Nursing Practice 2 PG (11658.1)

Required texts

Recommended Texts/Resources

Burman, A., Snyder, S., Levett-Jones, T., Burton, T., Harvey, N. (2021). Skills in Clinical Nursing (2^nd ed.). Pearson Education Australia. 

Levett-Jones, T. (2017). Clinical Reasoning (2^nd ed.). Pearson Australia.

Bryant, B., Knights, K., Darroch S., & Rowland A. (2019). Pharmacology for Health Professionals. (5th ed.). Elsevier.

 American Psychological Association. (2020). Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (7th ed.). American Psychological Association

• All UC nursing courses use APA 7^th Edition for referencing and writing style.
• Students may choose to either purchase this text or access a copy from the library to support their learning throughout the semester.
• Use of a referencing text is beneficial and can be used throughout your program of study.
• The UC Library also has a referencing guide which can be found here: https://canberra.libguides.com/c.php?g=599301&p=414871

Harris, P., Vardaxis, N., & Purtell, L. (2024). Mosby's medical dictionary of medicine, nursing and health professions. (4^th ANZ Ed). Elsevier

 Scope of Practice

• Students must be familiar with the, Nursing student clinical PLacement Guidlelines, the scope of practice document, and the Faculty of Health Placement Guidelines.

Submission of assessment items

Extensions & Late submissions

Students are strongly encouraged to submit their assessment during business hours to ensure access to Student Support Services including IT Service Desk and the Library. It is important to note that personal network/computer/technical problems are generally not considered acceptable grounds or reasons for an extension to the due date. Students who are experiencing difficulty uploading a submission are strongly encouraged to take a screenshot of any error messages, including the date and time, and contact Service Desk for technical support.

Students must submit their own original work that has not been previously submitted for assessment at the University of Canberra. Self-plagiarism is grounds for referral for academic misconduct. In this context the student is being assessed as an individual.

Where the student participates in a group or paired assessment in a clinical unit (including but not limited to clinical hurdle assessment and/or OSCE) each student's work is being assessed individually and concern related to collusion will be referred to the ADE (Health) as per the summary inquiry process.

Students must ensure that when applying for an extension to the due date that their application meets the requirements as per the University of Canberra Assessment Procedures. This means that students must ensure that when applying for an extension all required components are submitted to the assessment extension application prior to the assessment due date. It is the student's individual responsibility to ensure that applications are completed in full and in a timely manner.

In the event that a student experiences significant extenuating circumstances the unit convenor may seek guidance from the MN Convenor to support the student's progression and participation across enrolled units of study within the same teaching period. Please see the extension section of this unit outline and the dedicated page on the Canvas site for more information.

To pass this unit, students must:

• Submit all assessment items including formative activities as instructed, and
• Attend 80% of scheduled tutorials, and
• Attend all allocated workshops, and
• Achieve a Pass (50% or more) in the OSCE including 100% in MedSafe quiz
• Meet attendance requirements of the scheduled PEP, and
• Achieve a satisfactory assessment for PEP, and
• Achieve 50% overall.

PEP within the Master of Nursing (graduate entry) program is privileged as a critical nursing development opportunity for students. All Nursing Practice (NP) units have discrete theory components and a clinical practice component where student capability is assessed. For NP units where the PEP is scheduled after the unit teaching and unit results are known, students must be on a passing grade to continue onto their scheduled placement.

Any upcoming placement (PEP) will be cancelled by the CareersUC Placement Team on the advice of either the Unit Convenor and Nursing Professional Practice Convenor, where students meet one (1) or more of the following criteria:

• Overall unit mark achieved is less than <50/100
• have failed their OSCE
• have failed their Pre-PEP clinical hurdle.
• have not completed Pre-PEP requirements stipulated by their allocated PEP site and the broader university requirements including manual handling training.

Failure to satisfactorily complete Pre-PEP and/or PEP requirements will result in a fail (NC) grade for the unit.

