NSN902 Foundations of Safe Clinical Practice

Unit Outline: Semester 1 2027, Kelvin Grove, Internal

Overview

This unit is a foundational unit that introduces you to the professional nursing practice. It focuses on the development of foundational knowledge and skills in the on-campus setting in preparation for clinical placement. This unit requires mandatory attendance to all Clinical Practice Sessions (CPS) classes. Failure to attend will prevent your progression onto clinical placement which consists of 160 hours of clinical practice within an industry healthcare setting. You will develop scientific knowledge, clinical reasoning and tenets of evidence-based practice to plan, implement and evaluate safe and responsive nursing care. Course themes emphasised in this unit are evidence-based practice, scientific foundations of practice, person-centred care, health technology and health informatics, and interprofessional collaboration. 

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. Apply underpinning knowledge from nursing and related disciplines, including anatomy, physiology and pathophysiology, to support evidence based decisions for planning and provision of safe person-centred care
2. Perform safe and accurate medication calculations and demonstrate safe administration of medicines in both the simulated environment and clinical practice setting.
3. Demonstrate beginner level provision of safe, appropriate and responsive quality nursing care for consumers, families and the broader community.
4. Demonstrate novice level evidence-based practice, clinical reasoning, and decision making to provide culturally safe, quality, person-centred care across the lifespan, consistent with the NMBA Registered Nurse Standards of Practice, Aged Care Quality Standards and the National Safety and Quality Health Service Standards.
5. Communicate effectively with patients and multidisciplinary teams to develop foundational care plans for individuals across the lifespan, reflective of culturally safe, person centred care and therapeutic communication.

Content

Learning Approaches

On-campus

This unit will provide clinical practice sessions and online activities to introduce clinical reasoning and evidence-based nursing practice skills. You will develop and practice these skills through analysis of real-world health case studies, supported by online learning to develop foundational scientific knowledge, quality use of medicine (medical calculations), key skills in foundational care, person-centred care and therapeutic communication and culturally safe nursing practice.  

Small group classes will use structured exercises, evidence, and resources to support collaborative learning and inquiry using real world scenario-based cases. Integrated learning support mechanisms are embedded (academic literacy, science-based resources, peer to peer and academic support form part of the student learning journey).

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 160 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 receive feedback on your learning and assessment through:

• Ongoing formative feedback via self-check exercises, peer feedback in labs, and through whole of class feedback in online communities
• Progressive written or recorded feedback on academic/professional literacy and applied medical calculation skills on both formative and summative assessment tasks via Turnitin, in addition to the feedback on the Criterion Reference Assessment sheet to support your first placement.
• 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

SUMMATIVE.  There are two summative assessments which must be completed to be successful in this unit, where you must achieve 100% in the medication calculations (within Med+Safe) exam and achieve all criteria on the clinical performance assessment tool to achieve an overall satisfactory grade for this unit. Failure to attend mandatory CPS means you are unable to progress to clinical placement.

FORMATIVE. There is one formative assessment which has a mandatory attendance in which to progress to clinical placement. In this assessment, you will discuss a clinical case study presented during a short oral interview in addition to a written authentic component. You will focus on the provision of care for consumers in particular health situations and with a range of health conditions across the lifespan. 

Unit Grading Scheme

S (Satisfactory) / U (Unsatisfactory)

Assessment Tasks

Assessment: Med+Safe

Test questions focus on calculations and the development of knowledge and skills associated with medication administration and quality use of medicines. Med+Safe certificates are awarded once you have achieved 100% for the designated test and must be stored on CANVAS and reflect the date and time of the invigilated test, including your name exactly as it appears in your enrolment.

The use of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) tools is prohibited during this assessment.

Threshold Assessment:

You must achieve 100% in the medication calculations assessment to demonstrate you are safe to practice in the clinical area, under supervision. Failure to complete this assessment within the specified timeframes and invigilated conditions will result in an unsatisfactory grade in this unit and withdrawal of your off-campus clinical work experience. You will be eligible for one further opportunity to undertake this assessment if you do not achieve 100%. 

Assessment: Oral case study interview

This formative assessment item requires you to examine a case (simulating a patient situation) and synthesise the information provided to answer questions relative to the clinical reasoning cycle to a facilitator. It has a mandatory attendance expectation to be able to attend clinical placement.

The ethical and responsible use of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) tools is authorised in this assessment. See the relevant assessment details in Canvas for specific guidelines.

This assignment is not eligible extension.

Assessment: Clinical Practice (ANSAT)

Placement performance - 4 weeks / 160 hours of clinical placement.
In your assigned clinical placement, 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 (ANSAT). You are required to demonstrate satisfactory achievement of the seven standards (and related criteria) for this level. Each criteria must be achieved satisfactorily and 100% attendance is required at off campus clinical placement.  

The use of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) tools is prohibited during this assessment.

Threshold Assessment:

You are required to demonstrate satisfactory achievement of the 7 standards (and related criteria) for this level to pass this unit. Each criterion of the ANSAT must be achieved satisfactorily and 100% attendance is required at off-campus clinical placement.

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

Requirements

To be eligible for clinical placement you must 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.

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.

Costs

Costs for clinical placement will include securing Blue Card, undertaking First-aid and CPR training as well as costs for clinical placement uniforms and travel to the allocated clinical facility. Med+Safe also poses a cost for the student to complete the program. 

Resources

Resource Materials

Prescribed text(s)

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.

Recommended 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

Calleja, P., Theobald, K., Harvey, T., & Estes, M. E. Z. (2024). Estes health assessment & physical examination (4th Australian & New Zealand edition.). Cengage Learning Australia.

Douglas, C., Rebeiro, G., Waters, D., Moroney, T. & Crisp, J.  (2025). Potter & Perry’s fundamentals of nursing (7th ed). Elsevier Australia. 

Software

Med+Safe application (https://medsafe.com.au)

Risk Assessment Statement

There are no out of the ordinary risks associated with this unit. Substantial computer-based work will be required, please make sure you adjust your workstation and take regular rest breaks.

During the learning activities associated with this unit, you will be exposed to situations in the Clinical Simulation Centre (CSC) that are deemed to be low risk. It is essential that, in relation to the following situations, you:

• Complete the Introduction to Clinical Practice Session Module and quiz 
• Act in accordance with supervisor instruction during the designated clinical practice sessions
• Act in accordance with the guidelines provided for student practice in the Clinical Simulation Centre (CSC) including the usage of equipment
• Undertake required theoretical preparation prior to practice sessions in the Clinical Simulation Centre (CSC).

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. In order to minimise risks in this unit, it is essential that you:

• Participate in the health care 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.

Course Learning Outcomes

NS89 Master of Nursing - Entry to Practice

1. Integrate and apply scientific knowledge and skills to the provision of safe, holistic, person-centred, evidence-based nursing care across the lifespan.
   Relates to: Med+Safe , Oral case study interview, Clinical Practice (ANSAT)
2. Critically analyse and evaluate theoretical, simulated and real-life clinical scenarios, applying clinical reasoning and digital proficiency to propose and evaluate clinically safe and sustainable decisions.
   Relates to: Med+Safe , Clinical Practice (ANSAT)
3. Practice as an ethical, inclusive, culturally safe and reflective practitioner to refine your professional identity and practice in a range of health service settings.
   Relates to: Oral case study interview, Clinical Practice (ANSAT)
4. Communicate effectively, adapting written, oral and visual techniques independently to ensure safe, informative therapeutic and collaborative relationships with patients and multidisciplinary teams.
   Relates to: Oral case study interview, Clinical Practice (ANSAT)