NSB335 Integrated Nursing Practice 5

Unit Outline: Flexible Period - 05A 2026, Kelvin Grove, Internal (Start Date: 16 Feb 2026)

Overview

Clinical practice and evidence-based theory are integrated and critically applied at the completion of this unit (8 weeks / 320 hours of clinical practice) by demonstration of safe and effective person-centred care consistent with the NMBA Registered Nurse Standards of Practice. All National Safety, Aged Care Standards and Quality Health Service (NSQHS) standards, are further explored in this unit. This unit complements other third-year units and consolidates learning to date. This unit is a work integrated learning unit with you learning predominantly in off-campus health care contexts.

Mandatory assessment (Med+Safe exam) and classes to prepare for your work integrated learning start in Orientation week. Please check the published unit timetable.

Registration into NSB335 closes on Friday prior to Orientation (Welcome) Week.

This is a designated unit which is essential to your course progression. Designated units include professional experience units, units requiring the development of particular skills, and units requiring demonstration of certain personal qualities. If you fail to achieve a satisfactory level of performance in a designated unit, you may be excluded from enrolment or will be put on academic probation. If you fail a designated unit twice within your course, you may be excluded. Supplementary assessment is not available on designated units.

Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this unit you will be able to:

1. Demonstrate nursing care that is consistent with the principles of the NMBA Registered Nurse Standards of Practice and the National Safety and Quality Health Service Standards at a beginner practitioner level.
2. Perform safe and accurate medication calculations and demonstrate safe administration of medicines.
3. Demonstrate critical thinking and clinical reasoning in diverse and complex healthcare settings consistent with the provision of safe, quality person-centred care across the lifespan.
4. Coordinate and lead the provision of care for consumers, families, and the broader community, under supervision.

Content

Learning Approaches

On Campus
This unit will provide a clinical practice session (CPS) and online activities to reinforce clinical reasoning and evidence-based nursing practice skills. This CPS is mandatory for progression to clinical placement. Students who do not attend the CPS will be unable to progress. 

To be eligible for clinical placement you must possess a Blue Card and undertake First-Aid and CPR training. You must submit related mandatory documentation into QUT InPlace, before semester census date (end of week 4) or as specified in Canvas. The Work Integrated Learning (WILS) team support this process and information on your required activities / documents is available in your InPlace home screen. If you do not complete mandatory activities and upload documentation you will not be able to progress to clinical placement.

Clinical Placement
This unit requires 320 hours attendance at an off-campus clinical health care facility, negotiated by QUT. You must be available for shift-work rostering, which enables patient care to be delivered 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Travel may be involved, and clinical placements can occur during semester breaks. Any absence from an off-campus clinical placement will reduce the opportunity for competence development – student performance may not be able to be assessed and a grade of ‘Unsatisfactory’ may be awarded.  Where absence is due to special or unforeseeable circumstances independently supported by documentation (e.g. medical certificate), every effort will be made to accommodate the student in an alternate placement within the same semester. 
Clinical supervisors will facilitate and support transfer of knowledge and skills to the real-world context in line with the requirements to satisfactorily complete the Australian Nursing Standards Assessment Tool (ANSAT). Learning experiences will include a focus on promoting implementation of evidence-based, scientific knowledge, communication, critical inquiry, digital literacy, and intra- and interprofessional collaboration as an ethical, socially inclusive, and culturally safe practitioner.

Feedback on Learning and Assessment

You will be provided with feedback and guidance to assist your learning throughout the semester through:

• Formative feedback in class interactions throughout semester, individually and/or as a group
• Peer and clinical facilitator feedback on skills acquisition within clinical practice sessions
• Feedback on clinical performance will be provided by the clinical facilitator using the ANSAT tool at an interim timepoint halfway through your clinical placement and formally at the end of clinical placement

Assessment

Overview

There are two assessments to be completed in this unit. You must attend 100% of the clinical practice sessions, and achieve 100% in the medication calculations (within Med+Safe). 