Special assessment requirements

Moderation

Moderation will be undertaken for assessment items to ensure that marking is fair and consistent. Moderation processes are in line with the Faculty of Health guidelines and the University Assessment Procedures

Illness

It is strongly advised that students do not submit an assessment or sit an exam if they are ill or hold a current medical certificate. No consideration will be given for illness when the assessment or examination is marked.

In the event students are ill they are strongly advised to apply for an extension to the due date of an assessment, as outlined on the unit Canvas site and/or contact their unit convenor to arrange a deferred exam, prior to the due date of the assessment/exam.

Nursing Practice (NP) Units

PEP assessments provide opportunities to evaluate the student's ability to apply theoretical knowledge and frameworks, technical and non-technical skills in clinical practice settings. Students will be assessed for their ability to respond to and care for patients and families, using professional ethical nursing practice at year level. Students are required to implement skills safely and effectively in a variety of settings and are assessed against the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia (2016) Registered Nurse standards for practice using the ANSAT. To receive a passing grade, students are required to attain a score of 3 or higher in all sections.

As such, a satisfactory grade must be obtained in the clinical component to pass this unit.

To achieve satisfactory progress, you must:

• Attend all rostered PEP.
  • If you are unable to attend for any reason, you must notify the placement site as soon as possible (before the scheduled shift) that you are unable to attend and notify your supervising Clinical Liaison Nurse (CLN)/Clinical Facilitator (CF).
  • Absences must be reported and approved by the Nursing Professional Practice Convenor.
• Complete all Clinical assessment tasks as stipulated within the Units Canvas site.

Assessment will be moderated by the CLN team, Nursing Professional Practice Convenor and Unit Convenor to ensure that judgments of students' performance are fair and valid. If you require further information on how the assessment tasks of this unit are assessed and moderated, please see the unit convenor.

Students must apply academic integrity in their learning and research activities at UC. This includes submitting authentic and original work for assessments and properly acknowledging any sources used.

Academic integrity involves the ethical, honest and responsible use, creation and sharing of information. It is critical to the quality of higher education. Our academic integrity values are honesty, trust, fairness, respect, responsibility and courage.

UC students have to complete the Academic Integrity Module annually to learn about academic integrity and to understand the consequences of academic integrity breaches (or academic misconduct).

UC uses various strategies and systems, including detection software, to identify potential breaches of academic integrity. Suspected breaches may be investigated, and action can be taken when misconduct is found to have occurred.

Information is provided in the Academic Integrity Policy, Academic Integrity Procedure, and University of Canberra (Student Conduct) Rules 2023. For further advice, visit Study Skills.

Learner engagement

All University of Canberra Nursing students are expected to undertake a minimum of five (5) hours per week per unit of directed/self-directed learning (SDL), related to content engagement, assessment preparation, clinical learning, or revision, in addition to their timetabled unit contact (i.e., lectures, workshops, tutorials).

In nursing where PEP is a requirement for professional registration, hours expected for engagement and to meet the unit requirements are necessarily adjusted and may fluctuate during the teaching period.

Academic Integrity & Generative AI 

Across the School of Nursing and Midwifery programs, the use of Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) should be approached with transparency and clear acknowledgment to uphold academic integrity and maintain trust within the academic community.

Students are encouraged to engage with AI tools responsibly, using them as aids in research, learning, and clinical problem-solving rather than as replacements for critical thinking or professional judgment. It is critically important that student knowledge is assessed to verify their achievement of unit and course level outcomes for the integrity of the profession and the safety of the public. It is essential that any contributions or insights generated by AI, including but not limited to summaries, text generation, image generation, or data analysis, be transparently referenced in accordance with academic standards to ensure clarity regarding the sources of information and to avoid any misrepresentation of authorship. Please see the UC student guide RE AI use

GenAI Acknowledgement Statement for assignments

Select which of the following two statements is relevant to your submission based on whether you have used or not used GenAI in preparing the assessment. Complete the relevant GenAI Acknowledgement Statement for your assessment before copying the statement into your submission, either after the reference list or another location as specified in the assessment instructions.

