Unit Synopsis
In this unit, you will have the opportunity to practice nursing care for individuals, including those who are acutely unwell. You will apply the relevant Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia (NMBA) Professional Standards and the National Safety and Quality Health Service Standards (NSQHS) in your practice as a nursing student. You will identify risk and recognise and respond appropriately to the needs of the patient in the simulated and clinical environments. You will review the concept of scope of practice using the Decision-Making Framework (DMF) (NMBA, 2020). You are required to participate in a compulsory three (3) day, 24-hour residential school or equivalent prior to attending professional experience placement for this unit. This unit includes a 120 hour block professional experience placement in a clinical care environment. You must meet specific mandatory health, safety and security requirements to be eligible to attend each professional experience placement. Professional experience placements may be limited in your community, and you may be placed in other locations. Please be prepared financially and personally to cover the costs of relocating for placements. Due to the limited availability of placements, some block placements have start and/or end dates that fall outside standard term dates.
Details
| Level | Undergraduate |
|---|---|
| Unit Level | 2 |
| Credit Points | 6 |
| Student Contribution Band | SCA Band 1 |
| Fraction of Full-Time Student Load | 0.125 |
| Pre-requisites or Co-requisites |
Pre-requisites: BMSC11010 NURS11170 or admission to CM77 Co-requisite: NURS12160 NURS12162 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 |
Compulsory Residential School View Unit Residential School |
Unit Availabilities from Term 1 - 2026
Term 1 - 2026 Profile
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.
Assessment Tasks
| Assessment Task | Weighting |
|---|---|
| 1. In-class Test(s) | 0% |
| 2. Professional Practice Placement | 0% |
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.
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 .
Term 1 - 2025 : The overall satisfaction for students in the last offering of this course was 84.38% (`Agree` and `Strongly Agree` responses), based on a 12.15% response rate.
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 Comments
The number of people in our residential school group was too big. Because of this large group size, the teachers were unable to circulate the room and give feedback and assistance to each of us. If I did not have an EN in my group I would have learnt very little. This left me feeling very unprepared for placement.
To ensure quality of learning is achieved, the number of residential school teaching staff could be reviewed. Conduct regular check ins with students throughout the day to ensure student learning needs are being met will enhance and facilitate student learning. This allows the student opportunities to speak up regarding what learning needs and skill practices they require and/or missed out on practising.
In Progress
Source: Sute comments
Maybe needs to be recognition of experience for EN's. All the skills shown in the lab were everyday skills already used by most of the EN's
It is recommended that the prior experience and clinical competence of Endorsed Enrolled Nurses (ENs) be recognised within the structure of residential school activities.This has been recognised and the implementation of a new pathway for EN's has been recommended, ensuring that ENs are challenged and engaged and their learning opportunities are tailored to their skill development.
In Progress
Source: Sute Comments
Residential school was rushed. Two teachers for a large volume of students and the content to get through is too much. We got shown a PCA's and syringe drivers briefly to then have it followed up with 'but we will touch more on them in PEP4.'• Then why are we talking about it now and taking up valuable time. We got shown airway adjuncts but then were shown how an intubation was done but we are never going to intubate someone? This all takes up valuable time that could be spent one something else. The Enrolled Nurses in the group were having to guide and support the none EN's because the teachers are so stretched. Then the EN's would get in trouble for not 'staying in the scope of an RN student'•. The EN's would get told at the beginning that 'you are an RN student, things have changed since you studied'• but then the teachers would show techniques of 'this is how I was trained in the 80's'• yet best practice techniques have changed since then. The teachers would get frustrated with silence of the room when asking questions but then also get frustrated when the EN's 'weren't letting others answer'•.
Prioritise content based on Unit Learning Outcomes by limiting content to skills and knowledge directly relevant to PEP2-level outcomes. Clarify expectations for EN Students transitioning to RN by delivering clear, consistent messaging about the role and scope of ENs in the context of RN training. Ensure teaching aligns with current best practice by providing all educators with ongoing training in current clinical procedures and teaching practices. Review and improve time allocation by evaluating the structure of the three-day residential school to ensure adequate time for essential skill development. Implementing these changes can enhance student learning outcomes, ensure consistency across campuses, and better support both new and experienced learners in their transition to registered nursing practice.
In Progress
On successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:
- Demonstrate evidence-based practice, clinical reasoning, and decision-making to provide culturally safe, quality, person-centred care consistent with the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia (NMBA) Professional Standards and the National Safety and Quality Health Service Standards (NSQHS) at a second-year student nurse level of practice in simulated and clinical environments.
- Safely and accurately perform medication calculations and demonstrate safe administration of medicines in both the simulated environment and the clinical practice setting.
- Apply theoretical knowledge and demonstrate provision of safe, appropriate, and responsive quality nursing care for consumers, families, and the broader community.
Content in this unit incorporates a number of professional nursing requirements
Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia Decision-Making Framework (DMF) - Nursing
Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia Registered Nurse Standards for Practice
Thinks critically and analyses nursing practice
Engages in therapeutic and professional relationships
Maintains the capability for practice
Comprehensively conducts assessments
Develops a plan for nursing practice
Provides safe, appropriate and responsive quality nursing practice
Evaluates outcomes to inform nursing practice
Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia Nursing Code of Conduct
Legal compliance
Person-centred practice
Cultural practice and respectful relationships
Professional behaviour
Research in health
Health and wellbeing
International Council of Nursing Code of Ethics for Nursing
Nurses and People
Nurses and Practice
Nurses and the Profession
Nurses and co-workers
National Safety and Quality Health Service Standards
Clinical governance
Partnering with consumers
Preventing and Controlling healthcare-associated infection
Medication safety
Comprehensive care
Communicating for safety
Blood management
Recognising and responding to acute deterioration
Patient Safety Competency Framework
Person-centred care
Therapeutic communication
Cultural competence
Teamwork and collaborative practice
Clinical reasoning
Evidence-based practice
Preventing, minimising and responding to adverse events
Infection prevention and control
Medication safety
Aged Care Quality Standards
Consumer dignity and choice
Ongoing assessment and planning with consumers
Personal care and clinical care
Services and supports for daily living
Organisation’s service environment
Feedback and complaints
Human resources
Organisation governance
| Assessment Tasks | Learning Outcomes | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | |
| 1 - In-class Test(s) | • | • | |
| 2 - Professional Practice Placement | • | • | • |
| 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 | • | • | |
| Assessment Tasks | Graduate Attributes | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 10 | |