CSB343 Paramedic Clinical Practice 3
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: | CSB343 |
|---|---|
| Prerequisite(s): | CSB342 or PUB532 or PUB470 |
| Antirequisite(s): | CSB359 |
| Credit points: | 12 |
| Timetable | Details in HiQ, if available |
| Availabilities |
|
| CSP student contribution | $1,118 |
| Domestic tuition unit fee | $4,104 |
| International unit fee | $4,488 |
Unit Outline: Semester 2 2024, Kelvin Grove, Internal
| Unit code: | CSB343 |
|---|---|
| Credit points: | 12 |
| Pre-requisite: | CSB342 or PUB532 or PUB470 |
| Anti-requisite: | CSB359 |
| Coordinator: | Ryan Barker | rg.barker@qut.edu.au |
Overview
This unit is the third in a series of supervised clinical practice units designed to further develop your knowldege, skills and application of paramedic practice. At this stage of your degree you have now been exposed to the core content of the course. This unit synthesises your application of knowledge and clinical skills of safe patient care to a level where you can confidently take the lead when managing more complex clinical presentations as a novice practitioner. Over a six week period, you will be required to complete approximately 240 hours of placement to be conducted externally through the Queensland Ambulance Service. During this clinical placement your mentor will be expecting more leadership and evidence-based decision making from you as you consolidate your personal and professional readiness for practice as a patient care officer in a supervised student capacity, with a view to preparing you for the transition to being a Registered Paramedic after graduation.
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:
- Lead the clinical decision making in practice and articulate a clinical defence;
- Undertake documentation, clinical debrief, handover and referral techniques with hospital staff;
- Work collaboratively, inter-professionally in the management of uncontrolled scenes and patients with complex clinical presentations;
- Apply principles of holistic paramedic practice management in the analysis of evidence-based decision-making at scenes;
- Communicate information, advice, interpersonal skills in managing patients' trust and confidence in the out of hospital phase.
Content
Clinical Practice will be conducted in the prehospital environment under the supervision of an ambulance crew. One of the crew members will be an appropriately qualified clinical mentor.
This unit will include:
- Effective scene management, including, logistics, safe access and egress, and patient extrication techniques;
- Introduction to assessment, diagnosis, planning, implementation, and evaluation of patient care in the out of hospital phase;
- Written and oral communication including, patient interviews, radio procedures, writing ambulance report forms (ARFs) and patient handover at hospital; and
- Assistance to operational crews under direction, when acting as a third officer and transition to the role of second officer.
Learning Approaches
This unit engages you in work-integrated experiential learning and inter-professional learning as you demonstrate your capabilities, growing confidence and your safe to practice performance as a third person with a paramedic crew. Your strengths, knowledge of how self, identity and culture influence the care of patients will be identified and synthesised through analysis of your workplace experiences and your abillty to refect on and defend your practice. These concepts relating to relfective practice and clinical reasoning should be evidenced in your portfolio.
Your mentored clinical experience is vital. It is during this time you begin to transfer your knowledge and skills into the environment where you will practice as an ambulance paramedic. Your Paramedic Mentor will guide and support you throughout this practicum. In your clinical foundation units in Semester 1 and 2 you were introduced to the ambulance environment as an observer. The challenge for you now is to transition from observer to an operational ambulance crew member in the supervised capacity as a student paramedic. The speed at which you transition is dependent on your confidence, ability to reflect and real world learning experiences.
Feedback on Learning and Assessment
You will receive feedback on your OSCE and reflection assignment performance. Continuous ongoing feedback and support from your clinical mentors will also be provided identifying strengths and opportunities for improvement. You will be required to maintain a journal of your supervised clinical experience. Operational staff, in consultation with the Unit Coordinator, will review students' clinical exposure during placement and if necessary extra clinical placements and/or simulation will be arranged. Clinical mentors will provide feedback via a specifically designed assessment tool, on your demonstrated team skills.
Adequate mentored clinical experience is a prerequisite for completing this unit. Students will receive grades using the criteria sheet as well as written comments.
