NSN910 Nursing Therapeutics 1: Health Assessment and Clinical Reasoning
To view more information for this unit, select Unit Outline from the list below. Please note the teaching period for which the Unit Outline is relevant.
| Unit code: | NSN910 |
|---|---|
| Corequisite(s): | NSN902 |
| Credit points: | 12 |
| Timetable | Details in HiQ, if available |
| Availabilities |
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Unit Outline: Semester 1 2027, Kelvin Grove, Internal
| Unit code: | NSN910 |
|---|---|
| Credit points: | 12 |
| Co-requisite: | NSN902 |
| Assumed Knowledge: | Graduate capabilities developed in undergraduate study |
| Coordinator: | Jack Potter | j3.potter@qut.edu.au |
Overview
Health assessment is the foundation of nursing practice and the clinical reasoning process. This unit develops your understanding of parameters and skills in collecting, interpreting and applying health data to inform clinical decisions. It complements the unit LSB111, Understanding Disease Concepts by providing an opportunity for you to apply knowledge of scientific foundations of human health (anatomy, physiology and pathophysiology) to the core nursing skill of health assessment. An effective health assessment underpins the planning of nursing care and informs clinical reasoning in line with safe person-centred care across the lifespan. Developing skills in communication, therapeutic relationships and collaboration with families creates the opportunity to use feedback from a range of sources to enhance individual practice. This supports your preparedness for your first nursing placement and is critical to later practice-based units as you progress through your course.
Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of this unit you will be able to:
- Apply knowledge of the key NMBA Registered Nurse Standards for Nursing Practice, Aged Care Standards and National Safety and Quality Service Standards related to health assessment and documentation of care
- Conduct health assessments using knowledge of anatomy, physiology and pathophysiology to collect and analyse a range of health data to identify normal / abnormal, prioritise and document comprehensive care.
- Utilise the clinical reasoning framework and tenets of evidence-based practice to recognise abnormal assessment findings and plan safe, appropriate and responsive quality nursing practice, for individuals across the lifespan.
- Enact professional communication skills within the health context to undertake effective health assessment and comprehensive care, as well as reflect on person-centred care and therapeutic relationships.
- Apply digital and academic literacy skills to locate and integrate relevant evidence to inform practice.
Content
- Mapped course themes: Person-centred care and therapeutic communication; digital literacy;
evidence-based foundations of safe practice - NMBA Registered Nurse Standards for Practice: 1, 2, 3, 4
- Aged Care Standards: 1 Consumer dignity and choice; 2. Ongoing assessment and planning with consumers
- National Safety and Quality Health Service Standards: 2) Partnering with consumers, 3) Preventing and controlling healthcare-associated infection – hand hygiene; 4) Medication safety standard – history; 5) Comprehensive care – health assessment; 6) Communicating for safety; 8) Recognising and responding to acute deterioration (beginning)
- Global/national/regional health priorities: Introduction to all NHP, focus on Asthma, cancer care – opportunistic health promotion & prevention
- ePortfolio: Clinical practice skills, development goals and incorporating self-directed practice
- IPE - launchpad
Module 1: An introduction to health assessment & clinical reasoning
- Nurses’ roles and responsibilities during health assessment
- Application of frameworks for nursing assessment
- Clinical reasoning cycle
- General survey
- Health history (includes medication history) and components of a physical examination
- Focused and comprehensive systematic health assessment
- Identifying normal and abnormal findings; age related variances
- Developing academic literacy skills to locate and integrate relevant evidence to inform practice (library workshop).
Module 2: Professional communication within nursing practice
- Establishing professional communication in the healthcare context
- Health-assessment interviewing
- Privacy and confidentiality
- ISBAR and SBAR
- Communication through documentation and healthcare records
- Reflective practice in the healthcare context.
Module 3: Health assessment and physical examination techniques
- Hand hygiene - preventing & controlling infection transmission
- Data collection techniques
- Vital signs, including neurological (GCS), neurovascular observation, and pain and symptom assessment
- Primary survey-ABCDE and recognition of normal and abnormal.
- Recognition of patterns of acute deterioration & underpinning pathophysiology
- Focused health-assessment techniques for selected body systems/situations
- Documentation of health assessment, including electronic health record management.
