NSN903 Development of Safe Clinical Practice

Unit Outline: Semester 2 2027, Kelvin Grove, Internal

Overview

This unit is a work integrated learning unit where learning will include on and off-campus health care contexts with clinical placement for four weeks (160 hours) required to consolidate knowledge and theoretical skills when working with health care professionals across disciplines. The unit is at the developing stage of your course and builds on all preceding units, building on your clinical reasoning and learning through simulated clinical scenarios. A thorough understanding of the NMBA Registered Nurse Standards for Practice, National Health Priority Areas, Aged Care Quality Standards, and National Safety and Quality Health Service Standards is essential to nursing practice. This unit will support your career development and employability through exposure with the nursing profession and direct clinical practice in a health care setting.

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 developing 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.
2. Safely and accurately perform medication calculations and demonstrate safe administration of medicines in both the simulated environment and the clinical practice setting in accordance with developing scope of practice.
3. Demonstrate developing critical thinking, clinical reasoning and professional communication skills in diverse and complex healthcare settings alongside other health professionals to deliver care consistent with safe, quality person-centred care across the lifespan.
4. Demonstrate developing level provision and digital recording of safe, appropriate, and responsive quality nursing care for consumers, families, and the broader community.

Content

Learning Approaches

Experiential learning is at the forefront of this unit, with you attending for a continuous period of time in an off-campus healthcare environment. Healthcare environments may include clinics and home-based, community, mental health, and acute-care facilities. Preparation for this unit involves review of theoretical concepts explored in previous units to facilitate application to practice. You will prepare for off-campus experience through simulated clinical situations, small group clinical skills and practice activities incorporating the use of a range of health care technologies.

You will be directed to revisit the safe and quality use of medicines and administration, drawing on the learning activities and resources from your previous clinical units including NSN902 Foundations of Safe Clinical Practice. A peer-learning community of practice will be used as a means of encouraging active collaboration and to provide additional support and engagement during placement off campus. 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.

To be eligible for clinical placement you must attend mandatory on-campus learning activities, assessment and submit mandatory documentation (eg. Blue Card) into QUT InPlace, by the required dates specified in Canvas and the activities / documents is available in your InPlace home screen. Links are at HiQ InPlace for Health WIL placements.  If you do not complete mandatory activities and upload documentation you may not be able to progress to clinical placement.

This unit requires attendance at mandatory clinical practice labs and off-campus clinical placement. Placement opportunities are negotiated by QUT with hospitals and health care facilities and are finite in number. You cannot organise your 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, your 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 a student is absent due to illness during their clinical placement they are required to complete additional hours at a future time to meet the mandatory clinical completion hours for the unit, and cumulatively meet eligibility for graduation. If due to the nature of 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 unsatisfactory 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 the unit Canvas site.

Feedback on Learning and Assessment

You will receive feedback on your learning and assessment through:
• Ongoing formative feedback via self-check exercises, clinical facilitator and peer feedback in labs, and through whole of class feedback in online communities
• 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

There are three assessments to be completed in this unit. You must achieve 100% in an invigilated medication calculations examination using Med+Safe; demonstrate safe practice by satisfactory performance in an OSCE and achieve all criteria on the clinical performance assessment tool (ANSAT) during work integrated learning to achieve an overall satisfactory grade for this unit. These are requirements for you (and QUT) to ensure you can safely practice and act appropriately as required by the National Health and Safety standards and ANMAC safety of the public standards. 

To receive a satisfactory grade in the unit you must complete mandatory clinical hours, all hours that a student is absent from clinical placement require attendance at a clinical completion option.

Unit Grading Scheme

S (Satisfactory) / U (Unsatisfactory)

Assessment Tasks

Assessment: Med+Safe Exam

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: Objective Structured Clinical Examination

The OSCE will be undertaken using exam conditions, where you will be assessed on your performance of a specific clinical skill according to relevant best practice guidelines and performance criteria at an OSCE station. Professional accreditation mandates demonstration of safe practice in skills performance prior to work integrated learning. 

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

Threshold Assessment:

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

Students who are not successful in achieving ALL essential performance criteria in the OSCE will be offered one (1) further attempt to demonstrate satisfactory performance to enable attendance to nursing clinical placement.

Assessment: Clinical Placement performance – 4 weeks/160 hours of clinical placement

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)

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

Rebeiro, G., Jack. L, Scully, N., & Wilson, D. (2020). Fundamentals of nursing clinical skills workbook (4th ed.). Elsevier.

Recommended text(s)

Calleja, P., Theobald, K., & Harvey, T. (2024). Estes Health assessment and physical examination (4th ed.). Cengage Learning Australia.

Software

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

Risk Assessment Statement

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. 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 Exam, Objective Structured Clinical Examination, Clinical Placement performance – 4 weeks/160 hours of clinical placement
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 Exam, Objective Structured Clinical Examination, Clinical Placement performance – 4 weeks/160 hours of clinical placement
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: Clinical Placement performance – 4 weeks/160 hours of clinical placement
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: Clinical Placement performance – 4 weeks/160 hours of clinical placement
5. Advocate for positive health outcomes for individuals and community using influence and leadership capabilities in dynamic healthcare contexts.
   Relates to: Clinical Placement performance – 4 weeks/160 hours of clinical placement