Overview
This unit is one of three (3) clinical placement units within the course. In this unit, you will apply clinical knowledge and skills at an intermediate level in a clinical setting with an approved provider. You will engage in reflective practice activities to support self-directed learning, demonstrate your competency of newly acquired skills, and work on areas for improvement identified during your previous clinical placement unit.
Details
Pre-requisites or Co-requisites
Pre-requisites: PMSC12002 Clinical Paramedic Practice 1. PMSC12003 Special Populations in Paramedic Practice. PMSC12005 Paramedic Medical Emergencies 2. Please note: Any student who has not successfully completed a PMSC residential school within the preceding 12 months or undertaken a clinical placement unit, should consult with the Head of Course to discuss completing a PMSC12001 Procedures & Skills refresher. This ensures currency with all contemporary skills and procedures in line with industry standards and professional capabilities.
Important note: Students enrolled in a subsequent unit who failed their pre-requisite unit, should drop the subsequent unit before the census date or within 10 working days of Fail grade notification. Students who do not drop the unit in this timeframe cannot later drop the unit without academic and financial liability. See details in the Assessment Policy and Procedure (Higher Education Coursework).
Offerings For Term 1 - 2025
Attendance Requirements
All on-campus students are expected to attend scheduled classes - in some units, these classes are identified as a mandatory (pass/fail) component and attendance is compulsory. International students, on a student visa, must maintain a full time study load and meet both attendance and academic progress requirements in each study period (satisfactory attendance for International students is defined as maintaining at least an 80% attendance record).
Recommended Student Time Commitment
Each 6-credit Undergraduate unit at CQUniversity requires an overall time commitment of an average of 12.5 hours of study per week, making a total of 150 hours for the unit.
Class Timetable
Assessment Overview
Assessment Grading
This is a pass/fail (non-graded) unit. To pass the unit, you must pass all of the individual assessment tasks shown in the table above.
All University policies are available on the CQUniversity Policy site.
You may wish to view these policies:
- Grades and Results Policy
- Assessment Policy and Procedure (Higher Education Coursework)
- Review of Grade Procedure
- Student Academic Integrity Policy and Procedure
- Monitoring Academic Progress (MAP) Policy and Procedure - Domestic Students
- Monitoring Academic Progress (MAP) Policy and Procedure - International Students
- Student Refund and Credit Balance Policy and Procedure
- Student Feedback - Compliments and Complaints Policy and Procedure
- Information and Communications Technology Acceptable Use Policy and Procedure
This list is not an exhaustive list of all University policies. The full list of University policies are available on the CQUniversity Policy site.
Feedback, Recommendations and Responses
Every unit is reviewed for enhancement each year. At the most recent review, the following staff and student feedback items were identified and recommendations were made.
Feedback from SUTE
The grand rounds presentation was somewhat unclear and confusing. Additional information about the requirements would have been useful. While the need to explain and demonstrate an understanding of the placement content was understood, it seemed like a significant financial burden if the assessment was based solely on a pass/fail system.
From 2025, the Grand Rounds assessment is to be removed and replaced with a Portfolio assessment to develop a contemporary view focusing on both cultural and vulnerable clients.
Feedback from SUTE
The inclusion of an additional section in the Clinical Supervisor Assessment report to include general comments from supervisors and not related to a negative event would be very helpful.
From 2025, the Clinical Supervisor Assessment will provide greater opportunities for Clinical Supervisors to provide feedback including both positive and constructive commentary.
Feedback from SUTE
Provide mentor training for paramedics supervising students so there is a standardised structure to teaching students.
From 2025, all placement providers (site level) will receive a pre-placement welcome pack which will include clarity surrounding upcoming placement, expectations and supportive documentation.
- Apply clinical reasoning and practical skills at an intermediate level within the clinical setting while working collaboratively with allied health professionals
- Integrate the principles of reflective practice into clinical reasoning and professional conduct in the context of paramedicine
- Demonstrate the ethical, legal, and professional requirements, responsibilities, and boundaries associated with paramedic practice.
