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Unit of study_

NURS1006: Understanding Experiences of Illness

2024 unit information

This unit of study uses a blended-learning format to focus on the different ways in which individuals subjectively experience health, illness and care across the lifespan. Attention will be drawn to factors arising in illness and lived experiences, such as issues of self-identity and biographical disruption. Social attitudes to illness and mental health issues including stigma and discrimination, and how these can impact on the individual experience will also be explored. With this knowledge, the nurse-patient, nurse-family/carer relationships and the culture of nursing will be critically examined in terms of the impact on the care of people who come from diverse social and cultural backgrounds and age groups, as partners in their own care. These include Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, people from low-socioeconomic backgrounds, people from diverse cultural backgrounds and people living with mental health issues or dementia. Person-centred and family/carer and community centred frameworks of care will be explored. Central to these are an understanding of emotional intelligence, cultural safety, therapeutic communication, compassion and empathy, and the application of these in clinical nursing practice to respond to patients, families, carers and communities experiencing illness, distress or hardship. Communication and shared decision-making in interdisciplinary healthcare teams will be addressed. Students will also consider theories and approaches to managing conflict in nurse-patient or nurse-family/carer relationships.

Unit details and rules

Managing faculty or University school:

Nursing and Midwifery

Code NURS1006
Academic unit Nursing and Midwifery
Credit points 6
Prerequisites:
? 
NURS1002
Corequisites:
? 
None
Prohibitions:
? 
None
Assumed knowledge:
? 
None

At the completion of this unit, you should be able to:

  • LO1. appraise and engage in research and critically examine evidence - both quantitative and qualitative, in order to determine evidence-based conclusions to support beginning level practice.
  • LO2. demonstrate information literacy in the searching out and appraising of the qualitative research literature on illness and lived experience to determine evidence based and person-centred and family/carer and community centred approaches to care.
  • LO3. consider features of nursing and midwifery professional culture, as well as clinical practice and service delivery factors, that impact on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health.
  • LO4. identify and explore the relationship between ethical reasoning, illness experience and person-centred and family-centred practice within a cultural safety framework that recognises and engages with the values, beliefs and illness experience of individuals, families, and communities as partners in care in a socially and culturally diverse healthcare context.
  • LO5. demonstrate an ability to think critically about the ways in which patients, families and nurses can relate to, and interact with, each other, and an understanding of the relationship between trust, accountability and vulnerability and the associated professional responsibilities of a registered nurse.
  • LO6. demonstrate beginning skills in therapeutic listening and micro-skills in communication and conflict management with socially and culturally diverse patients, families/carers and communities, and within interprofessional healthcare teams.

Unit availability

This section lists the session, attendance modes and locations the unit is available in. There is a unit outline for each of the unit availabilities, which gives you information about the unit including assessment details and a schedule of weekly activities.

The outline is published 2 weeks before the first day of teaching. You can look at previous outlines for a guide to the details of a unit.

Session MoA ?  Location Outline ? 
Semester 2 2024
Normal day Camperdown/Darlington, Sydney
Outline unavailable
Session MoA ?  Location Outline ? 
Semester 2 Early 2020
Normal day Mallett Street, Sydney
Semester 2 2021
Normal day Camperdown/Darlington, Sydney
Semester 2 2022
Normal day Camperdown/Darlington, Sydney
Semester 2 2023
Normal day Camperdown/Darlington, Sydney

Modes of attendance (MoA)

This refers to the Mode of attendance (MoA) for the unit as it appears when you’re selecting your units in Sydney Student. Find more information about modes of attendance on our website.