NUR3020 Transition to Professional Practice

NUR	3020	87128	1, 2009	EXT	Transition to Professional Practice	1.00	Toowoomba
Subject	Cat-nbr	Class	Term	Mode	Description	Units	Campus

Academic group:	FOSCI
Academic org:	FOS004
Student contribution band:	National Priority Nursing
ASCED code:	060301

Staffing
Requisites
Rationale
Synopsis
Objectives
Topics
Texts
Reference materials
Student workload
Assessment details
Important assessment information
Assessment notes
Production date
PDF version

STAFFING

Examiner: Melissa Taylor
Moderator: Helen Nutter

REQUISITES

Pre-requisite: (NUR2300 or NUR3060) and NUR2400 and NUR2500 plus one of the following: NUR2499 or NUR2599

RATIONALE

Transition to professional practice is best embraced as a challenging opportunity. This course is intended to assist the student to make a successful transition from student to registered nurse within ethico-legal parameters. Contemporary professional practice mandates that students comprehend their 'Scope of Practice' in order to practice within its parameters. To achieve this, students will have the opportunity to critically analyse the 'Scope of Practice' and related concepts including role boundaries, role conflict, role expansion, continuous competency assessment and 'Codes of Conduct' during this course. In addition this course aims to clarify the challenging and complex process of 'transition to practice' by reinforcing the relationship between professional knowledge and clinical experience. The reflective skills extended in this course will enable students to critique and clarify professional knowledge and how such knowledge is situated in relation to clinical experience. Importantly the course will highlight the learning opportunities available in a constantly changing workplace, and model a process of lifelong learning for professional development.

SYNOPSIS

This course will draw upon knowledge from both first and second year courses and introduce professional development concepts aimed at student transition into the practice environment. A s such students are required to consider, value and interpret practice through exploration of how knowledge is used to inform professional practice issues, problems and incidents. Critical skills will be developed by students through the process of critical reflection. As such, concepts covered during the semester will be analysed through a critical reflective framework which will be applied to practice and professional development situations. The course content will expand the ethico-legal aspects of nursing practice introduced in previous courses. Concepts include ethical decision making, 'Code of Conduct' and the legal parameters for nurses in clinical practice. In addition, perspectives of transition to professional practice will be discussed and analysed. Concepts include, work expectations, role conflict, Scope of Practice, role conflict, and role boundaries, reflection on practice, "caring for self", the role of the nurse in health care, developing a professional portfolio and strategies to support lifelong learning.

OBJECTIVES

On completion of this course students will be able to:

1.: critically apply relevant legal and ethical principles to future health care practice situations; (Assignment 1 & 2)
2.: explore client issues and incidents that can pose as ethical and or legal dilemmas;(Assignment 1 & 2)
3.: interpret and analyse the Scope of Practice; (Assignment 1 & 2)
4.: engage in critical discussion which explores the relationship between work expectations, role conflict and role boundaries; (Assignment 1 & 2)
5.: critically analyse feedback from colleagues, evidenced based research and theoretical knowledge to support and advance professional development and personal accountability; (Assignment 1)
6.: critically discuss strategies to facilitate the transition to professional practice for beginning Registered Nurses; (Assignment 1 & 2 and Mentoring exercise)
7.: examine the elements, purpose and value of developing a professional profile; (Assignment 1 and Mentoring exercise)
8.: construct a personal plan for reflective practice and lifelong learning. (Assignment 1 & 2)

TOPICS

	Description	Weighting (%)
1.	Law Module - the tradition of law in Australia; the development of common law, equity and statute; the court system in the Australian Federation; legal parameters of nursing clinical practice and research, informed consent, negligence, vicarious liability, code of conduct.	30.00
2.	Ethics Module - fundamentals of ethics; ethical decision making; models of ethical decision making; ethical principles; code of ethics for nurses; ethical congruent clinical practice, advocacy.	30.00
3.	Preparing For Role Transition Module - Reflection; reflective practice and becoming a critical reflective practitioner; transition from student to registered nurse, "caring for self", establishing a professional profile, dealing with work culture, preparing a curriculum vitae. Scope of practice, including role conflict and role boundaries and the principles of delegation.	40.00

TEXT and MATERIALS required to be PURCHASED or accessed

ALL textbooks and materials are available for purchase from USQ BOOKSHOP (unless otherwise stated). Orders may be placed via secure internet, free fax 1800642453, phone 07 46312742 (within Australia), or mail. Overseas students should fax +61 7 46311743, or phone +61 7 46312742. For costs, further details, and internet ordering, use the 'Textbook Search' facility at http://bookshop.usq.edu.au click 'Semester', then enter your 'Course Code' (no spaces).

Chang, E & Daly, J 2008, Transitions in nursing: preparing for professional practice, 2nd edn, MacLennan & Petty, Eastgardens, NSW.

