NURS2004: Semester 1, 2020

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Units NURS2004 Semester 1 2020 [Normal day]

Unit of study_

NURS2004: Understanding Mental Health and Illness

Semester 1, 2020 [Normal day] - Mallett Street, Sydney

Overview

This unit of study is the first of two focusing on mental health nursing and is based on the principle that mental health knowledge and skills are essential for all nurses, regardless of their healthcare setting. The unit is underpinned by an evidence-based holistic understanding of mental health and illness. The unit aims to introduce students to constructs of mental health and wellbeing and mental illness and to the nurse's role in promoting mental health, preventing mental illness and minimising the negative effects of illness for individuals, family/carers and the community. Students will explore and develop core mental health nursing values, skills and knowledge. Consumer and carer perspectives will inform students' understandings of mental health and mental health problems as experienced across the lifespan by children, young people and adults, and older persons of varying cultural and gendered backgrounds. Mental health problems are explored with respect to the latest evidence for risk/protective factors, symptomatology, co-morbidities, nursing care, and psychotherapeutic and physical treatment approaches. The nurse's effective use of self and the therapeutic nurse/client interpersonal relationship as core mental health nursing skills are addressed from theoretical and practical perspectives. Students will develop key mental health assessment and clinical nursing skills. The scope of nursing practice is addressed in a range of mental health and ethico-legal contexts with the overall aim of generating nursing care that supports effective outcomes for mental health consumers and their family/carers.

Unit details and rules

Unit code	NURS2004
Academic unit	Nursing and Midwifery
Credit points	6
Prohibitions ?	None
Prerequisites ?	36 Year 1 credit points including NURS1008
Corequisites ?	None
Assumed knowledge ?	None
Available to study abroad and exchange students	No

Teaching staff

Coordinator	Sophie Isobel, sophie.isobel@sydney.edu.au
Lecturer(s)	Sophie Isobel, sophie.isobel@sydney.edu.au
Tutor(s)	Kathryn Solanki, kathryn.solanki@sydney.edu.au

Type	Description	Weight	Due	Length
Final exam	Final exam MCQ, short and long answer	50%	Formal exam period	2 hours
Outcomes assessed:
Presentation	Promoting mental health and well-being group presentation Oral presentation	15%	Multiple weeks	20 minutes
Outcomes assessed:
Assignment	The experience of mental illness essay Essay	35%	Week 05 Due date: 29 Mar 2020 at 23:59	1500 words
Outcomes assessed:
= hurdle task ? = group assignment ?

Assessment summary

The experience of mental ill-health essay: A key aspect of effectively working with people who may be experiencing mental ill-health is having an understanding of the personal experience of illness; including the biopsychosocial risk and protective factors that respectively may have contributed to the development of, and
recovery from mental ill-health. This assessment is designed to explore the evidence on biopsychosocial risk and protective factors that may impact on a person’s state of well-being and develop understandings of the consumer experience.
Promoting mental health and well-being group presentation: During the first tutorial in week 2, students will be required to allocate themselves into groups. There should be a minimum of 4 to a maximum of 5 students per group.
Written examination: Material covered through readings, lectures, tutorial sessions and activities, including in-class presentations, provide the knowledge base for this assessment.

Each student is required to submit/attend all assessment items in order to pass this unit. Detailed information for each assessment can be found on Canvas.

Assessment criteria

The University awards common result grades, set out in the Coursework Policy 2014 (Schedule 1).

As a general guide, a high distinction indicates work of an exceptional standard, a distinction a very high standard, a credit a good standard, and a pass an acceptable standard.

Result name	Mark range	Description
High distinction	85 - 100
Distinction	75 - 84
Credit	65 - 74
Pass	50 - 64
Fail	0 - 49	When you don’t meet the learning outcomes of the unit to a satisfactory standard.

For more information see sydney.edu.au/students/guide-to-grades.

For more information see guide to grades.

Late submission

In accordance with University policy, these penalties apply when written work is submitted after 11:59pm on the due date:

Deduction of 5% of the maximum mark for each calendar day after the due date.
After ten calendar days late, a mark of zero will be awarded.

Academic integrity

The Current Student website provides information on academic integrity and the resources available to all students. The University expects students and staff to act ethically and honestly and will treat all allegations of academic integrity breaches seriously.

We use similarity detection software to detect potential instances of plagiarism or other forms of academic integrity breach. If such matches indicate evidence of plagiarism or other forms of academic integrity breaches, your teacher is required to report your work for further investigation.

You may only use artificial intelligence and writing assistance tools in assessment tasks if you are permitted to by your unit coordinator, and if you do use them, you must also acknowledge this in your work, either in a footnote or an acknowledgement section.

Studiosity is permitted for postgraduate units unless otherwise indicated by the unit coordinator. The use of this service must be acknowledged in your submission.

Learning support

Simple extensions

If you encounter a problem submitting your work on time, you may be able to apply for an extension of five calendar days through a simple extension.  The application process will be different depending on the type of assessment and extensions cannot be granted for some assessment types like exams.

Special consideration

If exceptional circumstances mean you can’t complete an assessment, you need consideration for a longer period of time, or if you have essential commitments which impact your performance in an assessment, you may be eligible for special consideration or special arrangements.

Special consideration applications will not be affected by a simple extension application.

Using AI responsibly

Co-created with students, AI in Education includes lots of helpful examples of how students use generative AI tools to support their learning. It explains how generative AI works, the different tools available and how to use them responsibly and productively.

