Authorised by Academic Registrar, April 1996
Objectives This subject will provide the opportunity for students to explore issues related to health in rural communities including those issues which have a bearing on cultural groups; promote the educative and health promotional role of the nurse; gain an understanding of the role of prevention in maintaining health; explore the influences of life-style on the health of individuals and communities; discover and understand the range of health care services at community level; examine theoretical aspects of communication and its relationship to the caring process; explore the foundations and processes of communication in the nurse/client relationship; develop an awareness of the skills involved in providing understanding and health care to a multicultural community; develop an understanding of the health care system and how health policy evolves.
Synopsis The subject will provide the opportunity to understand the notion of health from a variety of perspectives. The focus of the subject will be the community setting, the health of individuals and groups, the nurse's role in promoting health, the provision of primary health care and the implications of promoting `Health for all by the year 2000'. The subject acknowledges that community health services are provided mainly by nurses. It strives to create an awareness of their own community among students. The clinical component aims to provide the opportunity to explore the provision of health care to individuals and groups in communities, to synthesise theory and practice, to develop skills of a health care novice. The subject is taught by lectures, tutorials, a group project and field experience in the community setting. Attendance at 80 per cent of nursing laboratory/tutorial sessions and all field experience is mandatory.
Assessment Written (750 words): 10% + Group project and presentation: 60% + Examination: 30% + Performance on field experience graded on pass/fail basis + Successful completion of the subject requires a pass in the theoretical examination + Students who do not pass the field experience are deemed to have failed the whole subject