The Paramedicine Board of Australia requires that units align with the Professional Capabilities for Registered Paramedics, which consist of five (5) domains. The below section aligns the proposed learning outcomes with these domains. In addition, the learning outcomes have been aligned with the National Safety and Quality Health Service (NSQHS) Standards.
Professional Capabilities for Registered Paramedics
| Standard/Attribute/Criteria | Learning Outcomes |
|
Domain 1: The professional; and ethical practitioner 1.1.1, 1.1.2, 1.1.3, 1.1.4, 1.1.5, 1.1.6, 1.1.8, 1.1.9, 1.1.10, 1.1.11, 1.2.1, 1.2.2, 1.2.3, 1.2.4, 1.2.5, 1.3.1, 1.3.2, 1.3.3, 1.4.1, 1.4.2 |
LO1, LO2, LO3 |
|
Domain 2: The communicator and the collaborator 2.1.1, 2.1.2, 2.1.3, 2.1.4, 2.1.5, 2.1.6, 2.1.7, 2.1.8, 2.2.1, 2.2.2, 2.2.3, 2.2.5, 2.2.6 |
LO1, LO2, LO3 |
|
Domain 3: The evidence-based practitioner 3.1.1, 3.1.2, 3.2.1, 3.2.2, 3.2.3, 3.2.4, 3.2.5, 3.2.6, 3.3.1, 3.3.2, 3.3.3, 3.3.4, 3.4.1, 3.4.2, 3.4.3, 3.4.4 |
LO1, LO2, LO3 |
|
Domain 4: The safety and risk management practitioner 4.1.1, 4.1.2, 4.1.3, 4.1.4, 4.1.5, 4.2.1, 4.2.2, 4.2.3, 4.2.4, 4.3.1, 4.3.2, 4.3.3, 4.4.1, 4.4.2, 4.4.3, 4.4.4, 4.5.2, 4.5.3, 4.6.4, 4.6.5, 4.7.1, 4.7.3, 4.7.4, 4.7.7 |
LO1, LO2, LO3 |
|
Domain 5: The paramedicine practitioner 5.1.2, 5.1.3, 5.1.4, 5.1.5, 5.2.1, 5.2.2, 5.2.3, 5.2.4, 5.2.5, 5.3.1, 5.3.3, 5.3.4, 5.3.5, 5.3.6, 5.4.1, 5.4.2, 5.4.3, 5.4.4, 5.4.5, 5.4.6, 5.6.1, 5.6.2, 5.6.3, 5.6.4 |
LO1, LO2, LO3 |
National Safety and Quality Health Service Standards
| Standard | Learning Outcomes |
| Partnering and Consumers | LO1, LO2, LO3 |
| Preventing and Controlling infections | LO1, LO2, LO3 |
| Medication safety | LO1, LO2, LO3 |
| Comprehensive care | LO1, LO2, LO3 |
| Communicating for Safety | LO1, LO2 |
| Recognising and responding to Acute Deterioration | LO1, LO2 |
Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Learning Outcomes
| Assessment Tasks | Learning Outcomes | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | |
| 1 - Professional Practice Placement - 0% | |||
| 2 - Case Study - 0% | |||
Alignment of Graduate Attributes to Learning Outcomes
| Graduate Attributes | Learning Outcomes | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | |
| 1 - Communication | |||
| 2 - Problem Solving | |||
| 3 - Critical Thinking | |||
| 4 - Information Literacy | |||
| 5 - Team Work | |||
| 6 - Information Technology Competence | |||
| 7 - Cross Cultural Competence | |||
| 8 - Ethical practice | |||
| 9 - Social Innovation | |||
| 10 - Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Cultures | |||
Textbooks
There are no required textbooks.
