Unit Synopsis
In this unit, you will have the opportunity to explore, evaluate and apply nursing theories and models that are currently used in the care of older people in different care settings – acute, community, and residential aged care. You will investigate societal perceptions of older people, ageing and the impact these perceptions may have on the older person. You will plan changes to enhance the organisational culture of your clinical setting to provide an environment that is conducive to meeting the clinical, social and psychological needs of the older person and their families.
Details
| Level | Postgraduate |
|---|---|
| Unit Level | 8 |
| Credit Points | 6 |
| Student Contribution Band | SCA Band 4 |
| Fraction of Full-Time Student Load | 0.125 |
| Pre-requisites or Co-requisites |
Students must be enrolled in CL22 Master of Clinical Nursing or CL16 Graduate Certificate in Clinical Nursing to undertake this unit. Pre-requisite: DCHA2003. 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). |
| Class Timetable | View Unit Timetable |
| Residential School | No Residential School |
Unit Availabilities from Term 1 - 2026
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 Postgraduate 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.
Assessment Tasks
| Assessment Task | Weighting |
|---|---|
| 1. Written Assessment | 40% |
| 2. Case Study | 60% |
This is a graded unit: your overall grade will be calculated from the marks or grades for each assessment task, based on the relative weightings shown in the table above. You must obtain an overall mark for the unit of at least 50%, or an overall grade of ‘pass’ in order to pass the unit. If any ‘pass/fail’ tasks are shown in the table above they must also be completed successfully (‘pass’ grade). You must also meet any minimum mark requirements specified for a particular assessment task, as detailed in the ‘assessment task’ section (note that in some instances, the minimum mark for a task may be greater than 50%).
Past Exams
All University policies are available on the Policy web site, however you may wish to directly view the following policies below.
This list is not an exhaustive list of all University policies. The full list of policies are available on the Policy web 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.
Source: SUTE Unit comments report T1, 2024.
For future students, this unit could use a bit of workplace interactions and feedback from work seniors.
Modules of learning will be reviewed to incorporate clinical activities to apply theoretical learning into clinical practice. Students will be encouraged to seek formative feedback from their nurse leaders in their place of employment.
For Term 2, 2025, students were encouraged to discuss assessment idea topics relating to their clinical practice with their nurse educators or unit managers. This approach supported the development of case study assessments, which students then presented to their peers as a form of professional development.
Source: Student email.
Assessments were relatable to my clinical practice. I found this helped improve my knowledge.
The unit coordinator to continue to design assessments that encourage critical thinking and real-world application of clinical concepts, particularly in complex scenarios involving older adults with comorbidities such as dementia.
In Progress
On successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:
- Evaluate the application of nursing models of care pertinent to the holistic nursing care of the older adult and their families in your healthcare setting.
- Analyse the impact that societal values have on the older adult and their nursing care across diverse care settings.
- Critically discuss evidence-informed clinical, social, and psychosocial care needs of the older adult using contemporary evidence and national standards.
- Construct and justify strategies to enhance a competent, culturally inclusive, person-centred work culture that meets the needs of older adults and their families across diverse care settings.
This unit is not linked to external accreditation.
| Assessment Tasks | Learning Outcomes | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | |
| 1 - Written Assessment | • | • | • | • |
| 2 - Case Study | • | • | • | • |
| Graduate Attributes | Learning Outcomes | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | |
| 1 - Knowledge | • | • | • | • |
| 2 - Communication | • | • | • | |
| 3 - Cognitive, technical and creative skills | • | • | • | • |
| 4 - Research | • | • | • | • |
| 5 - Self-management | • | • | ||
| 6 - Ethical and Professional Responsibility | • | • | ||
| 8 - Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Cultures | • | |||
| Assessment Tasks | Graduate Attributes | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 8 | |