I have not used any GenAI tools/services in the preparation of this assessment. I understand that providing false or misleading information in this GenAI Acknowledgement Statement may constitute a breach of the University of Canberra (Student Conduct) Rules 2023.

OR

I have used the following Generative Artifcial Intelligence (GenAI) tools/services in the preparation of this assessment:

• GenAI service name and version: [Insert]
• Link to the GenAI service: [Insert]
• Ways this GenAI service was used: [insert]

I confirm that I have not used GenAI in the preparation of this assessment for any purpose other than what I have acknowledged above and I have cited and referenced any GenAI content in my assessment submission, applying the relevant referencing style. I understand that providing false or misleading information in this GenAI Acknowledgement Statement may constitute a breach of the University of Canberra (Student Conduct) Rules 2023.

This practice not only promotes ethical standards but also aligns with recent guidelines emphasising transparency in AI use in educational and clinical contexts (e.g., International Council of Nurses, position statement 2023 and the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency).

https://www.icn.ch/sites/default/files/2023-08/ICN%20Position%20Statement%20Digital%20Health%20FINAL%2030.06_EN.pdf

https://www.teqsa.gov.au/guides-resources/higher-education-good-practice-hub/artificial-intelligence

Inclusion and engagement

Any student with a reasonable adjustment plan (RAP) is asked to contact inclusion@canberra.edu.au to discuss any reasonable adjustments that may be required for PEP. A RAP cannot be automatically applied to PEP and students must seek a Placement Support Letter from the inclusion team in addition to their RAP.

University of Canberra nursing students must ensure that they meet the Inherent Requirements relevant to the profession of nursing – it is each students responsibility to read and understand these UC Nursing Inherent Requirements statements. For support in meeting the inherent requirements, please make a time with InclusionUC and your course convenor. 

Participation requirements

Attendance

It is expected that students will participate in all learning opportunities in this unit. This is inclusive of all timetabled activities. Assessment items are linked to the unit learning outcomes, the NMBA Registered Nurse standards for practice and professional codes. Therefore, all students are required to attend and actively participate in all learning activities scheduled for this unit. Student can self-select their preferred classes via the Allocate+ system. All students are reminded that it is an ANMAC requirement that students complete their studies onshore, in Australia. This applies to both domestic and international students. If you are scheduled to undertake a unit of study in the upcoming teaching period and are experiencing extenuating circumstances preventing you from remaining on shore, please contact the International Nursing Student Convenor or the Master of Nursing Practice Course Convenor to discuss your ongoing course progression.

Students are expected to attend their allocated weekly workshop/tutorial (and seminar in NP units). It is the student's own responsibility to ensure they have read and understood the attendance requirements for this unit of study. Failure to meet the attendance requirements of this unit will result in a NN grade. In the event that a student experiences extenuating circumstances impacting on their ability to attend their allocated workshop the student must notify the unit convenor via the unit email and provide documentary evidence to support their absence.

Approved absences, opportunity to clarify learning and make up requirements 

Approved absences, supported by documentary evidence, will be determined at the discretion of the unit convenor, in line with the information available on the individual unit Canvas site.

It is the responsibility of the individual student to seek clarification if they have questions related to the content missed. In the first instance students are expected to post their question on the available discussion boards and await a response from the teaching/convening team or their peers.

Ongoing points requiring clarification are to be addressed in the available drop-in and/or make-up sessions. Students are also afforded the opportunity to contact the convening team via the unit email address as required.

Approved absences are not considered grounds for appeal.

Where an approved absence is granted for a seminar, the student will be:

• Expected to revise any content missed, inclusive of:
  • seminar activities 
  • required readings
  • Canvas activities

AND

• Required to attend the available drop-in session/s scheduled in weeks 8 and/or week 12 or 13 in the semester.
  • Students will be advised of the available session/s via the unit Canvas site.

