Unit Outline

The concepts of ethics and research underpin our professional frameworks and have established nursing as one of the most trusted professions in Australia. In this unit you will extend your understanding of core legal and ethical concepts, relevant to practice to further enhance your understanding of professional frameworks and responsibilities. You will explore your own values and your role as a moral change agent in the health care setting. The important field of research ethics will be critically examined as the bridge that spans legal and ethical principles into the closely inter‐related domains of research process, evidence‐based practice and knowledge translation. You will explore the research paradigms, methodologies and methods that nurses use to build disciplinary knowledge, with a strong emphasis on the interpretation of research data and research findings, leading to the provision of evidence‐informed and person‐centred care.

Intended Learning Outcomes

As per the Assessment and Results Policy 1.3, your results will reflect your achievement against specified learning outcomes.

On completion of this unit, you will be able to:


1.	Explain professional and practice responsibilities and analyse their implications for practice.
2.	Critically reflect on your own values, attitudes and understanding to enhance the development of your identity as a member of the nursing profession
3.	Identify research paradigms and explain how research is used to underpin ethical and evidence-informed nursing practice.
4.	Interpret and analyse information and research data to support improvements to quality and safety in nursing practice.
5.	Critique the quality of evidence and adopt effective written and verbal communication skills to clearly convey your position.

Requisites


REQUISITE TYPE	REQUISITES
Pre-requisite	NUR131 Concepts of Nursing 1: Introduction to the Profession

Alterations as a result of student feedback

This is the sixth time this unit has been delivered, and the following changes have been made based on feedback from students.
Changes to the Assessment Task descriptions and weighting.
The MyLO modules have been streamlined to clearly identify and separate essential learning content from optional activities and material.
Regular structured webinars have been scheduled throughout the study period to discuss and clarify content and enable students to have direct engagement with lecturers and peers on a regular basis.
More information on how to approach assessment tasks has been added to clarify requirements.
Your feedback on this delivery of the unit will be welcome.

How will I be Assessed?

For more detailed assessment information please see MyLO.

Assessment schedule


ASSESSMENT TASK #	ASSESSMENT TASK NAME	DATE DUE	WEIGHT	LINKS TO INTENDED LEARNING OUTCOMES
Assessment Task 1:	Discussion Board Interactions	Week 4	40 %	LO1, LO2, LO3, LO4, LO5
Assessment Task 2:	Research Report - Searching for evidence	Week 7	20 %	LO1, LO2, LO3, LO4, LO5
Assessment Task 3:	Research Report Presentation	Week 12	40 %	LO1, LO2, LO3, LO4, LO5

Assessment details

Assessment Task 1: Discussion Board Interactions

Task Description:

In this task you will investigate the ethical and legal considerations underpinning or arising from a provided scenario. You are required to engage in a minimum of three discussion board interactions in relation to the scenario outlining an area of health care.

Task Length:

A minimum of three postings, 1500 words in total.

Due Date:

Week 4

Weight:

40 %

CRITERION #

CRITERION

MEASURES INTENDED

LEARNING OUTCOME(S)


1	Describe and explain the ethico-legal concepts relevant to the issue / scenario	LO1
2	Reflect on own beliefs showing insight and developing professional identity as a nurse	LO2
3	Engage with scholarly/research literature to place own beliefs within a wider context	LO2, LO3, LO4
4	Interact with other students constructively and respectfully, showing engagement with others’ ideas	LO2, LO5
5	Use appropriate academic language and referencing, and underpin argument with scholarly literature	LO5

Assessment Task 2: Research Report - Searching for evidence

Task Description:

You will demonstrate your ability to develop clinical questions about appropriate areas of nursing or healthcare practice and search the literature to find evidence to answer these questions.

Task Length:

800-1000 words, including tables.

Due Date:

Week 7

Weight:

20 %

CRITERION #

CRITERION

MEASURES INTENDED

LEARNING OUTCOME(S)


1	Identify a topic that requires an evidence-informed approach and justify its importance to nursing or healthcare practice.	LO1, LO2, LO3
2	Design a searchable clinical question using an appropriate framework.	LO1, LO3
3	Demonstrate the ability to locate research relevant to the topic, using a well-constructed search strategy; four articles identified.	LO1, LO4
4	Disseminate findings using appropriate academic language and referencing, underpinned by scholarly literature.	LO5

Assessment Task 3: Research Report Presentation

Task Description:

This task builds on the outcome of your literature search in Assessment Task 1 and will demonstrate your ability to synthesise and critically appraise research evidence in order to answer your clinical question.

Task Length:

10 minute presentation, equivalent to 1500 words

Due Date:

Week 12

Weight:

40 %

CRITERION #

CRITERION

MEASURES INTENDED

LEARNING OUTCOME(S)


1	Interpret data to evaluate health care and nursing practice.	LO4
2	Explain how evidence informs and underpins nursing practice to deliver quality patient outcomes.	LO1, LO3, LO4
3	Develop evidence-informed clinical decisions for ethical practice	LO1, LO2, LO3, LO4
4	Disseminate findings using appropriate academic language and referencing, underpinned by scholarly literature	LO5

How your final result is determined

To pass this unit, you need to demonstrate your attainment of each of the Intended Learning Outcomes, achieve a final unit grade of 50% or greater, and pass any hurdle tasks.

Submission of assignments

Where practicable, assignments should be submitted to an assignment submission folder in MYLO. You must submit assignments by the due date or receive a penalty (unless an extension of time has been approved by the Unit Coordinator). Students submitting any assignment in hard copy, or because of a practicum finalisation, must attach a student cover sheet and signed declaration for the submission to be accepted for marking.

Requests for extensions

If you are unable to submit an assessment task by the due date, you should apply for an extension.

A request for an extension should first be discussed with your Unit Coordinator or teaching support team where possible. A request for an extension must be submitted by the assessment due date, except where you can provide evidence it was not possible to do so. Typically, an application for an extension will be supported by documentary evidence: however, where it is not possible for you to provide evidence please contact your Unit Coordinator.

The Unit Coordinator must notify you of the outcome of an extension request within 3 working days of receiving the request.

Late penalties

Assignments submitted after the deadline will receive a late penalty of 5% of the original available mark for each calendar day (or part day) that the assignment is late. Late submissions will not be accepted more than 10 calendar days after the due date, or after assignments have been returned to other students on a scheduled date, whichever occurs first. Further information on Late Penalties can be found on the Assessments and Results Procedure.

Review of results and appeals

You are entitled to ask for a review of the marking and grading of your assessment task if there is an irregularity in the marking standards or an error in the process for determining the outcome of an assessment. Details on how to request a review of a mark for an assignment are outlined in the Review and Appeal of Academic Decisions Procedure.

Required Resources

Required reading materials

Required Readings will be provided by your Unit Coordinator.