Weekly schedule

WK	Topic	Learning activity
Week 01	1. Introduction to unit of study; 2. Introduction to mental health and illness	Lecture (2 hr)
Week 02	1. Introduction to mental health care and contexts for practice; 2. Mental health promotion and mental ill-health prevention	Lecture (2 hr)
Week 02	1. Introduction, semester planning and preparation for assessment 2; 2. Conceptualising mental health and illness	Tutorial (2 hr)
Week 03	1. Social and emotional development; 2. Psychological trauma	Lecture (2 hr)
Week 03	Challenging stigma and supporting recovery	Tutorial (2 hr)
Week 04	1. Borderline personality disorder; 2. Suicide and self-harm	Lecture (2 hr)
Week 04	1. Child and adolescent mental health; 2. Exploring the impacts of trauma	Tutorial (2 hr)
Week 05	1. Introduction to mood disorders; 2. Introduction to anxiety disorders	Lecture (2 hr)
Week 05	Exploring behaviours that are challenging to manage	Tutorial (2 hr)
Week 06	1. Carer experience; 2. Sleep and Mental Health	Lecture (2 hr)
Week 06	Exploring lived-experience and recognising symptoms of mood and anxiety disorders	Tutorial (2 hr)
Week 07	1. Introduction to psychotic symptoms (online lecture); 2. First episode psychosis (online lecture)	Online class (2 hr)
Week 07	Psychotropic medication (online activity)	Online class (2 hr)
Week 08	1. Introduction to psychotropic medications (part I); 2. Introduction to psychotropic medications (part II)	Lecture (2 hr)
Week 08	Exploring lived-experience and recognising psychotic symptoms	Tutorial (2 hr)
Week 10	1. Consumer experience; 2. Homelessness and Mental health	Lecture (2 hr)
Week 11	1. Co-existing health conditions; 2. Culturally and linguistically diverse mental health	Lecture (2 hr)
Week 12	Exam revision	Lecture (2 hr)
Week 12	Mental health and well-being in people from diverse backgrounds	Tutorial (2 hr)

Attendance and class requirements

Attendance: The Sydney Nursing School Resolutions specifically outline attendance requirements. Resolution 7.2 states that if students are absent without leave for more than 10% of classes in a particular unit of study in any one semester, the Head of School may call upon them to show cause why they should not be deemed to have failed that unit of study.
Referencing: The Sydney Nursing School has adopted the American Psychological Association (APA) Referencing style, 6th Edition, 2010 as its official referencing style. This is an author-date style of referencing.

Study commitment

Typically, there is a minimum expectation of 1.5-2 hours of student effort per week per credit point for units of study offered over a full semester. For a 6 credit point unit, this equates to roughly 120-150 hours of student effort in total.

Learning outcomes

Learning outcomes are what students know, understand and are able to do on completion of a unit of study. They are aligned with the University's graduate qualities and are assessed as part of the curriculum.

Outcomes
Graduate qualities

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

LO1. comprehend the mental health and well-being continuum, taking into account biopsychosocial risk and protective factors, varied symptomatology of mental ill-health, and comorbid conditions
LO2. comprehend the association of age, gender, culture and/or other psychosocial factors, and the impacts of this on mental health and well-being
LO3. express and communicate the principles of promoting mental health and well-being to individuals and diverse consumer groups
LO4. search for and comprehensively discuss various sources of information, including the professional and evidence-based literature, in relation to the promotion of mental health and well-being
LO5. understand the consumer and family/carer experience of health and illness.

Graduate qualities

The graduate qualities are the qualities and skills that all University of Sydney graduates must demonstrate on successful completion of an award course. As a future Sydney graduate, the set of qualities have been designed to equip you for the contemporary world.

GQ1	Depth of disciplinary expertise Deep disciplinary expertise is the ability to integrate and rigorously apply knowledge, understanding and skills of a recognised discipline defined by scholarly activity, as well as familiarity with evolving practice of the discipline.
GQ2	Critical thinking and problem solving Critical thinking and problem solving are the questioning of ideas, evidence and assumptions in order to propose and evaluate hypotheses or alternative arguments before formulating a conclusion or a solution to an identified problem.
GQ3	Oral and written communication Effective communication, in both oral and written form, is the clear exchange of meaning in a manner that is appropriate to audience and context.
GQ4	Information and digital literacy Information and digital literacy is the ability to locate, interpret, evaluate, manage, adapt, integrate, create and convey information using appropriate resources, tools and strategies.
GQ5	Inventiveness Generating novel ideas and solutions.
GQ6	Cultural competence Cultural Competence is the ability to actively, ethically, respectfully, and successfully engage across and between cultures. In the Australian context, this includes and celebrates Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures, knowledge systems, and a mature understanding of contemporary issues.
GQ7	Interdisciplinary effectiveness Interdisciplinary effectiveness is the integration and synthesis of multiple viewpoints and practices, working effectively across disciplinary boundaries.
GQ8	Integrated professional, ethical, and personal identity An integrated professional, ethical and personal identity is understanding the interaction between one’s personal and professional selves in an ethical context.
GQ9	Influence Engaging others in a process, idea or vision.

Outcome map

Learning outcomes	Graduate qualities
Learning outcomes

Responding to student feedback

This section outlines changes made to this unit following staff and student reviews.

No changes have been made since this unit was last offered

Additional information

Faculty of Medicine and Health Handbook

Disclaimer

The University reserves the right to amend units of study or no longer offer certain units, including where there are low enrolment numbers.

To help you understand common terms that we use at the University, we offer an online glossary.

Current students

Overview

Overview

Unit details and rules

Teaching staff

Assessment

Assessment

Assessment summary

Assessment criteria

Late submission

Academic integrity

Learning support

Learning support

Simple extensions

Special consideration

Using AI responsibly

Weekly schedule

Weekly schedule

Attendance and class requirements

Study commitment

Learning outcomes

Learning outcomes

Graduate qualities

Outcome map

Responding to student feedback

Responding to student feedback

Additional information

Additional information

Disclaimer

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