Quality Systems
15. Self-care

Introduction to death and dying
16. Introduction to palliative care
17. Death and dying

Tutorial Series

1. Professional nurse forum – RN’s will be invited to describe their experiences of working as a registered
2. Scopes of practice – students will create and edit a scope of practice document
3. Legislation in nursing – students will work in groups through an assigned piece of legislation relevant to nursing and web site review of APHRA, NMBA
4. Ethical issues workshop - group role play – students will construct and enact small role plays from a list of provided topics.
5. Reflective practice workshop - a range of reflective practice exercises will be worked through
6. Documentation - Clinical handovers and documentation using the ISBAR guidelines
7. Equipment safety and hospital safety audit
8. Strategies for developing self-resilience

The University's policy on Assessment for Coursework Programs is based on the following four principles:

Assessment must encourage and reinforce learning.
Assessment must enable robust and fair judgements about student performance.
Assessment practices must be fair and equitable to students and give them the opportunity to demonstrate what they have learned.
Assessment must maintain academic standards.

Assessment Summary

Assessment Task	Assessment Type	Weighting	Learning Outcome(s) being addressed
OHS quiz	Formative	NGP	4, 8
Plagiarism and referencing module	Formative and summative	10%	5-6
Literature search strategy report	Summative	30%	1-2, 5
Essay	Summative	60%	2-4, 7, 9

Assessment Detail

ASSESSMENT 1: Occupation Health and Safety Quiz
Health science students are at risk of injury during clinical practice. School of Nursing injury data indicates student compliance with safe procedures can be compromised due to perceived pressure from peers and staff. The quiz will raise awareness of OHS issues in clinical practice and legislative requirements to help students consider strategies to prevent or reduce injury severity.

ASSESSMENT 2: Plagiarism and referencing module
In order to avoid plagiarism, students need to understand the meaning of citation, paraphrasing, quotation, and referencing. The module is an online quiz designed to ensure that student work is not plagiarised and source material is properly acknowledged according to the guidelines in the School Academic Manual. Students are encouraged to work through this quiz as many times as they need to ensure that they have a thorough understanding of these guidelines.

The module is used as a formative assessment that has no percentage allocated to a final grade

ASSESSMENT 3: Literature search strategy
Literature Search strategy on a topical professional issue in nursing. This assessment requires you to refer to the essay topic in Assessment 2. You need to clearly identify the search strategy you would use to investigate this issue.
Develop and submit a search strategy to answer the essay question. Identify the search terms, types of paper/research, databases and years to be searched and construct a logic grid to demonstrate the strategy.
This exercise is concerned with the search strategy itself NOT the specifics of the topic, however the search will be useful in preparation of the essay.
Provide a reference list of the 8 papers you have found that you feel will contribute to Assignment 2.

ASSESSMENT 4: Essay
Your essay topic is:
Identify, analyse and discuss the legislative and safety and quality issues for nurses and their clients in a primary healthcare setting of your choice. Develop some recommendations for practice based on your discussion.
You are strongly advised to consider the marking guide when writing this paper. You should also pay particular attention to the conclusion and the need for a reflective aspect to the paper.
If you are not sure of what this requires please consult the coordinator.

Submission

Unless otherwise indicated all submission of assignments is to be through the assignments portal of MyUni. Students MUST keep an electronic copy of all assignments submitted. Cover sheets are required for all assignments and can be accessed from the School of Nursing website. Extension of time for submission of assignments is subject to negotiation with the course coordinator. Requests must be made before the due date of the assignment. In principle, all assignments should be submitted by the due date. However, an extension may be granted if the request is made before the due date and the usual administration procedures are followed. Late submission without an approved extension will be penalised at the rate of 5% of available marks for each working day after the due date.
Work submitted more than ten days after the due date may be returned unmarked. This action will be taken to prevent students who do get their work in on time being disadvantaged.
Whenever possible staff will turn around marked assignments within 4 weeks or earlier.

Course Grading

Grades for your performance in this course will be awarded in accordance with the following scheme:

M10 (Coursework Mark Scheme)
Grade	Mark	Description
FNS		Fail No Submission
F	1-49	Fail
P	50-64	Pass
C	65-74	Credit
D	75-84	Distinction
HD	85-100	High Distinction
CN		Continuing
NFE		No Formal Examination
RP		Result Pending

Further details of the grades/results can be obtained from Examinations.

