This is a year 2 ‘discovery unit’ available to all students as a choice from a menu of options. Based on contemporary guidance this unit introduces students to the principles of tissue viability, considers the management of complex wounds and explores the role of the nurse and the organisation in the prevention of healthcare associated infection (HCAI).
Each LO is linked to the NMC (2018) Standards of proficiency for registered nurses.
This unit is part of a menu of options (Discovery Units) available to all students on this programme. It is important to note that the overall B.Nurs (2019) programme design ensures that students have the opportunity to meet the proficiencies aligned to the learning outcomes for this unit elsewhere in the programme. Therefore students who choose other available options will not miss out on the opportunity to achieve the programme learning outcomes that align to this unit. The intended learning outcomes for this unit have been developed to align directly to a number of NMC (2018) standards of proficiency in order to support student’s choice to further develop these proficiencies.
Nursing practice relating to HCAI and tissue viability is based on an extensive and growing body of evidence that is fundamental to all settings in which nursing care takes place. Many complex wounds and HCAIs are the result of a failure to provide harm free care. The registered nurse, therefore, requires an appreciation of the evidence base for both aspects of practice in order to achieve the aims of the unit and deliver evidence-based harm free care. The unit aims and learning outcomes recognise the range and variety of patient situations in which both HCAI and tissue viability must be considered by the nurse. The unit content and assessment enables the student to apply general principles to specific clinical situations.
The aims and learning outcomes for this unit focus on the following 2 central themes:
a) The aetiological and pathological factors that lead to a patients risk of, or the acquisition of HCAI or a complex wound
b) The evidence based nursing management of HCAI or a complex wound and the impact of this care on the patient’s bio-psychosocial health.
The teaching and learning methods used to help students achieve the aims and outcomes for this unit include the use of the key-note lectures, seminars and guided study. During seminars, key principles from lectures will be employed to support students in applying theoretical perspectives and evidence to situations that they have met in practice. Students will be provided with access to key evidence and literature through the VLE Blackboard system.
Assessment
The assessment task is a case study selected from practice that concerns a patient who is at risk of, or has acquired, either a HCAI or a complex wound. This will enable students to articulate the assessment and nursing management of a specific patient with reference to the evidence.
Students will normally have the opportunity to receive feedback on formative work submitted prior to the summative assessment. Other feedback opportunities will also be available in class and online discussion boards. Online feedback is provided in Grademark. Provisional feedback based on internal marking will be made available prior to the Exam Board on the basis that these marks are yet to be ratified at the Exam Board and therefore may be subject to change. A standard feedback mechanism in Grademark is utilised across all undergraduate programmes within the School which provides detailed and constructive feedback on each component and aspect of assessment and identifies areas of strength and those aspects which could be enhanced.
Student feedback is obtained through open discussion forums on blackboard, in class discussions, via formal University unit evaluation forms and also qualitative, in house evaluations at the end of the unit.