IT Resources
- CQUniversity Student Email
- Internet
- Unit Website (Moodle)
- Sonia Online
All submissions for this unit must use the referencing style: American Psychological Association 7th Edition (APA 7th edition)
For further information, see the Assessment Tasks.
k.verney@cqu.edu.au
Module/Topic
Introduction
Social media & Code of conduct
Chapter
Module 1
Events and Submissions/Topic
Zoom dial-in session
Module/Topic
AHPRA Professional capabilities for registered paramedics
Chapter
Module 2
Events and Submissions/Topic
Zoom dial-in session
Module/Topic
Cultural safety
Chapter
Module 3
Events and Submissions/Topic
Week 1 of Clinical Placement
Zoom dial-in session
Module/Topic
Cultural Safety
Chapter
Module 3 Cont..
Events and Submissions/Topic
Week 2 of Clinical placement
Zoom dial-in session
Module/Topic
Reflective Practice
Chapter
Module 4
Events and Submissions/Topic
Week 3 of clinical placement
Interim (Formative) Clinical supervisor report due by 0900 Monday 7th April.
Zoom dial-in session
Module/Topic
No Content
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Week 4 of clinical placement
Zoom dial-in session
Module/Topic
Reflective Practice
Chapter
Module 4 Cont..
Events and Submissions/Topic
Week 5 of clinical placement
Zoom dial-in session
Module/Topic
Injury Prevention & Occupational Violence
Chapter
Module 5
Events and Submissions/Topic
Final (Summative) Clinical Supervisor Assessment is due Monday at 9am (Queensland time) Monday 28th April 2025.
Zoom dial-in session
Professional Practice Placement Due: Week 7 Monday (28 Apr 2025) 9:00 am AEST
Module/Topic
Injury Prevention & Occupational Violence
Chapter
Module 5 Cont..
Events and Submissions/Topic
Zoom dial-in session
Module/Topic
Vulnerable Clients
Chapter
Module 6
Events and Submissions/Topic
Zoom dial-in session
Module/Topic
Vulnerable Clients
Chapter
Module 6 Cont..
Events and Submissions/Topic
Zoom dial-in session
Module/Topic
Communication in Paramedic Practice
Chapter
Module 7
Events and Submissions/Topic
Zoom dial-in session
Module/Topic
Legislation
Chapter
Module 8
Events and Submissions/Topic
Zoom Dial-in session
Case Study Due: Week 12 Monday (2 June 2025) 9:00 am AEST
Module/Topic
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Week one of placement:
Commencement of the Formative stage
Starts Monday 24th March 2025
Ends Sunday 30th March 2025
Week two of placement:
Starts Monday 31st March 2025
Ends Sunday Sunday 6th April 2025
This marks the end of the Formative stage.
Week three of placement:
Interim (Formative) Clinical supervisor assessment is due no later than 9 am (Queensland time) Monday 7th April 2025. Your own component is due by this time and date. The academic team will chase up responses from all clinical supervisors.
Commencement of Consolidation week where you reflect on your own feedback and that of your clinical supervisor/s and you formulate a plan for your Summative stage
Starts Monday 7th April 2025
Ends Sunday 14th April 2025. This marks the end of Consolidation Week.
Week four of placement:
Commencement of the Summative stage
Starts Monday 14th April 2025
Ends Sunday 20th April 2025
Week five of placement:
Starts Monday 21st April 2025
Ends Sunday 27th April 2025
Marks the end of the Summative stage
Final (Summative) Clinical supervisor assessment is due no later than 9 am (Queensland time) Monday 28th May 2025. Your own component is due by this time and date. The academic team will chase up responses from all clinical supervisors.
1 Professional Practice Placement
In this unit, you are required to complete approximately 200 hours of Work Integrated Learning (WIL) placement with a jurisdictional ambulance service. This placement offers you the opportunity to apply your underpinning knowledge, clinical reasoning, and practical skills to paramedic practice.