To receive a satisfactory grade in the unit, all hours that a student is absent from clinical placement require attendance at a clinical completion option. There is no capacity to offer unlimited opportunities for clinical completion hours. Failure to self-select clinical completion hours when invited (through the Work Integrated Learning team) and/or attend agreed clinical completion hours will cause delays to course progression. Failure to complete agreed clinical completion hours will result in the unit grade being finalised as unsatisfactory.

Unit Grading Scheme

S (Satisfactory) / U (Unsatisfactory)

Assessment Tasks

Assessment: Med+Safe

The exam consists of multiple choice questions and a case study regarding safe medication practice. Exam questions focus on calculations and the development of knowledge and skills associated with medication administration and quality use of medicines.
MedSafe certificates are awarded once you have achieved 100% for the designated test. The MedSafe certificate uploaded must reflect the date and time of your invigilated test, including your name exactly as it appears in the student's enrolment.

Threshold Assessment:

Professional accreditation mandates demonstration of safe practice in both skills performance and medication safety prior to work integrated learning.

You may be eligible for one further opportunity to undertake this assessment if you do not achieve 100% in Med+Safe on the first attempt.

Assessment: Clinical placement - 8 weeks /320 hours

In your assigned clinical placements, you will be assessed on the demonstration of a range of skills in relation to the provision of safe, quality, person-centred care. Assessment performance is determined in line with the NMBA Registered Nurse Standards for Practice and the Australian Nursing Standards Assessment Tool (ANSAT). You are required to demonstrate satisfactory achievement of the 7 standards (and related criteria) for this level. You will receive formative verbal and written feedback on your progress during the clinical placement. Each standard and criteria of the ANSAT must be achieved satisfactorily and 100% attendance is required for off-campus clinical placement experiences.

Threshold Assessment:

For the purpose of professional accreditation, demonstration of safe practice and performance consistent with the National Minimum Standards for Registration (NMBA) is required.

This assessment item is not eligible for a repeat attempt.

Academic Integrity

Academic integrity is a commitment to undertaking academic work and assessment in a manner that is ethical, fair, honest, respectful and accountable.

The Academic Integrity Policy sets out the range of conduct that can be a failure to maintain the standards of academic integrity. This includes, cheating in exams, plagiarism, self-plagiarism, collusion and contract cheating. It also includes providing fraudulent or altered documentation in support of an academic concession application, for example an assignment extension or a deferred exam.

You are encouraged to make use of QUT’s learning support services, resources and tools to assure the academic integrity of your assessment. This includes the use of text matching software that may be available to assist with self-assessing your academic integrity as part of the assessment submission process.

Breaching QUT’s Academic Integrity Policy or engaging in conduct that may defeat or compromise the purpose of assessment can lead to a finding of student misconduct (Code of Conduct – Student) and result in the imposition of penalties under the Management of Student Misconduct Policy, ranging from a grade reduction to exclusion from QUT.

Requirements to Study

Blue Card

A blue card is required to complete this unit. A blue card confirms that you have passed a screening of your criminal history (the Working with Children Check) and have been approved to work with children and young people. For more information on the blue card and how to apply please visit the QUT website.

Resources

Resource Materials

Prescribed text(s)

Brown, D., Edwards, H., Buckley, T. C. T., & Aitken, R. L. (2024). Lewis’s medical-surgical nursing : assessment and management of clinical problems (6th Australia and New Zealand Edition.). Elsevier.

Crisp, J., Douglas, C., Rebeiro, G., & Waters, D. (2021). Potter & Perry’s fundamentals of nursing (6th edition ; Australia and New Zealand). Elsevier Australia a division of Reed International Books Australia Pty Ltd.

Rebeiro, G., Wilson, D., & Fuller, S. (2021). Fundamentals of nursing : clinical skills workbook (4th edition.). Elsevier Australia a division of Reed International Books Australia Pty Ltd.

