Welcome to the course NURS 3041 Becoming a Registered Nurse. This is a 4.5 unit course and is a final course within Stage Three of the Bachelor of Nursing program.

 

This course has been developed with a focus on final year undergraduate nursing students and your pending transition to practice, as a newly qualified Registered Nurse. The course has been written from the perspective of a beginning registered nurse, and seeks to provide you with insights into the complexities of the registered nurse role. You will see how the role of the registered nurse is pivotal to the successful functioning of the healthcare system through the provision of clinical care to patients in a range of healthcare settings.

 

Becoming a Registered Nurse is delivered fully online. This means there is no face-to-face teaching and student contact with their Lecturer is online for the duration of the course. Please note that the teaching framework for the course will utilise a 'flipped classroom' approach, where students will fully engage with the course learning materials prior to attending a virtual class.

 

There are four (4) topics covered in the course. Each topic and your contact with your Lecturer is via a virtual classroom which takes place fortnightly commencing in Topic 1. This cycle is repeated for the remaining topics . The course calendar will provide you with a study plan across the study period.

 

Please note that each of the four (4) topics will have an attached on-line discussion board. This space is designed for students to raise questions that emerge from electronic readings and other resources, post responses to the topic activities and share ideas relating to the topic activities. The course home page has a News Forum/Notice board page where the Course Coordinators will, from time to time, place important information relating to the course. We encourage you to please check this daily.

 

The Course Outline provides all information about the course including; objectives, assessment requirements and relevant legislative requirements, University policy and the Course Calendar.
We hope that you find NURS 3041, Becoming a Registered Nurse both challenging, thought provoking and rewarding.

 

We look forward to working with you.

 

Kind regards

 

Dr Craig Phillips
Course Coordinator

 

Dr Kevin O'Shaughnessy
Associate Course Coordinator

 

NURS 3042 Experiential Learning Activity: Extension to Practice Practicum 4

There are no corequisite courses to be completed in conjunction with this course.

On completion of this course, students should be able to:

CO1. Critique the application of health and nursing informatics and quality improvement in health care settings.

CO2. Critically review management and leadership approaches within a nursing practice context.

CO3. Critically evaluate own knowledge, skills and attitudes for transition to professional practice and ongoing competence development.

CO4. Design an early career plan to support transition to professional practice.

CO5. Synthesise person centred care and its application and relevance to contemporary interdisciplinary health service delivery.

Upon completion of this course, students will have achieved the following combination of Graduate Qualities and Course Objectives:

A graduate of UniSA:

GQ1. operates effectively with and upon a body of knowledge of sufficient depth to begin professional practice

GQ2. is prepared for life-long learning in pursuit of personal development and excellence in professional practice

GQ3. is an effective problem solver, capable of applying logical, critical, and creative thinking to a range of problems

GQ4. can work both autonomously and collaboratively as a professional

GQ5. is committed to ethical action and social responsibility as a professional and citizen

GQ6. communicates effectively in professional practice and as a member of the community

GQ7. demonstrates international perspectives as a professional and as a citizen

Registered Nurse scope of practice, accountability and responsibility, duty of care, delegation and supervision, clinical teamwork and work organisation. Clinical governance; quality and safety in health care; risk management; monitoring and reporting mechanisms; evidence-based practice; advocacy; ongoing professional development of self and others; role diversity; career planning; maintenance of competence; professional behaviours.

4.5 units

There are no additional assessment requirements identified for this course.

Communication with Students
The University’s primary method of communication with students is electronic, through the UniSA student email account and the student portal. For further information refer to Guidelines on Electronic Communications with Students at the following website: http://www.unisa.edu.au/policies/codes/miscell/ecomstudents.asp

 

Student Workload
4.5 unit workload
The assumed student work load for a 4.5 unit course is 35 hours per unit which is 118 hours for a 6 week study period. This equates to approximately

 

• 15 hours/week for activities such as attendance at lectures, tutorials, workshops, participation in online activities, self-directed and independent course related reading and reflection to enable deep engagement with the course materials.
• 5 hours/week for researching, further reading and completing course assessments for submission.

