Unit Outline

In this unit students will enhance their understanding of pathophysiology and then apply this knowledge to appropriate therapeutic interventions and assessments that relate to the care of neonates, infants, children and adolescents in the acute setting. A focus of the unit will be the management of acute and chronic conditions affecting children using a clinical reasoning framework.

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	Identify the physiological alterations that occur when a neonate/child or adolescent becomes chronically or acutely unwell.
2	Implement advanced clinical assessment and problem solving skill.
3	Deliver evidence based care for neonatal, paediatric and adolescent patients with complex physiological problems.

Alterations as a result of student feedback

Unit content has been updated and assessments amended.

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:	Online Case Study	Week 5	20 %	LO1, LO2
Assessment Task 2:	Clinical Assessment Case Study	Week 9	45 %	LO1, LO2, LO3
Assessment Task 3:	Practice Enhancement	Week 13	35 %	LO2, LO3

Assessment details

Assessment Task 1: Online Case Study

Task Description:

This assessment task provides the opportunity for you to demonstrate your knowledge of anatomy, physiology and pathophysiology of conditions in neonatal, paediatric and adolescent patients and their application to practice.

Task Length:

Case Scenario responses equal to 1000 words

Due Date:

Week 5

Weight:

20 %

CRITERION #

CRITERION

MEASURES INTENDED

LEARNING OUTCOME(S)


1	Relate pathophysiology of conditions in neonatal, paediatric and adolescent patients to clinical manifestations and their application to practice.	LO1, LO2
2	Apply understanding of the data gained from assessment findings.	LO1, LO2

Assessment Task 2: Clinical Assessment Case Study

Task Description:

This assessment task requires you to
choose an infant/child/adolescent within your clinical area and undertake a clinical assessment. You are to design a plan of care based on the assessment that reflects contemporary evidence-informed practice.

Task Length:

1800 words

Due Date:

Week 9

Weight:

45 %

CRITERION #

CRITERION

MEASURES INTENDED

LEARNING OUTCOME(S)


1	Consider the infant/child/adolescent and collect relevant cues.	LO1, LO2
2	Process information relating pathophysiology to the infant/child/adolescent/s current clinical presentation.	LO1, LO2
3	Establish the goals of care and prioritise nursing management supported with evidence.	LO2, LO3
4	Communicate clearly and succinctly using the current APA Style.	LO1, LO2, LO3

Assessment Task 3: Practice Enhancement

Task Description:

This task requires you to reflect on current practice within your specialty area (neonatal/paediatric/adolescent). You are to select a clinical assessment practice or nursing intervention that could be enhanced.
You are required to use evidence to justify why your chosen clinical assessment or nursing intervention needs to be enhanced. You are to rationalise how the clinical assessment or nursing intervention could be improved to align with best practice recommendations.

Task Length:

1200 words

Due Date:

Week 13

Weight:

35 %

CRITERION #

CRITERION

MEASURES INTENDED

LEARNING OUTCOME(S)


1	Justify the chosen clinical assessment/nursing intervention to be enhanced.	LO2
2	Critically evaluate the chosen clinical assessment/nursing intervention using evidence-informed resources.	LO2, LO3
3	Rationalise how the clinical assessment/nursing intervention could be enhanced using evidence-informed resources.	LO3
4	Provide strategies for dissemination of recommendations for enhancement within your specialty area.	LO3
5	Communicate clearly and succinctly using the current APA Style.	LO2, LO3

How your final result is determined

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

Academic progress review

The results for this unit may be included in a review of your academic progress. For information about progress reviews and what they mean for all students, see Academic Progress Review in the Student Portal.

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.

Academic integrity

Academic integrity is about acting responsibly, honestly, ethically, and collegially when using, producing, and communicating information with other students and staff members.

In written work, you must correctly reference the work of others to maintain academic integrity. To find out the referencing style for this unit, see the assessment information in the MyLO site, or contact your teaching staff. For more detail about Academic Integrity, see Important Guidelines & Support.

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.

Required Resources

Required reading materials

Neonatal nursing students will need the following text:

Kain V & Mannix T. (2022). Neonatal Care for Nurses and Midwives: Principles for Practice (2nd ed.). Elsevier Health Sciences.

Paediatric nursing students will need the following text:

Hockenberry, Wilson & Rodgers. (2024). Wong’s Nursing Care of Infants and Children (12th Edition). Elsevier. (11th Edition is available as an e-book through the UTAS library)