Click Here to view current information
Unit Synopsis
In this unit, you will have the opportunity to practice nursing care for individuals, including the care of a person living with a chronic condition. 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 be expected to 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: NURS12161 OR Admission to CM77 BIOH12011
Co-requisite NURS12163 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 2 - 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 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.
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 data
Res school that went with this unit had a lot of waisted [sic] time. We sat around for hours watching YouTube videos about funny nursing outfits instead of actually learning anything. I feel the residential school structure could have great improvements for this PEP.
The format of the residential school will be reviewed in terms of timing and relevant contents for future terms.
The residential school underwent a complete restructure. Many simulation activities were expanded, with increased visual resources and a closer alignment with unit learning outcomes. An increase in content was provided for a number of activities, such as advanced health directives and best practices on voluntary assisted dying.
Source: SUTE data
Penny Heidke and Jess Hocking were absolutely amazing on the Cambodia trip for Nursing. Penny: Bought enthusiasm into the group, she would push us to become better, at the same time her leadership and direction showed that she will support us, that she has the best interests of her students at heart. Amazing! Jess: Calm and reassuring, Jess was always engaging with the students, provided direction and support, I hope that Jess is on future overseas placements. Penny and Jess are an asset to CQU, in the future when I seek out my teaching path, I aspire to be able to teach the way they do, seriously thank you!
Highly recommend outward bound international placements to be continued in future years.
No outward-bound activities were attached to this unit in 2025.
Source: SUTE data
Thank you for not overloading us with another assignment, I loved the content in the ressi [sic] school learning, ressi [sic] school was a real highlight and a perfect preparation for placement. Teaching staff are supportive and have a great love for what they do, the placement teaching team was amazing for keeping me informed and feeling confident in myself and the skills I learnt.
The contents and structure of the residential school have been carefully reviewed each year and improved based on feedback and suggestions. This approach will be continued in the coming years for further improvement.
A supportive, student-focused learning environment was fostered through the delivery of an engaging residential school, addressing individual learning needs via the application of a deliberate practice framework
Source: SUTE data
Several students expressed that the 2-week placement was not long enough.
The new curriculum includes a 3-week clinical placement for this unit.
In Progress
Source: SUTE data
A student expressed that their residential school was overwhelming, with a lot of pressure to learn a large amount of content in a short time, and ran out of time
A full restructure of this residential school was implemented to ensure the content comprehensively covered the requirements and learning outcomes. Residential Sim Planner was provided for time management. A lesson plan will be developed for future residential schools to also assist with time management. NURS12164 will also be revised due to the new curriculum.
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
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 | • | • | • |
| 5 - Team Work | • | ||
| 6 - Information Technology Competence | • | ||
| 7 - Cross Cultural Competence | • | ||
| 8 - Ethical practice | • | ||
| 10 - Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Cultures | • | • | • |
| Assessment Tasks | Graduate Attributes | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 10 | |