For further information refer to the Time/workload management at the following website: http://w3.unisa.edu.au/counsellingservices/balance/workload/asp

 

Student Access Plans
Student should contact the Course Coordinator before the start of each course if they have a current student access plan and believe they may need any adjustments to the course. This includes extending timelines for assessment tasks, predicted absence from course activities or accommodations in the Horizon Hospital and Health Service (HHHS). The Student Access Plan and course requirements will be reviewed with a course specific plan developed before the student commences the course.

 

Academic staff illness
Academic staff may be unable to attend their scheduled teaching session due to illness or unanticipated life events . When this occurs, the Course coordinator will make every effort to ensure that the teaching session takes place supported by an appropriate member of staff. In the event that cancellation of the session becomes necessary, students will be notified by email and alternative arrangements made. To avoid an unnecessary journey, as a result of a cancellation, students need to routinely check their student emails PRIOR to lectures, tutorials and seminars.

You will need continual access to the following text(s) to complete this course. Where possible the Library will make the book available for student use. Please check the Library catalogue before purchasing the book(s). The Library will always seek to purchase resources that allow an unlimited number of concurrent users, however availability is dependent on license arrangements with book publishers and platforms. http://www.library.unisa.edu.au

Fedoruk, M. & Hofmeyer, A. (Eds) (2014). Becoming a Nurse: An Evidence-based Approach (2e). Oxford University Press.

Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia webpage see link - www.nursingmidwiferyboard.gov.au   for links to:

• Code of Ethics
• Code of Professional Conduct
• Professional Boundaries
• Standards for practice

All other course related materials can be accessed through your learnonline course site which you will be able to access from the my Courses section in myUniSA.

All study related materials can be accessed through: https://my.unisa.edu.au

Details of assessment submission and return are listed under each assessment task. Assessment tasks will be returned to you within two to three weeks of submission.

If the Course Coordinator allows submissions in hard copy format, you will be required to attach an Assignment Cover Sheet which is available on the learnonline student help and in myUniSA.

This course will involve the production of audio and/or video recordings of UniSA students. To protect student privacy, you must not at any time disclose, reproduce or publish these recordings, or related material, in the public domain including online, unless the videoed students give consent for reproduction, disclosure or publication. This requirement is consistent with University statutes, by-laws, policies, rules and guidelines which you agreed to abide by when you signed the Student Enrolment Declaration.

The feedback proforma is available on your course site.

Component of assessment scheme: this task constitutes 40% of the total course grade
Due date: Friday September 8th, 2017, by 5pm,
Submission process: Please lodge your assessment through learnonline

 

Assessment aims
This task provides you with an opportunity to review your knowledge of health and nursing informatics and online social media systems pertaining to the delivery of health information and care, and to evaluate their effectiveness, particularly in relation to enabling person-centred care health outcomes.

The assessment addresses the following course objectives:
CO1. Critique the application of health and nursing informatics and quality improvement in health care settings.
CO2. Critically review management and leadership approaches within a nursing practice context
CO3. Critically evaluate own knowledge, skills and attitudes for transition to professional practice and ongoing competence development.

 

Task description:
You will write a 2,000-word formal, academic essay in response to the following question:
What are the advantages of both (1), nursing informatics and (2), online social media systems (e.g. EPAS, electronic health records, a Cystic Fibrosis site on Facebook) with regard to the delivery of quality in nursing practice and effecting person-centred health care? Discuss with reference to ONE Australian nursing informatics system and ONE online social media system.
In your appraisal, you must make explicit reference to the academic literature and regulatory standards relevant to the topic.

 

Additional information and resources about the assessment care in 'How to Complete the Task and Assignment' resources below.

 

Your essay must include references to support and illustrate your argument. You must use the UniSA Harvard Referencing system for in-text references and your reference list for ALL material which is not your own. This includes academic references, quality primary sources e.g. Government websites, images apart from your own, and online articles. There are examples of how to do this in the UniSA Harvard Referencing system guide.

As you prepare your assignment, remember to refer to the feedback rubric which explains how your assessment will be marked.

 

How to complete the task and assignment resources
The assignment asks you to identify the key features of both a nursing informatics system and a online social media system, and evaluate their quality on the delivery of nursing practice and person-centred health care.

