NSB608 Wound Care in Practice

Unit Outline: Semester 2 2025, Kelvin Grove, Internal

Overview

Providing complex wound care to people in acute, residential and community health areas is a growing challenge for health care services. Quality wound care requires a holistic approach as impacts are seen in every aspect of a person's life. This unit provides you with an in-depth knowledge of acute and chronic wounds and specifically addresses challenges related to providing optimal nursing care for persons with wounds. Focus is given to linking existing knowledge and clinical skills from prior study to inform evidence-based practice in wound care.

This unit takes an interdisciplinary approach to examining the science of wound healing, the principles and application of nursing care while also incorporating a necessary trans-disciplinary approach to care of a person with a wound. Learning activities assist you to respond to the challenges of assessment, management, and prevention of a range of acute and chronic wounds using an evidence-based, person-centred approach.

Learning Outcomes

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

1. Engage in critical discussion about current issues related to wound care in Australia
2. Evaluate the transdisciplinary role of a range of health professionals to facilitate positive outcomes for wound healing
3. Apply evidence-based practice to the assessment, management, and prevention of wounds
4. Examine the holistic assessment, patient centred care and demonstrate understanding of pathophysiology related to wounds and wound care.

Content

Learning Approaches

This unit combines seminars and clinical practice tutorials to ensure practical application of wound care. You will examine a wide variety of contemporary concerns and challenges of wound care.

Your learning will be facilitated through seminars, tutorials, engagement with selected readings, self-directed learning, peer-learning, and electronic discussions. With authentic application of complex issues of wound care to experiential learning in a case scenario you select from your nursing placement (or equivalent given real world case if you are not currently on placement).

Feedback on Learning and Assessment

Feedback and guidance on your progress will be provided in class on an individual basis, as required.

Assessment

Overview

There are two summative assessments to be completed in this unit. A workbook addressing clinical scenarios to develop your scientific and evidence-based knowledge of wound care which you then apply to a selected comprehensive case scenario from your nursing experience.

Unit Grading Scheme

7- point scale

Assessment Tasks

Assessment: Workbook

You will work through modules on skin integrity, assessment, management and prevention of diabetic, pressure, venous and arterial leg ulcers to develop your knowledge in these areas. Then complete a series of short answer questions which will assess your ability to apply knowledge from key evidence-based resources to case studies and clinical situations.

This is an assignment for the purposes of extension.

Assessment: Case Study

You will be required to write a 2000 word case study addressing issues related to the care of a person with a wound. This assessment will be focused on your choice of a patient with a wound from your clinical placement either in an acute care, community, or residential aged care setting. In preparing this assignment you will need to think critically and creatively about significant nursing considerations and substantiate your arguments or propositions using a range of relevant and contemporary research literature. You will also need to discuss and evaluate the transdisciplinary roles of health professionals involved in the care of the person. For students not doing a clinical placement in this semester, you will be given assistance with a case study to explore.

This is an assignment for the purposes of an extension.

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

Risk Assessment Statement

If you are distressed by issues explored in the content of this unit you should approach academic staff or consult the University counselling service. You will be made aware of evacuation procedures and assembly areas in the first lectures. In the event of a fire alarm sounding, or on a lecturer's instruction, you should leave the room and assemble in the designated area which will be indicated to you. You should be conscious of your health and safety at all times while on campus. More information on health and safety can be obtained from http://www.hse.qut.edu.au/.