Where an approved absence is granted for a practical workshop, students will be:

• Expected to revise any content missed, inclusive of:
  • seminar activities 
  • required readings
  • Canvas activities

AND

• Required to attend the available make-up practical session/s scheduled in weeks 8 and/or week 12 or 13 in the semester.
  • Students will be advised of the available session/s via the unit Canvas site.

It is expected that students will make themselves available for the session/s relevant to their approved absence.

If students identify further clarification is required, it is expected that they will attend a drop-in session/s available within the individual unit.

Absence from PEP requires notification to the site and your CLN/CF as soon as possible before the commencement of the rostered shift. Students will be asked to provide evidence for the reason of their absence either in the form of a medical certificate or a statutory declaration, the form of required evidence will be determined by the CLN/CF in consultation with the Nursing Professional Practice Convenor. Absences from PEP will be required to be made up in allocated make up time. If the absences from PEP for a NP unit exceed 20% of the allocated hours the student will be required to complete the make up before being able to pass the PEP and hence the unit. This may delay the progress of students into the next NP unit. PEP make up time will be scheduled as available in industry, student's personal circumstances will be considered wherever possible when scheduling make up time however at times availability is limited. This may also affect a student's progression on rare occasions. If a student has missed PEP due to injury or illness, the student will be required to obtain a fitness for practice certificate from a medical practitioner before make up will be scheduled.

The theoretical underpinning of caring science is fundamental to ensure safe nursing practice. Completion of all learning modules, including directed and self-directed study, and active participation in workshops is expected. Participating in workshop discussions to clarify concepts and to develop confidence with professional communication and verbally expressing ideas can be helpful for students and also supports the learning of student peers (see NMBA RN standards for practice 2016 Standard 2 and related criterion https://www.nursingmidwiferyboard.gov.au/Codes-Guidelines-Statements/Professional-standards/registered-nurse-standards-for-practice.aspx)

Costs

The following costs are expected with this unit:

• Textbooks
• Self-printing of any electronic material provided.
• Potential costs associated with remote learning activities and/or assessments (e.g., reliable computer and internet connection).

Withdrawal

It is expected that all students will be available for the duration of the teaching period, inclusive of any scheduled PEP in NP units.  All students are encouraged to review the Important Dates for Applications and Enrolments for information on deadlines, including census date.

During the week before the teaching period commences (O week) students are encouraged to speak with the relevant unit convenor/s to understand specific unit requirements in their chosen unit of study, including requirements specified in this unit outline.

Where a student self-identifies that they will not be available for the duration of the teaching period, and/or scheduled PEP, it is strongly encouraged that they consider withdrawing from the unit prior to census date to avoid any financial and/or academic penalty. Where extenuating circumstances arise after census date the student will be encouraged to speak with Student Centre regarding withdrawal from the unit and applying for remission of fees and/or academic penalty.

It is expected that students who withdraw from a unit of study will contact the course convenor to discuss their overall course progression and seek an updated, approved, study plan from health.student@canberra.edu.au to support their continued progression in the course.

Course Progression and Maximum Duration

Students are reminded that any variation to their study plan, including withdrawal or awarding of a fail grade, will increase overall course duration. Students must course complete within the maximum course duration of four (4) years. As the Master of Nursing (graduate entry) course is accredited with the Australian Nursing and Midwifery Accreditation Council (ANMAC), in the event that a student is identified as not being able to course complete in the required maximum course duration, the Discipline will recommend to Faculty Board that your program be discontinued.

NP Units

All NP Units are linked to PEP and as such, completion of all learning modules, including directed and self-directed study, and active participation in face-to-face workshops is expected. Participating in workshop discussions to clarify concepts and to develop confidence with professional communication and verbally expressing ideas can be helpful for students and supports the learning of student peers (see NMBA RN standards for practice 2016 Standard 2 and related criterion https://www.nursingmidwiferyboard.gov.au/Codes-Guidelines-Statements/Professional-standards/registered-nurse-standards-for-practice.aspx

Practical workshops attendance and active participation is required to enable students to practice the ‘skilful doing' aspects of nursing practice. Practical workshops enable students to translate concepts and theoretical understanding into ‘real world' applications safely while practicing professional communication skills. Absence from practical workshops must be notified to the Unit Convener via email with documentary evidence provided for a make-up workshop to be considered. Failure to attend practical workshops (as per above 5b) will prevent students from progressing to a PEP, hence failure to attend practical workshops is grounds for an NC (fail grade) in this unit.