Your essay must contain the following elements:

• An introduction to the topic to orient the reader, explaining the aim and identifying the two systems and the key features you will be evaluating (150 words)
• A description of person-centred care and its principles (250 words minimum)
• A description of each system you will be evaluating, giving its purpose, the context for its use, and its key features AND An evaluation of each system in relation to its impact on nursing practice and the quality of person-centred care (1350 words)
• A conclusion summarising your essay reiterating the key findings. (150 words)
• A list of the references you have cited in your essay in alphabetical order. These are not included in the word-count

In your analysis, you need to consider the following:
Relevant policies both at the regulatory level and at the health service level
The effectiveness of the system in relation to elements such as the dissemination of information, efficiency, potential risks, ethical considerations with regard to management of patient confidentiality, opportunities for innovation and therapeutic relationships with patients and with colleagues.

Your analysis must be supported with credible, accurate, and up-to-date information from reliable academic and professional sources and refer to the relevant policies at the regulatory level and at the health service level. You may refer to the readings from your course, but you are expected to look more widely to additional literature.

You are welcome to use appropriate sub-headings to structure you essay.

Figures, tables and references are not part of the word count, but may be included as appropriate.

Feedback
You will receive written feedback on your essay from the week beginning Monday 25th September, 2017.
Feedback will be given via a rubric with a brief comments section.

Component of assessment scheme: this task constitutes 60% of the total course grade
Due date: Friday, 5pm, October 6th, 2017.
Submission process: Please lodge your assessment through learnonline.

Task aims
This task is an opportunity for you to reflect on leadership in a professional health care context, and to design an early career plan to develop your skills and knowledge in these areas.
The assignment addresses the following course objectives:

 

CO2. Critically review management and leadership approaches within a nursing practice context.
CO3. Critically evaluate own knowledge, skills and attitudes for transition to professional practice and ongoing competence development.
CO4. Design an early career plan to support transition to professional practice.
CO5. Synthesise person-centred care and its application to contemporary interdisciplinary health service delivery.

 

Task description
This assessment has two parts.

In Part A, you will describe and evaluate the leadership approaches (employed by both senior and/or junior Registered Nurses) you have experienced in your clinical placements, in light of the theories and examples you have covered in the course. This section of the assessment needs to be presented in third person.

In Part B, you will reflect on the development of your professional skills and knowledge to support a career plan. Following an exploration of leadership styles, you should identify ways in which you can develop skills and knowledge in the first 12 to 24 months of your career.

Additional information and resources about the assessment are in 'How to Complete the Task and Assignment' resources below.

 

You must include references to provide evidence for your own observations in Part A. You must use the UniSA Harvard Referencing system for in-text references and your reference list for ALL material which is not your own. This includes academic references, quality primary sources e.g. Government websites, images apart from your own, and online articles. There are examples of how to do this in the UniSA Harvard Referencing system guide.

 

As you prepare your assignment, remember to refer to the feedback rubric which explains how your assessment will be marked.

How to complete the task and assignment resources:

Part A: Leadership approaches (2000 words)
During the course of your study and placements, you have had the opportunity to experience a range of approaches to leadership, and in a number of different health contexts. In this part of the assessment, you are going to identify and reflect on ONE of these leadership approaches.

You need to structure your answer as follows:
1. Description of the leadership example (200 words)
1.1. Use specific example(s) from your clinical practice

2. Description of the leadership approach (600 words)
2.1. Identify the leadership approach you are going to reflect upon from the current literature.
2.2. Describe its key characteristics/features with reference to the literature. If there is a model for this type of care, for example a figure which shows its key features, include this and explain it.
2.3. Describe how these key characteristics were reflected in the example you selected from clinical practice.

3. Reflection on each of the following questions with regard to your selected leadership approach (1,200 words)
3.1. What are the underlying assumptions about the role of the health care professional, the patient and the carer in this approach? (For example, is it person-centred, organisation-centred? Is it compatible with principles of person-centred care?)
3.2. How does it contribute to the practice of quality health care? (For example, does it develop autonomy, knowledge, trust, personal accountability, cooperation, communication, risk management between colleagues and with patients and carers?)
3.3. Does it offer opportunities for graduate nurses to develop leadership skills (at an appropriate level for their experience)?

