Unit Outline

The focus of Complex Care is on acute deterioration, illness trajectories and disease progression, assessment, collaborative patient management and pharmacology. Complex Care synthesises your knowledge of complex conditions affecting multiple body systems to manage patients with acute and chronic illnesses across the life span, including palliative and end of life care. You will be provided with a range of scenarios to apply your clinical reasoning skills and are required to recognise, interpret, analyse and record data relevant to the acutely deteriorating patient, in accordance with the NSQHS Standards. You will use current research to identify evidence-informed nursing interventions and person-centred management plans.

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	Analyse the component steps in clinical reasoning and critical thinking to manage the complex, stable patient in both community and acute care settings.
2	Recognise and respond to acute deterioration in health care settings.
3	Apply palliative care principles to support the needs of clients, their families and carers .
4	Critically evaluate current evidence and data relevant to complex patient care and management.
5	Work effectively in teams, adapting written and verbal communication to the requirements of each situation.
6	Communicate relevant data in a clear and concise manner to ensure quality person-centred outcomes.

Requisites


REQUISITE TYPE	REQUISITES
Pre-requisite	CXA243 Pathophysiology for Health Care 2

Alterations as a result of student feedback

Update of all MyLO content.

Intensives re-written.

Redesign and refinement of assessment tasks, instructions and rubrics.

Scheduled weekly drop-in sessions with the Unit Coordinator.

Alignment of due dates of assessment items across 300 level units.

How will I be Assessed?

Assessment schedule


ASSESSMENT TASK #	ASSESSMENT TASK NAME	DATE DUE	WEIGHT	LINKS TO INTENDED LEARNING OUTCOMES
ASSESSMENT TASK 1:	Quizzes	Week 2	10 %	LO1, LO2, LO3, LO4
ASSESSMENT TASK 2:	Case Study	Week 10	40 %	LO1, LO3, LO4, LO6
ASSESSMENT TASK 3:	Case or problem activated learning	Week 13	50 %	LO1, LO2, LO3, LO4, LO5, LO6

Assessment details

Assessment Task 1: Quizzes

TASK DESCRIPTION:

This is a series of quizzes designed to promote your readiness to undertake professional experience placement.

TASK LENGTH:

20 questions in each quiz

DUE DATE:

Week 2

WEIGHT:

10 %

CRITERION #

CRITERION

MEASURES INTENDED LEARNING OUTCOME


1	Interpret relevant unit readings and research in an accurate manner.	LO1, LO4
2	Interpret and apply relevant principles and standards.	LO1, LO2, LO4
3	Interpret and apply palliative care principles	LO1, LO3, LO4

Assessment Task 2: Case Study

TASK DESCRIPTION:

This assessment focuses on a complex case study of an individual living with a life-limiting illness.

TASK LENGTH:

1500 words

DUE DATE:

Week 10

WEIGHT:

40 %

CRITERION #

CRITERION

MEASURES INTENDED LEARNING OUTCOME


1	Identify the highest level of evidence to support care plan actions.	LO4
2	Discuss the inter-relationship between research and quality care and identify the issues impacting translation of research into practice.	LO4
3	Relate the pathophysiology and pharmacology to your selected actions.	LO1, LO3
4	Communicate plan of care in a cohesive and clear manner.	LO6

Assessment Task 3: Case or problem activated learning

TASK DESCRIPTION:

You will be allocated to a small team for this assessment task and be required to participate in a simulated scenario.

TASK LENGTH:

1700 words

DUE DATE:

Week 13

WEIGHT:

50 %

CRITERION #

CRITERION

MEASURES INTENDED LEARNING OUTCOME


1	Correctly interpret relevant pre-briefing diagnostic information	LO1, LO2, LO4
2	Use critical thinking to predict possible deterioration pathways	LO1, LO2, LO4
3	Analyse and rationalise priorities of care	LO1, LO2
4	Develop a management plan describing actions with rationales provided and goals.	LO1, LO2, LO3
5	Reflect on intraprofessional and interprofessional communication, critical thinking and clinical reasoning.	LO1, LO5
6	Adhere to presentation conventions: legibility, spelling, punctuation, grammar and referencing	LO6

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 the Learning Management System. 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.

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

Amerman, EC 2019, Human Anatomy & Physiology (2nd Global Edition), Pearson Education, Essex, UK.

Bauldoff, G., Gubrud, P., Carno, A., Levett-Jones, T., Hales, M., Berry, K., Carville, T., Dwyer, T., Knox, N., Moxham, L., Reid-Searl, K. & Stanley, D. 2020. Lemone and Burke’s Medical-Surgical Nursing. 4th ed. Pearson, Melbourne, Vic.

Tiziani, A 2017, Harvard’s Nursing Guide to Drugs, 10th edition, Mosby, Sydney, NSW.

Bullock, S. & Manias, E. Fundamentals of Pharmacology, 8th edition, Pearson, Melbourne, Vic.