NSN904 Consolidating Safe Clinical Practice

Unit Outline: Semester 1 2024, Kelvin Grove, Internal

Overview

This unit begins to consolidate your successful transition into the role of registered nurse and develops your capabilities for providing safe, quality, person-centred nursing care. This unit is a work integrated learning unit, with your learning occurring predominantly off campus within healthcare contexts. You will complete 4 weeks/160 hours of clinical placement within industry. This unit builds on all preceding units, with the expectation that previous knowledge and skills will be drawn upon in practice and to enable further development of knowledge and skills. This is necessary to prepare for and successfully complete this capstone unit and provide safe and effective care as a beginning-level registered nurse. A thorough understanding of the NMBA Registered Nurse Standards for Practice is required.

Mandatory elements may start Orientation week. Please check the published unit timetable.

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 evidence-based practice, clinical reasoning, and decision making to provide culturally safe, quality, person-centred care consistent with the NMBA Registered Nurse Standards for Practice and the National Safety and Quality Health Service Standards at a beginner practitioner level.
2. Safely and accurately perform medication calculations and demonstrate safe administration of medicines in both the simulated environment and the clinical practice setting.
3. Satisfactorily complete hi-fidelity simulation and engage with critical thinking, clinical reasoning and communication in diverse and complex healthcare settings consistent with safe, person-centred care across the lifespan.
4. Coordinate and lead provision of care for consumers, families, and the broader community, under supervision.

Content

Learning Approaches

This is a work integrated learning unit, where you learn predominantly off campus within healthcare environments. The unit will use inquiry-based learning approaches within a blended learning ‘community of inquiry’ framework to prepare you for the Registered Nurse role in nursing practice. Learning opportunities in the form of, face to face workshops and online activities, will support your preparation for work placement.  

Experiential learning is at the forefront of this unit, with you participating in nursing care within an off-campus healthcare environment. This may include clinics and home-based, community, mental health, and acute care facilities. You are expected to take on responsibilities for care with respect to the coordination and leadership of care for consumers, families, and the wider community, under supervision.

Preparation for this unit involves review of concepts explored in previous units to facilitate application to practice. You will prepare for this off-campus experience through a mandatory simulated clinical activity. Prior to clinical placement you will also be directed to revisit safe practice principles, quality use of medicines and administration of same, drawing on the unit learning activities.

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.

This unit requires attendance at an off-campus clinical placement. Placement opportunities are negotiated by QUT with healthcare facilities and are finite in number. You cannot organise their own placements. 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 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. If due to the nature of the your special circumstances and/or limited placement availability an alternate placement cannot be negotiated, you will be advised to seek withdrawal from the unit without academic or financial penalty. Standard course progression cannot be guaranteed following an Unsuccessful grade or withdrawal from a clinical placement unit.

You will receive further additional information and explanation consistent with this statement in lectures and information will be added to unit Canvas sites.

Feedback on Learning and Assessment

You will receive feedback on your learning and assessment through:

• Ongoing formative feedback via self-check exercises, simulation de-brief and through whole of class feedback in online communities prior to placement
• Formal written or recorded feedback on summative assessment tasks Via Turnitin, in addition to the grade on the Criterion Reference Assessment sheet.
• Feedback on your clinical performance will be provided by the clinical facilitator using the ANSAT tool at an interim timepoint half way through your clinical placement and formally at the end of clinical placement

Assessment

Overview

There are four assessments to be completed in this unit. These are a MedSafe medication test, an acute care clinical simulation with pre-briefing and debriefing activities as part of your ePortfolio, a critical essay as part of your ePortfolio, followed by satisfactory achievement of all criteria in supervised nursing practice assessment (ANSAT) report.

You must achieve 100% in the medication calculations (within Med+Safe), and achieve all criteria on the clinical performance assessment tool to achieve an overall satisfactory grade for this unit. The Med+Safe has many in-built practice tests for you to practise achieving 100%. Attendance and participation in an acute care clinical simulation with pre-briefing and debriefing activities will prepare you for clinical practice and is part of your ePortfolio. Successful completion of module learning activities will reflect your understanding of safe practice, developing critical thinking and decision-making skills in diverse and complex healthcare situations across the lifespan, consistent with course progression. These are requirements for you (and QUT) to ensure you can safely practice and act appropriately in an emergency as required by the National Health and Safety standards and ANMAC safety of the public standards. 