For this assessment, you must complete a clinical supervisor assessment which has two components. First is the Interim (Formative) Clinical Supervisor Assessment, which is followed by the Final (Summative) Clinical Supervisor Assessment.
The Interim (Formative) Clinical Supervisor Assessment acts as a mid-placement checkpoint to assist with identifying if you are potentially 'at-risk', while the Final (Summative) Clinical Supervisor Assessment is to be submitted at the end of your clinical placement.
The Clinical Supervisor Assessment contains sections gathering feedback from you and your mentors on your performance in areas such as:
- Professional capabilities for registered paramedics.
- Professionalism.
- Skills log.
- Case type log.
- Clinical activity.
- Assessment submission and forwarding to clinical supervisor.
Furthermore, there are areas where you can document cases you attended and the types of procedures, skills, and pharmacology you had exposure to while on placement. Finally, there is a section where you are expected to critically reflect upon your clinical placement. The Professional Practice Placement report is accessible via Sonia.
Week 7 Monday (28 Apr 2025) 9:00 am AEST
Clinical supervisor reports must be completed and submitted by 0900 Monday 28th April 2005.
Week 10 Monday (19 May 2025)
The Final (Summative) Clinical Supervisor Assessment will be marked in accordance with the rubric provided on the unit Moodle page, covering the following areas:
- Professional capabilities for registered paramedics.
- Professionalism.
- Skills log.
- Case type log.
- Clinical activity.
- Assessment submission and forwarding to clinical supervisor
Your Final (Summative) Clinical Supervisor Assessment is a PASS/FAIL task.
To pass this assessment, you must achieve a pass in all of the following:
- Professional capabilities for registered paramedics: Obtains 3’s or 4’s, in all questions across all Domains in the Final (Summative) Clinical Supervisor Assessment.
- Professionalism: Obtains 3’s or 4’s, in all questions in the Final (Summative) Clinical Supervisor Assessment.
- Skills log: Accurately completes the skills log section of the Final (Summative) Clinical Supervisor Assessment.
- Case type log: Accurately completes the case log section of the Final (Summative) Clinical Supervisor Assessment.
- Clinical activity: Accurately completes the clinical activity section of the Final (Summative) Clinical Supervisor Assessment.
This is a PASS/FAIL assessment, you must pass this task to pass the unit.
No submission method provided.
- Apply clinical reasoning and practical skills at an intermediate level within the clinical setting while working collaboratively with allied health professionals
- Integrate the principles of reflective practice into clinical reasoning and professional conduct in the context of paramedicine
- Demonstrate the ethical, legal, and professional requirements, responsibilities, and boundaries associated with paramedic practice.
2 Case Study
Preamble
In this case study, you will be presented with a simulated case and asked to address three questions exploring legislation, professionalism and communication relevant to the case and your clinical practice.
Task description
You are presented with an 82-year-old male patient who has collapsed in the lounge room of his independent living unit at an aged care facility which he shares with his wife. The wife contacted on-call nursing staff who called the ambulance, and their son.
On initial clinical assessment, you find the patient presenting with:
• A pulseless electrical activity (PEA) rhythm with a rate of 10bpm.
• GCS 3 (E1, V1, M1).
• Fixed and dilated pupils.
• No respirations.
• No heart sounds.
The nurse provides paramedics with a signed Advanced Health Directive (AHD). This was signed by the patient and his regular general practitioner and is valid and in date. The document expresses his wishes not to be resuscitated.
The son arrives on the scene whilst you are reviewing the document and is demanding paramedics commence cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and do everything for his father. The patient's wife is confused and visibly distressed.
You establish the following history in relation to the patient:
Social history
• The patient lives with his wife in a single-story residence.
• The house appears well kept.
• The patient’s elderly wife has early dementia.
Past medical history
• Congestive Cardiac Failure (CCF).
• Terminal prostate cancer.
• Hypercholesterolemia.