Pre-Placement requirements

Pre-Placement Requirements must be attended to and submitted via InPlace. Please consult with the Placement Team if your criminal record check, manual handling and/or immunisation schedule will become out-of-date while on placement for 2025.

Failure to complete the pre-placement requirements will result in the student's scheduled placement to be cancelled and an NC grade will be awarded. For more information regarding pre-placement requirements please review the work integrated learning (WIL) section of this unit outline.

Required IT skills

Please note the materials required for this unit section. You will require computer skills to access the internet upload to the Canvas university site submissions in various formats. This unit may involve online meetings in real time using a virtual room. To participate verbally, rather than just typing, you will need a microphone. For best audio quality we recommend a microphone and speaker headset. For more information and to test your computer, please visit the UCLearn Student Help link.

Students undertaking units where there are assessment items conducted online are strongly encouraged to test their setup during the semester. Where support for troubleshooting technical issues is identified by students, students are encouraged to seek support from Service Desk.

Work placement, internships or practicums

The Australian Nursing and Midwifery Accreditation Council (ANMAC) has accredited the UC Nursing program. For UC graduates to be eligible for registration as a nurse in Australia, attendance on PEP for the required number of hours over the course is mandatory. Therefore, attendance is compulsory for all scheduled PEP.

To meet the requirements of the Nursing degree, students must successfully complete the set number of clinical hours within a variety of clinical settings. The University of Canberra has developed relationships with a range of public and private health service providers to achieve this requirement. Students are representing the University and are expected to meet the University student conduct requirements.

PEP is organised by the CareersUC Placement Team and are scheduled throughout the calendar year, including during class free periods. Once allocated to PEP, students are expected to be available to attend that placement in the roster given by the placement site. There are a range of important learning opportunities available throughout the shift and students are expected to avail themselves of these opportunities.

Students are required to be punctual for placement and should receive their rostered shifts from the CareersUC Placement Team or directly from the allocated PEP site.

Required PEP Documents and Assessments

In each Nursing Practice unit the platform SmartaBase is used to record students PEP assessments, goals, reflections and clinical attendance. Students will be provided information and education on using the system and associated placement requirements.

In line with requirements stipulated in the Student PEP guidelines any evidence of extenuating circumstances that affect a student's attendance schedule and/or location of PEP, must be provided to the Clinical Placements Team, by the deadline announced on the Nursing Programs Canvas sites, for consideration during PEP scheduling. This includes Placement support letters from Inclusion.

Prior to commencing PEP all students are required to:

• Review the Clinical Placement Module and Smartabase instructions (where applicable)
• This includes all associated due dates for each of the required activities.
• Complete all pre-placement requirements by the advertised deadline.
• Accept the conditions and upload a signed copy of the UC Student Agreement.

During PEP all students are required to:

• Complete and submit their mid-placement assessment.

Please note: It is expected that students will complete their scheduled PEP, in consecutive days. This is to support their learning and development, and to facilitate assessment of students against the required standards. Where students are absent from PEP and the absence impacts on continuity of assigned PEP, the remainder of the student's scheduled PEP may be rescheduled. The rescheduled PEP will be inclusive of the outstanding PEP hours and any required make-up time, to afford opportunity for the student to undertake PEP as required and be assessed appropriately.

After clinical placement all students are required to:

• Complete and upload a copy of their Clinical Attendance Record (CAR) to Smartabase
• Sign their ANSAT to acknowledge their understanding of their assessment.

• This must be completed within seven (7) days of completion of clinical placement.  

Students who do not complete above activities, within the required timeframes, will not be able to commence/continue or finalise their PEP resulting in a fail, non-complete (NC) grade.

