Nursing in Specialty Areas

This unit will consolidate and build upon knowledge introduced in other units by reviewing the principles of person-centred care for specialty areas including paediatrics, aged care and high dependency/critical care. The areas of haemato-oncology, gynaecology, dual diagnosis and disability will be introduced and examined in primary, secondary and tertiary settings. For the specialty areas, the unit will explain a range of common healthcare issues, critically review the principles of evidence-based nursing care and appraise the medication management of common conditions. Students will utilise critical thinking and clinical reasoning, including legal and ethical considerations in applying and consolidating contemporary nursing practice by applying therapeutic and team communication using case scenarios in nursing simulation. To achieve this outcome, students will use digital health and comprehensive health assessment and care planning approaches. Students will integrate patient scenarios in the clinical nursing labs and simulations to demonstrate professionalism and their ability to link theory to evidence-based practice in the care of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, other cultures and people of diversity.

Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this unit, students will be able to:

1. Articulate person-centred care for a range of common conditions across primary, secondary and tertiary specialty areas, including the pathophysiology, assessment, diagnosis and management of these conditions across the lifespan;
2. Critique the evidence and models of nursing practice for specialty areas informing nursing care and intraprofessional and interprofessional collaboration for individuals, family and communities;
3. Integrate evidence-based knowledge and legal and ethical considerations when making clinical decisions in relation to person-centred care scenarios;
4. Exemplify mastery of drug calculation and principles of pharmacotherapeutics and quality use of medicines of selected medications in management of speciality areas and justify decision-making and nursing management in the quality and safe use of these medications; and
5. Exhibit a broad range of therapeutic and professional communication skills and the role of digital health to build and foster collaborative, inclusive and respectful relationships with a diverse range of individuals, groups, colleagues and communities.