• Hypertension.
Medication
• Aspirin.
• Apixaban.
• Lipitor.
• Minipress.
Note: there are variations in advanced care planning documentation across Australia. For this task, similarly named documents include Advanced Care Planning, Advanced Care Directives and Do Not Resuscitate orders.
You are to address the following questions:
1. Considering the clinical information provided, the presence of the Advanced Health Directive, and the son's request for resuscitation, will you commence resuscitation? Provide reasoning for your decision encompassing clinical and legal aspects of this patient to support your decision.
2. How would you approach discussing the Advanced Health Directive with the wife and son whilst respecting the patient's autonomy?
3. How would you integrate reflective practice to evaluate your emotional response and decision-making process? What steps would you take to ensure your personal biases and feelings do not influence the professional and ethical actions you take?
Please refer to the Generative AI Permission document available on your Moodle site for guidelines on the acceptable and unacceptable use of generative AI in this unit.
Week 12 Monday (2 June 2025) 9:00 am AEST
Exam Week Friday (20 June 2025)
Assessment Criteria
The expected word count for your case study is 1500 words, excluding references. As a guide, 500 words per question. You will be assessed in accordance with the rubric provided on the unit Moodle page. Criteria include:
Content
• Application of clinical reasoning and professional decision-making with legal and ethical obligations in paramedicine
• Communication considerations for managing distressed persons in an emotive situation
• Integration of reflective practice to evaluate emotional response and decision-making
Overall presentation
• Organisation of paper.
• Writing mechanics.
• Appropriate word count of 1500 words (+/-10 %)
References
• Use of APA7th edition style of in-text referencing.
• Inclusion of a reference list.
• An appropriate number of quality sources of evidence, from journal articles published in the last 10 years.
Please save/upload your file in a PDF format.
This is a PASS/FAIL task. You must pass this task to pass the unit.
Please see the Moodle page for the rubric.
No submission method provided.
- Apply clinical reasoning and practical skills at an intermediate level within the clinical setting while working collaboratively with allied health professionals
- Integrate the principles of reflective practice into clinical reasoning and professional conduct in the context of paramedicine
- Demonstrate the ethical, legal, and professional requirements, responsibilities, and boundaries associated with paramedic practice.
As a CQUniversity student you are expected to act honestly in all aspects of your academic work.
Any assessable work undertaken or submitted for review or assessment must be your own work. Assessable work is any type of work you do to meet the assessment requirements in the unit, including draft work submitted for review and feedback and final work to be assessed.
When you use the ideas, words or data of others in your assessment, you must thoroughly and clearly acknowledge the source of this information by using the correct referencing style for your unit. Using others’ work without proper acknowledgement may be considered a form of intellectual dishonesty.
Participating honestly, respectfully, responsibly, and fairly in your university study ensures the CQUniversity qualification you earn will be valued as a true indication of your individual academic achievement and will continue to receive the respect and recognition it deserves.
As a student, you are responsible for reading and following CQUniversity’s policies, including the Student Academic Integrity Policy and Procedure. This policy sets out CQUniversity’s expectations of you to act with integrity, examples of academic integrity breaches to avoid, the processes used to address alleged breaches of academic integrity, and potential penalties.
What is a breach of academic integrity?
A breach of academic integrity includes but is not limited to plagiarism, self-plagiarism, collusion, cheating, contract cheating, and academic misconduct. The Student Academic Integrity Policy and Procedure defines what these terms mean and gives examples.
Why is academic integrity important?
A breach of academic integrity may result in one or more penalties, including suspension or even expulsion from the University. It can also have negative implications for student visas and future enrolment at CQUniversity or elsewhere. Students who engage in contract cheating also risk being blackmailed by contract cheating services.
Where can I get assistance?
For academic advice and guidance, the Academic Learning Centre (ALC) can support you in becoming confident in completing assessments with integrity and of high standard.
What can you do to act with integrity?