Students who are unsuccessful in any NP unit will be required to complete all assessments (including all PEP hours) in a subsequent offering of the unit to progress in their program ie. PEP hours from an unsuccessful attempt at an NP unit are not included in the PEP hours calculated for the program.

Additional mandated pre-placement requirements:

Pre Place is a required module and must be completed by any student attending a placement/internship. Students are required to upload the specific documents and complete the outlined training.  To access this course please follow this link https://uclearn.canberra.edu.au/enroll/GBYNB8. Students will not be permitted to attend placement until they have completed the training and uploaded evidence to InPlace.

Students are advised to review InPlace regularly to check the status of their pre-placement requirements and to ensure that all contact details are up-to-date. This information must include an emergency point of contact or next of kin.

The CareersUC Placement Team requires evidence of the following before a placement can be organised:

• Immunisations
• TB Screening
• NSW Health Forms
• National Criminal History Check
• Working with Vulnerable People Card
• Manual Handling Training Assessment

The student needs to upload this information to InPlace and ensure it is verified (green status) by the due date stipulated by the placement team.

Students are required to be familiar with the Pre-Placement requirements and Placement checks and clearances pages.

Industry mandatory requirements:

Students will be advised of any mandatory eLearning which must be completed for specific clinical placement sites via email or InPlace notification. Students are required to complete all eLearning as directed in this correspondence to participate in their PEP as scheduled.

Failure to complete required eLearning, or pre-placement requirements, within the advised timeframes will result in the cancellation of clinical placement (PEP) and a fail (NC) grade for the unit.

 Please see the Nursing Programs Canvas site and the Clinical Placement website for further detailed information.

Manual Handling

Students should check InPlace to ensure their Manual Handling training is current. Annual manual handling training is a pre-placement requirement for all nursing students in any health care facility. This may be in addition to any other e-learning required by a Health Service. Training information can be found on the Faculty of Health Canvas site. Students must complete all the online Manual Handling training modules and the quiz. Evidence of successful completion of the quiz is then uploaded to InPlace to show proof of completion of manual handling training. A practical training session will be needed - you will be advised of this via unit convenor or by the Nursing Professional Practice Convenor.

Students should ensure that enough time is allowed to complete the online modules (1-2 hours), leaving this until the last moment will result in the student not being able to complete Manual Handling training and subsequent cancellation of their placement.

Failure to complete the required Manual Handling training, within the advised timeframes, will result in the cancellation of clinical placement (PEP) and a fail (NC) grade for the unit.

Make up time

Unless they have evidence of extenuating circumstances, students are expected to complete all rostered clinical practice days, to satisfactorily meet the requirements of the Nursing Practice unit. The Master of Nursing Practice (graduate entry) program is accredited to include 840 hours of supervised practice for course completion.

Students who are approved to complete make-up days because of absence due to extenuating circumstances, will have this arranged by the CareersUC Placement Team and will be notified via InPlace.

Students are strongly encouraged to self-audit their clinical hours regularly and compare these to the hours recorded in Smartabase to ensure accuracy.

Removal from Clinical Placement (PEP)

Students who demonstrate unsatisfactory progress towards the expected standard of practice for their enrolled Nursing Practice unit at any point throughout their PEP will be commenced on an Individual Support Plan (ISP) with specific learning strategies and goals. If the strategies and goals are not met, students will receive an unsatisfactory Clinical Assessment, which will result in removal from Clinical Placement (PEP) and a fail grade (NC) for the unit. If the students conduct or practice constitutes a significant risk to public safety, as assessed by the clinical site, CLN, or CF a student's placement may be suspended or terminated immediately without an ISP in place. The student will meet with the Nursing Professional Practice Convenor and Discipline Lead (Nursing) and discuss their progress in the unit, and alternate arrangements may be made depending on the outcome of the meeting and any investigations or inquiries.

• Semester 2, 2025, On-campus, UC - Canberra, Bruce (222364)