BNurs Adult Nursing / Course details

Year of entry: 2024

Course unit details:
Delivering Harm Free Care in Infection prevention & Tissue Viability

Course unit fact file
Unit code NURS23121
Credit rating 10
Unit level Level 2
Teaching period(s) Semester 1
Available as a free choice unit? No

Overview

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).

Aims

This unit aims to :
  • Enhance students’ ability to identify the factors that contribute to Healthcare Associated Infections (HCAIs) and complex wounds
  • Equip students with the skills to assess tissue viability and to plan and deliver evidence based care to patients at risk of, or who have acquired a HCAI or developed a complex wound
  • Facilitate students’ ability to locate and appraise the evidence base for practice in the prevention and management of HCAI and complex wounds
 

Learning outcomes

Each LO is linked to the NMC (2018) Standards of proficiency for registered nurses.

Teaching and learning methods

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.   
 

Knowledge and understanding

  • Identify the factors that contribute to Healthcare Associated Infections (HCAIs) and complex wounds (1.7, 1.8, 2.1, 2.4, 2.11, 2.12, 3.2, 3.8, 3.11)
  • Demonstrate an understanding of the features of and signs and symptoms associated with HCAI and complex wounds   (1.7, 1.8, 3.2, 3.9)
  • Appreciate the behavioural and organisational factors that impact on the prevention and nursing management of HCAI and complex wounds (1.3, 4.3, 4.6, 5.2, 5.3, 7.5)
 

Intellectual skills

  • Source and apply the evidence that underpins the prevention and nursing management of HCAI and complex wounds (1.7, 1.8, 3.2, 3.8, 3.9, 3.11)
  • Debate relevant policy and legislation that impacts on harm-free care delivery (1.2, 6.1 6.3, 6.6, 6.8)
  • Apply information learnt in one setting to different clinical environments (4.17, 7.8, 7.10).
 

Practical skills

  • Use risk assessment tools to assess patients, while recognising their strengths and limitations  (1.8, 1.16, 3.8, 5.8, 6.5, 6.10, 7.11)
  • Complete a range of investigations to assist in the diagnosis and treatment of HCAI and complex wounds (3.5, 3.9, 3.10)
  • Demonstrate communication strategies that recognise the impact of HCAI and complex wounds on the bio-psychosocial health of the individual (1.9, 1.12, 1.13, 1.16, 3.4, 3.5, 7.7).
 

Transferable skills and personal qualities

  • Demonstrate research and enquiry skills by accessing, analysing and applying evidence and other literature (1.7, 1.8, 1.18, 1.20, 3.3)
  • Take responsibility for personal learning and completion of learning tasks (1.1, 1.19)
  • Reflect on own role in delivering harm free care (1.14, 1.17, 5.8, 5.10)
 

Assessment methods

Method Weight
Written assignment (inc essay) 100%

Feedback methods

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. 

Recommended reading

Study hours

Scheduled activity hours
Project supervision 12
Seminars 12
Independent study hours
Independent study 76

Teaching staff

Staff member Role
Mark Cole Unit coordinator

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