Postgraduate - UnitNUR5411 - Advanced clinical assessment and diagnostic reasoning

This unit entry is for students who completed this unit in 2014 only. For students planning to study the unit, please refer to the unit indexes in the the current edition of the Handbook. If you have any queries contact the managing faculty for your course or area of study.

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12 points, SCA Band 1, 0.250 EFTSL

Refer to the specific census and withdrawal dates for the semester(s) in which this unit is offered, or view unit timetables.

Level	Postgraduate
Faculty	Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences
Organisational Unit	School of Nursing and Midwifery
Offered	Clayton First semester 2014 (Flexible)
Coordinator(s)	Dr Bev Copnell

Synopsis

This unit will enable students to develop the assessment and diagnostic knowledge and skills required for practice as a Nurse Practitioner. The content focuses on the acquisition and synthesis of information from a variety of sources, including patients' histories, physical examination and diagnostic tests, to differentiate between normal and abnormal findings and identify differential diagnoses. Factors which impact on health assessment will be explored. Skill development will be supported through the provision of adequate and appropriate clinical practice in the context of the workplace setting and students will be expected to work closely with their clinical mentors to achieve this.

Outcomes

On completion of this unit students will be expected to be able to:

Perform advanced, comprehensive and holistic health assessment in an area of specialist practice
Analyse the contribution of physical, emotional, psychological, social, and cultural factors to health assessment
Analyse clinical assessment findings to make decisions about investigative options
Interpret and analyse results from diagnostic tests in the context of the patient physical assessment
Synthesise findings from assessment and diagnostic tests to formulate clinical impressions and identify differential diagnoses
Analyse the role of technology in supporting diagnostic reasoning in the specific clinical context.

Fieldwork

Students must be employed in an advanced practice role and supported in extended clinical practice activities

Assessment

Written assignment (3,000 words) (30%)
Clinical health assessment x 2 (each equivalent to 2,000 words) (40%)
Evidence-based case study (3,000 words) (30%)

Chief examiner(s)

Dr Bev Copnell

Workload requirements

Residential school 1 week, 22 hrs per week online activities and self-directed learning.

This unit applies to the following area(s) of study

Nursing

Co-requisites

Must be enrolled in course 4513. Master of Nursing students may enrol upon course coordinator approval.