Use the designated numbers of the sections and a short sub-heading to structure your writing.

Figures, tables and references are not part of the word count, but should be included as appropriate.

 

Part B: Critical evaluation of knowledge and skills and the development of an early career plan (500 word equivalent)
In this section you are going to evaluate your current knowledge and skills and consider how to develop these over the first 12 to 24 months of your professional career. Many of you will have completed an application for a Transition to Professional Practice Program position or equivalent. Consider how you will plan for your next position and address the relevant criteria in the future. This section of the assessment needs to be presented in first person.

1.You must reflect on what nursing role you would aspire to apply for in 12 to 24 months’ time (for example Paediatric nurse, Aged Care nurse). Briefly describe this nursing role.
2. Choose two (2) factors relating to knowledge and skills that you consider important to your transition to your new role.

 

These could include: understanding of a unique population, further training, assertiveness, time management or critical reflection on practice. For each factor:
-describe the knowledge and skill
-explain why you consider the knowledge and skill will be important in your new role
-identify ways in which you might develop this knowledge and skill over the first 12 to 24 months of your professional practice.

 

An example is provided in the template to help you structure your response.

 

Feedback
You will receive written feedback on your essay from the week beginning, Monday Oct 23th, 2017.
Feedback will be given via a rubric with a brief comments section.

Feedback forms
Available in the assessment folder on the learnonline site.

Academic Writing Requirements
Please refer to information in the assessment folder on the learnonline course site

Re-marking
Re-marking will occur as per section 5.1 of the Assessment Policies and Procedures Manual http://w3.unisa.edu.au/policies/manual/default.asp

Assessment Extension Request Policy
Extensions to assessment task will follow the University of South Australia Assessment Policies and Procedures Manual (APPM) clause 7.3 - Extension to complete an assessment task.
http://w3.unisa.edu.au/policies/manual/default.asp

All assessment extensions requests must be:

• submitted via the Learnonline site to the Course Coordinator
• lodged two (2) working days prior to the time and date that the assessment item is due
• include a reason for the extension request *
• All requests must be supported with documentary evidence for example, medical certificate.

Requests for an extension greater than 7 days will only be granted under extenuating circumstances and at the discretion of the Course Coordinator and relevant Program Coordinator and/or Program Director.

Late applications for an extension will be rejected.

Late Submission of Assignments
Late submission of assignments will result in a penalty. The penalty for late submissions will be:

1. a deduction of 10 marks per day or part day, for each day that the assignment is late up to a maximum of 5 days.
2. assignments which are more than 5 days late will not be marked and will be assigned a zero grade inclusive of non-graded pass work.

Example 1: If you submit a paper one and a half days late you will receive a penalty of 20 marks. Your paper will be marked and the 20 marks will be deducted from the mark which you would have obtained if your paper was submitted by the due date. A paper which was given a mark of 70/100 but was submitted 2 days late will receive a final mark of 50.
Example 2: A paper due 11.45 pm on Monday and submitted after 11.45 pm on Saturday will not be marked and assigned a zero grade Considerations of unexpected or exceptional circumstances are as per Assessment and Policy Procedure Manual Sections 7.8 – 7.11

Once an extension is granted, the extended due date is final.

Students will receive advance notice of scheduled examination. All students are required to sit their examination at the scheduled date, time and location irrespective of any conflict with a planned holiday or special event.
Internal students are required to sit their examination on-campus or at the central exam venue.
More information about examination procedures and arrangements for students can be found by consulting the relevant policy http://w3.unisa.edu.au/policies/manual/default.asp (Section 6)

Supplementary assessment or examination offers students an opportunity to gain a supplementary pass (SP) and is available to all students under the following conditions unless supplementary assessment or examination has not been approved for the course:

1. if the student has achieved a final grade between 45-49 per cent (F1) in a course
2. if a student who has successfully completed all of the courses within their program, with the exception of two courses in their final study period, a supplementary assessment or examination may be granted where the final grade in either or both of these courses, is less than 45 percent (F1 or F2)

More information about supplementary assessment is available in section 7.5 of the Assessment Policy and Procedures Manual.
http://w3.unisa.edu.au/policies/manual/default.asp

All students must adhere to the University of South Australia's policies about assessment:
http://w3.unisa.edu.au/policies/manual/default.asp.