Freegard, H 2007, Ethical practice for health professionals, Thompson, South Melbourne.
(Highly recommended)

Instructional Guide 2007, Course NUR3020 - Transition to professional practice, USQ Publications, Toowoomba.
(Available study desk online)

Staunton, P & Chiarella, M 2007, Nursing and the law, 6th edn, Churchill Livingstone, Sydney.
(Highly recommended)

REFERENCE MATERIALS

Reference materials are materials that, if accessed by students, may improve their knowledge and understanding of the material in the course and enrich their learning experience.

Nursing Act 1992, Qld (Available: http://www.qnc.qld.gov.au/upload/pdfs/Nursing_Act_1992.pdf).

Andre, K & Hartfield 2007, Professional portfolios, Churchill Livingstone, Sydney.

ANMC Code of professional conduct for nurses in Australia (Available: http://www.qnc.qld.gov.au/upload/pdfs/practice_standards/Code_of_professional-conduct_for_nurses.pdf).

ANMC National competency standards for the registered nurse (Available: http://www.qnc.qld.gov.au/upload/pdfs/practice_standards/ANMC_National_).

ANMC, ANF and RCNA Code of ethics for nurses in Australia (Available: http://www.qnc.qld.gov.au/upload/pdfs/practice_standards/Code_of_Ethics_for_Nurses_in_Australia.pdf).

Edge, RS & Groves, JR 2005, Ethics of health care, a guide for clinical practice, 3rd edn, Thomson Delmar Learning, New York.

Greenwood, J (Ed) 2000, Nursing theory in Australia: development and application, 2nd edn, Pearson Education, Frenchs Forest.

Haynes, LC, Butcher, HK & Boese, TA 2004, Nursing in contemporary society: issues, trends and transition to practice, Pearson/Prentice Hall, New Jersey.

McCoppin, B & Gardner, H 1994, Tradition and reality: nursing and politics in Australia, Churchill Livingstone, Melbourne.

Meleis, A 2007, Theoretical nursing: development and progress, 4th edn, Lippincott, Philadelphia.

Queensland Nursing Council 2005, Scope of practice framework for nurses and midwives (Available: http://www.qnc.qld.gov.au/upload/pdfs/practice_standards/Scope_of_Nursing).

RCNA Nursing Review,

Rolfe, G 1996, Closing the theory-practice gap, Butterworth-Heinemann, Oxford, United Kingdom.

Russell, RL 1990, From nightingale to now: nurse education in Australia, WB Saunders, Sydney.

STUDENT WORKLOAD REQUIREMENTS

ACTIVITY	HOURS
On-line Exercises	38.00
Private Study	112.00

ASSESSMENT DETAILS

Description	Marks out of	Wtg(%)	Due date	Notes
MINI MENTORING EXERCISE	5.00	5.00	01 Mar 2009	(see note 1)
ASSIGNMENT 1	50.00	45.00	03 Apr 2009
ASSIGNMENT 2 - CASE STUDY	50.00	50.00	05 Jun 2009

NOTES

1.: Date of assessment to be advised by Course Examiner at commencement of semester

IMPORTANT ASSESSMENT INFORMATION

Attendance requirements:
It is the students' responsibility to attend and participate appropriately in all activities scheduled for them, including an 8 hour compulsory workshop for internal & external mode students, and to study all material provided to them or required to be accessed by them to maximise their chance of meeting the objectives of the course and to be informed of course-related activities and administration.
Requirements for students to complete each assessment item satisfactorily:
To satisfactorily complete an individual assessment item a student must achieve at least 50% of the marks. (Depending upon the requirements in Statement 4 below, students may not have to satisfactorily complete each assessment item to receive a passing grade in this course.)
Penalties for late submission of required work:
If students submit assignments after the due date without (prior) approval of the examiner then a penalty of 5% of the total marks gained by the student for the assignment may apply for each working day late up to ten working days at which time a mark of zero may be recorded. No assignments will be accepted after model answers have been posted.
Requirements for student to be awarded a passing grade in the course:
To be assured of receiving a passing grade a student must achieve at least 50% of the total weighted marks available for the course.
Method used to combine assessment results to attain final grade:
The final grades for students will be assigned on the basis of the weighted aggregate of the marks obtained for each of the summative assessment items in the course.
Examination information:
There is no examination in this course.
Examination period when Deferred/Supplementary examinations will be held:
There will be no Deferred or Supplementary examinations in this course
University Regulations:
Students should read USQ Regulations 5.1 Definitions, 5.6. Assessment and 5.10 Academic Misconduct for further information and to avoid actions which might contravene University Regulations. These regulations can be found at the URL http://www.usq.edu.au/corporateservices/calendar/part5.htm.

ASSESSMENT NOTES

9.	The due date for an assignment is the date by which a student must despatch the assignment to the USQ. The onus is on the student to provide proof of the despatch date, if requested by the Examiner.
10.	In accordance with University Policy, the examiner may grant an extension of the due date of an assignment in extenuating circumstances
11.	Students must retain a copy of each item submitted for assessment. If requested, students will be required to provide a copy of assignments submitted for assessment purposes. Such copies should be despatched to USQ within 24 hours of receipt of a request being made.

This version produced 11 Dec 2009.