Assessment
Overview
There are three pieces of assessment to be completed in this unit. Each task is designed to assess particular learning outcomes. Each item of assessment must be completed at a satisfactory level in order to achieve an overall passing grade in this unit.
Special Conditions of Assessment
As this is the final clinical placement unit before transitioning into employment as a Registered Paramedic, it is important that you can demonstrate safe patient care commensurate with that of a novice practitioner. As such, special conditions apply to the assessment items as outined below.
Threshold Assessment Conditions
In this unit, for you to be eligible to receive a passing grade, threshold assessment conditions apply. You are required to achieve a satisfactory result in all items of assessment to receive an S (satisfactory) result in the unit. If you do not achieve a satisfactory result for an assessment task you are able to make one resubmission of this work. You are advised to seek feedback on your submission from the unit coordinator prior to resubmission.
If your OSCE performance and/or reflective assignment are graded as unsatisfactory, you will be provided with an opportunity to undertake a second OSCE and/or reflective assignment.
N.B. If your clinical placement performance is deemed unsatisfactory, it will not be possible to provide another six week experience. However, during the placement there will be be opportunities to receive feedback both on specific cases attended and your development towards becoming a beginning practitioner (e.g. interim clinical assessment tool).
Unit Grading Scheme
S (Satisfactory) / U (Unsatisfactory)
Assessment Tasks
Assessment: Reflective Self-Assessment
You are required to complete a self assessment (electronic) which reflects on, and analyses your clinical performance drawn from your clinical placement experiences. It also asks you to reflect on aspects such as the reality of paramedic practice and the ambulance culture.
A link to the reflective self assessment will be emailed out to students at the end of week 3. You are to take into consideration feedback provided in your interim CAT by your clinical mentor when completing the reflective self assessment.
This is an assignment for the purposes of an extension.
Weighting: Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory
Due date: Sunday on the completion of week 4 of the placement
Assessment: In-field Assessment
This is a six (6) week placement as a third person with a paramedic crew. Clinical mentors will provide feedback via a specifically designed electronic clinical assessment tool (eCAT), on your demonstrated team skills, your assistance to contribute to operational crews, undertake documentation, clinical debrief, handover and referral techniques with hospital staff, inter-professionally in the management of uncontrolled scenes and patients with complex clinical presentations and interpersonal skills in managing patients' trust and confidence in the out of hospital phase. Only the final eCAT is graded. An interim clinical assessment tool (paper based) should to be completed in consultation with your mentors mid-placement to provide you with feedback on your performance and identify areas where improvement is necessary. The interim CAT is not graded, however it needs to be kept for your records and supplied to the Unit Coordinator if requested.
Weighting: Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory
Assessment: Examination (practical)
This OSCE assesses your demonstration and application of holistic management practice, synthesising your practical skills, and decision-making in scene management.
Weighting: Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory
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
QUT student paramedic uniforms and personal protective equipment are required as outlined in the “Risk Assessment Statement” below.
Mandatory requirements as per Queensland Ambulance Service and QUT policies need to be completed/updated such as vaccinations, blue cards and supplementary medicals (if required).
Please check your contact details are updated and correct on the QUT system. If you are attending placement away from your home address, please complete the ‘emergency contact details’ form as the Unit Coordinator may need to contact you in case of an emergency.
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
Recommended text(s)
Queensland Ambulance Service (2015). Clinical practice manual. Brisbane: Available online at: https://ambulance.qld.gov.au/clinical.html
Risk Assessment Statement
Out of hospital care can be hazardous. You are required to work as part of an operational crew responding to emergency 000 calls. There is regular exposure to high speed driving, body fluids, medical sharps, defibrillators and sometimes aggressive patients in the off campus phase of the unit. Your clinical practice is supervised at all time during this unit and the QUT student paramedic uniform and appropriate personal protective equipment as purchased from 'What's in a Name' (www.whatsinaname.net.au http://www.whatsinaname.net.au) or other advised supplier must be worn during this placement.