Software

Medsafe

Risk Assessment Statement

During clinical work experience, you are exposed to a range of risks and hazards that are normally encountered by nurses practising in a variety of health care settings. When undertaking clinical work experience, you are automatically subject to the workplace health and safety policies, procedures, and regulations of the healthcare facility. You are required, by law, to comply with these policies and procedures at all times. To minimise risks in this unit, it is essential that you:

• Participate in the healthcare facility orientation session
• Act in accordance with organisational workplace health and safety policies
• Are appropriately supervised by a registered nurse at all times
• Undertake the required theoretical and practical preparation prior to commencement of the placement
• Are aware of specific risks and hazards associated with the particular clinical area to which you have been assigned
• Act within your scope of practice and the requirements of this unit
• Maintain your personal health and immunisation status.

Standards/Competencies

This unit is designed to support your development of the following standards\competencies.

Registered Nurse Standards for Practice

1: Thinks critically and analyses nursing practice.

1. The RN accesses, analyses, and uses the best available evidence, that includes research findings, for safe, quality practice
   Relates to: Clinical placement - 8 weeks /320 hours
2. The RN develops practice through reflection on experiences, knowledge, actions, feelings and beliefs to identify how these shape practice
   Relates to: Clinical placement - 8 weeks /320 hours
3. The RN respects all cultures and experiences, which includes responding to the role of family and community that underpin the health of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and people of other cultures
   Relates to: Clinical placement - 8 weeks /320 hours
4. The RN complies with legislation, regulations, policies, guidelines and other standards or requirements relevant to the context of practice when making decisions
   Relates to: Med+Safe , Clinical placement - 8 weeks /320 hours
5. The RN uses ethical frameworks when making decisions
   Relates to: Clinical placement - 8 weeks /320 hours
6. The RN maintains accurate, comprehensive and timely documentation of assessments, planning, decision-making, actions and evaluations
   Relates to: Med+Safe , Clinical placement - 8 weeks /320 hours
7. The RN contributes to quality improvement and relevant research.
   Relates to: Clinical placement - 8 weeks /320 hours

2: Engages in therapeutic and professional relationships.

1. The RN establishes, sustains and concludes relationships in a way that differentiates the boundaries between professional and personal relationships
   Relates to: Clinical placement - 8 weeks /320 hours
2. The RN communicates effectively, and is respectful of a person’s dignity, culture, values, beliefs and rights
   Relates to: Clinical placement - 8 weeks /320 hours
3. The RN recognises that people are the experts in the experience of their life
   Relates to: Clinical placement - 8 weeks /320 hours
4. The RN provides support and directs people to resources to optimise health-related decisions
   Relates to: Clinical placement - 8 weeks /320 hours
5. The RN advocates on behalf of people in a manner that respects the person’s autonomy and legal capacity
   Relates to: Clinical placement - 8 weeks /320 hours
6. The RN uses delegation, supervision, coordination, consultation and referrals in professional relationships to achieve improved health outcomes
   Relates to: Clinical placement - 8 weeks /320 hours
7. The RN actively fosters a culture of safety and learning that includes engaging with health professionals and others, to share knowledge and practice that supports person-centred care
   Relates to: Clinical placement - 8 weeks /320 hours
8. The RN participates in and/or leads collaborative practice
   Relates to: Clinical placement - 8 weeks /320 hours
9. The RN reports notifiable conduct of health professionals, health workers and others.
   Relates to: Clinical placement - 8 weeks /320 hours

3: Maintains the capability for practice.

1. The RN considers and responds in a timely manner to the health and wellbeing of self and others in relation to the capability for practice
   Relates to: Clinical placement - 8 weeks /320 hours
2. The RN provides the information and education required to enhance people's control over health
   Relates to: Clinical placement - 8 weeks /320 hours
3. The RN uses a lifelong learning approach for continuing professional development of self and others
   Relates to: Clinical placement - 8 weeks /320 hours
4. The RN accepts accountability for decisions, actions, behaviours and responsibilities inherent in their role, and for the actions of others to whom they have delegated responsibilities
   Relates to: Clinical placement - 8 weeks /320 hours
5. The RN seeks and responds to practice review and feedback
   Relates to: Clinical placement - 8 weeks /320 hours
6. The RN actively engages with the profession
   Relates to: Clinical placement - 8 weeks /320 hours
7. The RN identifies and promotes the integral role of nursing practice and the profession in influencing better health outcomes for people.
   Relates to: Clinical placement - 8 weeks /320 hours

4: Comprehensively conducts assessments.