Grade Descriptors are available which provide a general guide to the standard of work that is expected at each grade level. More information at Assessment for Coursework Programs.

The following marking guides will be used for assignments:

Marking Guide - Literature Search Strategy

Search Terms 25%

• used search terms

• use of Boolean operators, with at least use of ‘AND’

• used Tags

• used MeSH or Thesaurus

• used Limits

• used concepts and alternative words

Description of Search 50%

• max of 1000 words

• logical sequence

• formal sentence structure

• demonstrated evidence of comprehensive search

• used search terms appropriately

• construction of logic grid is clearly explained

List of Articles 25%

• Harvard Author Date style as described in Student Handbook correctly applied to a range of sources

• Reference list in alphabetical order.

Marking Guide - Essay

Structure and Writing Style 25%

Structure (15%)
• introduces/outlines/situates the topic of the essay

• clearly describes the way in which the essay will proceed

• the essay is structured in a logical sequence so that the content flows (headings may be used to develop the structure of the paper)

• the essays ends with a cogent, defendable and reflective conclusion that summarises the discussion within the body of the paper.

Writing style (10%)
• the essay is written with clear sentence structure, clarity of argument and precision of expression and the spelling and grammar are correct.

Content 60%

Content (30%)
• the essay question has been answered or the topic/issue has been discussed

• the essay content has clear links to contemporary nursing practice

• the student’s paper demonstrates a depth of understanding of the topic and significant issues.

Critical analysis (30%)
• the essay demonstrates a high degree of critical thought and insight by:
o providing a justification/rationale for the argument/discussion
o demonstrating they have reflected on the complex issues surrounding the topic/question
o discussing the topic from differing perspectives, thereby providing a balanced argument/discussion.

Referencing 15%school's

• the referencing style used throughout the paper is congruent with the school’s Student handbook and style guide

• the reference list is accurate (ie no missing page numbers, volumes, correct title etc), complete (ie no references in the body of the paper are missing from the reference list) and consistent with the school’s Student handbook and style guide

• the references cited are contemporary (ie less than 10 years old unless seminal papers)

• primary references are used predominantly (ie the original reference has been cited rather than a secondary source)

• there is evidence in the paper that the student has searched widely for information related to the topic/issue

• the student has acknowledged all sources of information

• direct quotations are only used to make crucial points or to support the discussion/argument.

Final results for this course will be made available through Access Adelaide.

Student Feedback

The University places a high priority on approaches to learning and teaching that enhance the student experience. Feedback is sought from students in a variety of ways including on-going engagement with staff, the use of online discussion boards and the use of Student Experience of Learning and Teaching (SELT) surveys as well as GOS surveys and Program reviews.

SELTs are an important source of information to inform individual teaching practice, decisions about teaching duties, and course and program curriculum design. They enable the University to assess how effectively its learning environments and teaching practices facilitate student engagement and learning outcomes. Under the current SELT Policy (http://www.adelaide.edu.au/policies/101/) course SELTs are mandated and must be conducted at the conclusion of each term/semester/trimester for every course offering. Feedback on issues raised through course SELT surveys is made available to enrolled students through various resources (e.g. MyUni). In addition aggregated course SELT data is available.
Student Support
Policies & Guidelines
This section contains links to relevant assessment-related policies and guidelines - all university policies.
Fraud Awareness

Students are reminded that in order to maintain the academic integrity of all programs and courses, the university has a zero-tolerance approach to students offering money or significant value goods or services to any staff member who is involved in their teaching or assessment. Students offering lecturers or tutors or professional staff anything more than a small token of appreciation is totally unacceptable, in any circumstances. Staff members are obliged to report all such incidents to their supervisor/manager, who will refer them for action under the university's student’s disciplinary procedures.

The University of Adelaide is committed to regular reviews of the courses and programs it offers to students. The University of Adelaide therefore reserves the right to discontinue or vary programs and courses without notice. Please read the important information contained in the disclaimer.

Authorised by:	Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Vice-President (Academic)
Maintained by:	Course Outlines Administrator