Module 4: Clinical Reasoning and national health priorities
- Clinical reasoning cycle: assess, plan, implement, evaluate
- Introduction to national health priorities
- Exploration of assessment findings & patterns of disease related to national health priorities & secondary health promotion
- Selected national health priority: Asthma & clinical case
- Cancer care – opportunistic health promotion & prevention during assessment & history taking
Module 5: Preparation for future practice – putting it all together
- Practice of interview techniques, monitoring of vital signs, and use of data collection tools
- Comprehensive patient / person assessment (history & examination)
- Integrating health assessment practice, clinical reasoning and communication within the context of person centred and comprehensive care
Learning Approaches
This unit will use a blend of online and face to face activities, including classes and clinical practice sessions with low-fidelity simulation models. These activities will begin to develop your health-assessment skills-including data collection-and your ability to engage with structured and evidence-based approaches to practice. You will begin to develop as a reflective practitioner through authentic activities that will include keeping an ePortfolio. You will experience collaborative practice in a simulated health-care environment by working in groups to develop and practice physical examination, communication and key therapeutic relationship skills.
The use of e-health records, clinical informatics and other documentation such as clinical investigation reports will help you develop your digital literacy skills.
Additionally, in order to appreciate the value of peers and the knowledge and experience they bring in the learning environment, small group tutorials will use structured exercises, evidence, and resources to support collaborative learning and inquiry. The unit coordinator and tutors are available for consultation throughout the semester in on-campus and online contexts.
Feedback on Learning and Assessment
You will receive feedback on your learning and assessment through:
- Ongoing formative feedback via self-check exercises, peer feedback and through individual or whole of class feedback in online discussions or comments in online communities
- Formal written or recorded feedback on both formative and summative assessment tasks Via Turnitin, in addition to the grade on the Criterion Reference Assessment sheet.
- Feedback on your Assessment Task 1 will be received prior to the submission of your Assessment Task 2.
Assessment
Overview
In this unit, there are three assessment tasks. They are designed to assess your developing health assessment, clinical reasoning and decision-making skills, in the context of understanding disease concepts and scientific foundations of human health.
Unit Grading Scheme
7- point scale
Assessment Tasks
Assessment: Clinical skills challenge - Health assessment
You will be expected to use your current knowledge, skills and attributes developed during learning experiences in clinical laboratory sessions to apply principles of safe health assessment practice.
Students will be assessed on their performance of the skill according to relevant best practice guidelines and performance criteria.
The use of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) tools is prohibited during this assessment.
Assessment: Case Study
You will use a Cogniti GenAI agent (designed and tested by faculty prior to release) to perform a health assessment interview on a virtual patient. Feedback will be provided after each attempt to help develop interview/assessment skills and communication. Students will use the information gathered from the assessment to answer a series of questions about the case scenario.
Evaluative questions will relate to normal and abnormal parameters of health assessment, clinical reasoning appropriate to the case and provide examples of communication strategies/capabilities required relevant to an effective health assessment.
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 eligible for the 48-hour late submission period and assignment extensions
Assessment: Exam
You will undertake an invigilated exam consisting of multi-choice and short answer questions.
The use of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) tools is prohibited during this assessment.
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.
Resources
Resource Materials
Prescribed text(s)
Calleja, P., Theobald, K., Harvey, T., & Estes, M. E. Z. (2024). Estes health assessment & physical examination (4th Australian & New Zealand edition). Cengage Learning Australia.
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.
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:
- 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).
Course Learning Outcomes
This unit is designed to support your development of the following course/study area learning outcomes.NS89 Master of Nursing - Entry to Practice
- Integrate and apply scientific knowledge and skills to the provision of safe, holistic, person-centred, evidence-based nursing care across the lifespan.
Relates to: Clinical skills challenge - Health assessment , Case Study , Exam - 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: Clinical skills challenge - Health assessment , Case Study , Exam - 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: Clinical skills challenge - Health assessment , Case Study - Communicate effectively, adapting written, oral and visual techniques independently to ensure safe, informative therapeutic and collaborative relationships with patients and multidisciplinary teams.
Relates to: Case Study