1. The RN conducts assessments that are holistic as well as culturally appropriate
   Relates to: Clinical placement - 8 weeks /320 hours
2. The RN uses a range of assessment techniques to systematically collect relevant and accurate information and data to inform practice
   Relates to: Clinical placement - 8 weeks /320 hours
3. The RN works in partnership to determine factors that affect, or potentially affect, the health and wellbeing of people and populations to determine priorities for action and/ or for referral
   Relates to: Clinical placement - 8 weeks /320 hours
4. The RN assesses the resources available to inform planning.
   Relates to: Clinical placement - 8 weeks /320 hours

5: Develops a plan for nursing practice.

1. The RN uses assessment data and best available evidence to develop a plan
   Relates to: Clinical placement - 8 weeks /320 hours
2. The RN collaboratively constructs nursing practice plans until contingencies, options priorities, goals, actions, outcomes and timeframes are agreed with the relevant persons
   Relates to: Clinical placement - 8 weeks /320 hours
3. The RN documents, evaluates and modifies plans accordingly to facilitate the agreed outcomes
   Relates to: Clinical placement - 8 weeks /320 hours
4. The RN plans and negotiates how practice will be evaluated and the time frame of engagement
   Relates to: Clinical placement - 8 weeks /320 hours
5. The RN coordinates resources effectively and efficiently for planned actions.
   Relates to: Clinical placement - 8 weeks /320 hours

6: Provides safe, appropriate and responsive quality nursing practice.

1. The RN provides comprehensive safe, quality practice to achieve agreed goals and outcomes that are responsive to the nursing needs of people
   Relates to: Med+Safe , Clinical placement - 8 weeks /320 hours
2. The RN practises within their scope of practice
   Relates to: Clinical placement - 8 weeks /320 hours
3. The RN appropriately delegates aspects of practice to enrolled nurses and others, according to enrolled nurse’s scope of practice or others’ clinical or non-clinical roles
   Relates to: Clinical placement - 8 weeks /320 hours
4. The RN provides effective timely direction and supervision to ensure that delegated practice is safe and correct
   Relates to: Clinical placement - 8 weeks /320 hours
5. The RN practises in accordance with relevant policies, guidelines, standards, regulations and legislation
   Relates to: Med+Safe , Clinical placement - 8 weeks /320 hours
6. The RN uses the appropriate processes to identify and report potential and actual risk related system issues and where practice may be below the expected standards.
   Relates to: Med+Safe , Clinical placement - 8 weeks /320 hours

7: Evaluates outcomes to inform nursing practice.

1. The RN evaluates and monitors progress towards the expected goals and outcomes
   Relates to: Med+Safe , Clinical placement - 8 weeks /320 hours
2. The RN revises the plan based on the evaluation
   Relates to: Clinical placement - 8 weeks /320 hours
3. The RN determines, documents and communicates further priorities, goals and outcomes with the relevant persons.
   Relates to: Clinical placement - 8 weeks /320 hours

Course Learning Outcomes

NS42 Bachelor of Nursing

1. Apply scientific knowledge and skills from nursing and related disciplines to the provision of safe, person-centred, evidence-based nursing care across the lifespan
   Relates to: Med+Safe , Clinical placement - 8 weeks /320 hours
2. Apply critical thinking, clinical reasoning, and digital literacy skills to make evidence- based decisions and evaluate outcomes
   Relates to: Med+Safe , Clinical placement - 8 weeks /320 hours
3. Practice as an ethical, socially inclusive, and culturally safe practitioner, reflective of your professional nursing identity across a range of health service settings.
   Relates to: Clinical placement - 8 weeks /320 hours
4. Enact and sustain effective communication skills, therapeutic relationships, and professional capabilities to practice independently and in inter and intra professional teams, to ensure safe, person-centred care
   Relates to: Clinical placement - 8 weeks /320 hours
5. Demonstrate developing socially informed leadership capabilities to achieve positive individual and community outcomes in dynamic healthcare contexts.
   Relates to: Clinical placement - 8 weeks /320 hours