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Unit of study_
NURS5059: Foundations of Clinical Practice
2025 unit information
With the ongoing changes in health care, particularly associated with increase patient acuity, technological development and consumer expectations, nurses are expected to ensure they provide patient care based on the best available evidence. This requires a sound understanding of alterations to normal physiological processes which assists nurses to make decisions about patient assessment and management. Within this unit of study an emphasis will be placed on exploring alterations to key physiological concepts and the associated patient assessment and management. Within in the context of these altered physiological states the acquisition of clinical assessment data, such as that obtained from laboratory and diagnostic testing, will be interpreted and applied to specific patient clinical presentations. Strategies to support evidence-based practice and to maintain physiological function will be examined with students undertaking critical appraisal of treatment guidelines. As part of specialty nursing practice, clinicians are required to have a comprehensive clinical skills repertoire and the requisite knowledge and skills to effectively use research and other information as the basis of their practice thinking. In the context of your area of practice, you will explore the complexity of and uncertainty in practice, while developing discipline-specific knowledge and skills that enable you to build the capacity for clinical judgement and practice.
Unit details and rules
Managing faculty or University school:
Medicine and Health
| Study level | Postgraduate |
|---|---|
| Academic unit | Nursing and Midwifery |
| Credit points | 6 |
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Prerequisites:
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None |
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Corequisites:
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None |
| Prohibitions:
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None |
| Assumed knowledge:
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None |
At the completion of this unit, you should be able to:
- LO1. integrate physical, clinical and diagnostic assessment data with pathophysiological changes that occur during acute and/or critical illness, to inform patient management
- LO2. analyse the clinical management of acutely and/or critically ill patients
- LO3. critique institutional documents such as clinical policies/guidelines with reference to the current literature, and consider concepts relevant to the quality and authority of information.
Unit availability
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Modes of attendance (MoA)
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