Unit Grading Scheme

S (Satisfactory) / U (Unsatisfactory)

Assessment Tasks

Assessment: Med+Safe

Evidence of 100% successful completion of the required test in the MedSafe application during the invigilated school-based assessment period. 

MedSafe certificates are awarded once you have achieved 100% for the designated test. The MedSafe certificate uploaded must reflect the date and time of the invigilated test, including the your name exactly as it appears in your enrolment. 

You may be eligible for one further opportunity to undertake this assessment if you do not achieve 100%. The same assessment conditions of invigilated exam apply. 

Test questions focus on calculations and the development of knowledge and skills associated with medication administration and quality use of medicines.

Failure to complete this assessment within the specified timeframes will result in an unsatisfactory grade in this unit and withdrawal of your off-campus clinical work experience.

Threshold Assessment:

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

Assessment: Recognising and responding to acute deterioration simulation

You will engage in face-to-face clinical simulation scenarios that focus on complex problems such as recognising and responding to the rapidly deteriorating patient and team processes including leadership capabilities. This will require a collaborative approach in responding to problems and challenges of the given situation. The scenarios are designed to assist you to integrate concepts and principles that are needed for practice as a beginning-level registered nurse, providing person-centred care in various clinical settings. You will critically analyse and address ongoing nursing care provision and implementation, and incorporate experiential learning from real-world practice. Pre-briefing and de-briefing will be included as fundamental components of the learning experience as well as completion of a learning activity/ePortfolio entry directly related to the simulation.

Threshold Assessment:

Due to the essential professional skills demonstrated in this assessment you must achieve a passing grade in the assessment to complete the unit.

Assessment: ePortfolio clinical case

ePortfolio: Undertaking a holistic analysis you will complete a critical essay in response to a selected case addressing key elements of nursing practice reflective of the NMBA Registered Nurse Standards for Practice. Choice of foci include communication, collaboration, ethical practice, quality use of medicines, or cultural safety approaches.

This is an assignment for the purposes of an extension.

Assessment: Clinical Practice (ANSAT)

Clinical performance assessment (160 hours)

Threshold Assessment:

Due to the essential professional skills demonstrated in this assessment you must achieve a passing grade in this assessment to complete the unit.

Academic Integrity

Students are expected to engage in learning and assessment at QUT with honesty, transparency and fairness. Maintaining academic integrity means upholding these principles and demonstrating valuable professional capabilities based on ethical foundations.

Failure to maintain academic integrity can take many forms. It includes cheating in examinations, plagiarism, self-plagiarism, collusion, and submitting an assessment item completed by another person (e.g. contract cheating). It can also include providing your assessment to another entity, such as to a person or website.

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.

Further details of QUT’s approach to academic integrity are outlined in the Academic integrity policy and the Student Code of Conduct. Breaching QUT’s Academic integrity policy is regarded as student misconduct and can lead to the imposition of penalties ranging from a grade reduction to exclusion from QUT.

Requirements to Study

Requirements

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.

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)

Med+Safe application (https://www.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 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.

Course Learning Outcomes

NS89 Master of Nursing - Entry to Practice

1. Analyse and apply scientific knowledge and skills in context of nursing and related disciplines to the provision of holistic, person-centred, evidence-based nursing across the life span
   Relates to: Med+Safe , Recognising and responding to acute deterioration simulation , ePortfolio clinical case, Clinical Practice (ANSAT)
2. Evaluate practice outcomes drawing upon critical thinking and clinical reasoning skills to examine person-centred nursing care and make evidence-based decisions
   Relates to: Med+Safe , Recognising and responding to acute deterioration simulation , ePortfolio clinical case, Clinical Practice (ANSAT)
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: Recognising and responding to acute deterioration simulation , ePortfolio clinical case, Clinical Practice (ANSAT)
4. Enact and sustain effective communication skills, therapeutic relationships and professional capabilities to practice independently and in inter and intraprofessional teams, to ensure safe person-centred care
   Relates to: Clinical Practice (ANSAT)
5. Demonstrate developing socially informed leadership capabilities of self and others to achieve positive individual and community outcomes in dynamic health care contexts
   Relates to: Recognising and responding to acute deterioration simulation , ePortfolio clinical case, Clinical Practice (ANSAT)
6. Demonstrate research skills and use of contemporary evidence to justify clinical decisions and inform nursing practice
   Relates to: ePortfolio clinical case