Student with disabilities or medical conditions or students who are carers may be entitled to a variation or modification to standard assessment arrangements.  See Section 7 of the Assessment Policy and Procedures Manual (APPM) at:  http://w3.unisa.edu.au/policies/manual/default.asp

Students can register for an Access Plan with UniSA Disability Service. It is important to make contact early to ensure that appropriate support can be implemented or arranged in a timely manner. See the Disability Hub for more information:  http://www.unisa.edu.au/Disability/Current-students

Students are advised there is a deadline to finalise Access Plan arrangements for examinations. Further information is available at:  http://i.unisa.edu.au/campus-central/Exams_R/Before-the-Exam/Alternative-exam-arrangements/

Deferred assessment or examination is available for the course

 

 

Special consideration is not available for this course. APPM 7.7.4

Variation to assessment methods, tasks and timelines may be provided in:

Unexpected or exceptional circumstances, for example bereavement, unexpected illness (details of unexpected or exceptional circumstances for which variation may be considered are discussed in clauses 7.8 - 7.10 of the Assessment Policy and Procedures Manual). Variation to assessment in unexpected or exceptional circumstances should be discussed with your course coordinator as soon as possible.

Special circumstances, for example religious observance grounds, or community services (details of special circumstances for which variation can be considered are discussed in clause 7.11 of the Assessment Policy and Procedures Manual). Variations to assessment in expected circumstances must be requested within the first two weeks of the course (or equivalent for accelerated or intensive teaching).

 

  

Extra time in exams (ENTEXT) and the use of a dictionary may be available to some students (for example, Indigenous Australian students and those of non-English speaking background) as follows:

• extra time for reading or writing. This will be an extra ten minutes per hour for every hour of standard examination time, and
• the use of an English language or bilingual print dictionary (without annotations). (APPM 7.2.2)

More information about variation to assessment is available in section 7.2 of the Assessment Policy and Procedures Manual. http://w3.unisa.edu.au/policies/manual/default.asp (section 7)

Assessments will be marked according to the assessment criteria and standards provided in the Course Outline and relevant Feedback Forms.

Moderation
Moderation in this course will be carried out in accordance with processes set out in the Division of Health Sciences and Moderation in Health Sciences Guidelines.

Academic integrity is the foundation of university life and is fundamental to the reputation of UniSA and its staff and students. Academic integrity means a commitment by all staff and students to act with honesty, trustworthiness, fairness, respect and responsibility in all academic work.

An important part of practising integrity in academic work is showing respect for other people's ideas, and being honest about how they have contributed to your work. This means taking care not to represent the work of others as your own. Using another person's work without proper acknowledgement is considered Academic Misconduct, and the University takes this very seriously.

The University of South Australia expects students to demonstrate the highest standards of academic integrity so that its degrees are earned honestly and are trusted and valued by its students and their employers. To ensure this happens, the University has policies and procedures in place to promote academic integrity and manage academic misconduct. For example, work submitted electronically by students for assessment will be examined for copied and un-referenced text using the text comparison software Turnitin http://www.turnitin.com.

More information about academic integrity and what constitutes academic misconduct can be found in Section 9 of the Assessment Policies and Procedures Manual (APPM): http://w3.unisa.edu.au/policies/manual/default.asp. The Academic Integrity Module explains in more detail how students can work with integrity at the University: https://lo.unisa.edu.au/mod/book/view.php?id=252142

See above under Assessment details.

Your feedback upon completion of the 'My Course Experience' survey will assist us to continue to improve the course for future students.

Changes to the course as a result of student feedback this year include:

• Optional writing intensive for students
• Streamlining of course content
• Introductory video to course
• Reduced required readings for each topic
• Additional input from both the teaching and learning and student engagement units.

We are very interested in your experience of the course and in what ways could the course be improved to make student learning better.

Courses evolve from year to year, and your feedback is one of the critical factors in determining what should change.