Overview
It is widely recognised that the acute and critically ill are cared for in a variety of settings by a range of practitioners (DH 2000). Therefore not all critically ill patients will be cared for in an intensive care setting. To address this the DH (2001) emphasised the importance of linking theory to practice via competency- based education. Therefore it is vital that practitioners providing care are equipped with finely tuned decision making skills, underpinned by knowledge and evidence based competencies, and the ability to practice as key members of the inter- professional team.
This 60 credit module will enable practitioners to develop and strengthen their knowledge, practice skills and ability to interpret and evaluate complex patient information over a period of time which facilitates effective decision -making processes and patient centred care within acute and critical care practice.
The module is relevant to those working in most acute and critical care areas, however completion of the course may lead to registration as a Specialist Practitioner with the Nursing and Midwifery Council for those working in specialist areas. Specialist practice is the exercising of high levels of judgement, discretion and decision making in clinical care (NMC, 2001). The learning outcomes for this module are designed to allow the student to demonstrate and evidence this higher level of practice with their chosen speciality. The available specialist pathways are:
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Coronary Care
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Intensive Care
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Peri-operative Practice
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Renal
Please note: Specialist pathways are subject to alteration and cancellation at the discretion of UCS. Please contact the course/module leader for details of available pathways.
Content and Modules
What are the aims of the module?
To further develop the practitioners ability to contextualise the care of the patient within their speciality, underpinned by proficient, evidence based practice
To support the practitioner to utilise their experience and knowledge to critically analyse, prioritise and evaluate the diversity of healthcare needs within their speciality, enabling them to provide patient focused care, making decisions based upon a broad perspective and knowledge base
To enable the practitioner to demonstrate confidence in patient assessment, prioritisation of interventions and the evaluation of clinical effectiveness and patient outcome which promotes the development of autonomous practice in their chosen speciality
To facilitate the practitioner to articulate and demonstrate the skills of critical analysis to underpin their professional practice and enable them to participate in critical discussion as an active member of the specialist inter-professional team
Due to the diversity of practice settings involved with this Programme, the learning needs of individuals will be taken into account when defining the indicative content of this module for individual students.
The following list indicates potential content for this module, however, it is not intended to be exhaustive or exclusive:
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Decision-making in specialist care practice
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Healthcare assessment needs appropriate to area of practice
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Evaluation of practice and clinical outcome
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Documentation of practice intervention relevant to area of practice
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Physiological basis of speciality
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Ethics of professional practice
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Appreciation of information technology and its application to practice
How will I be assessed?
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Written assignment: A 4000-word critical analysis of an intervention related to the students area of specialist clinical practice. This must include critical analysis of patient assessment, patient outcome and clinical effectiveness in the context of the inter-professional team.
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Portfolio: Compilation of a portfolio providing evidence of completion of competency package(s)
Further Information
Site of attendance: UCS Ipswich
Dates of attendance:
Semester 1 Semester 2
02/09/13 13/01/14
16/09/13 27/01/14
30/09/13 10/02/14
14/10/13 03/03/14
04/11/13 17/03/14
18/11/13 31/03/14
Should you require any further information about this module please contact the Course Leader/Module Leader:
Donna Pierre
T: 01473 338763
E: d.pierreucs.ac.uk|
If you are already registered on a diploma or degree programme it is advisable to inform your course leader that you will be undertaking this module. This will enable your course leader to undertake the vital task of tracking your academic journey.