Unit Synopsis
Acute alterations in health occur suddenly, may be severe in onset, and may be exacerbated in chronic health conditions. In this unit, you will learn how to conduct clinical reasoning for people across the lifespan who experience acute, severe alterations in health. You will focus on care delivery, communication, person-centred care, and working in partnership with the interdisciplinary health care team to care for the deteriorating person in a complex care environment. This unit challenges you to think innovatively to justify and prioritise nursing care requirements to enable optimal health outcomes for people facing the challenges of an acute alteration in their health.
Details
| Level | Undergraduate |
|---|---|
| Unit Level | 3 |
| Credit Points | 6 |
| Student Contribution Band | SCA Band 1 |
| Fraction of Full-Time Student Load | 0.125 |
| Pre-requisites or Co-requisites |
Pre-requisites: NURS12163 Chronic Health and Community CareNURS12164 Professional Experience Placement 3 or NURS13133 Clinical Nursing Practice 4 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 - 2024
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. Presentation | 50% |
| 2. Case Study | 50% |
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 data
I would love to see more critical thinking type multiple choice questions added to activities, as critical thinking is a major skill for graduate nurses.
Provide more opportunities to challenge students to critically think and apply their knowledge through additional activities such as weekly quizzes. Amend assessment 2 to a quiz that covers all modular content.
Weekly self-assessment task sheets and activities are embedded throughout Moodle. At the end of each week, students are provided with an answer guide and have the opportunity to self-assess.
Source: SUTE data
Feedback on assessment was not clearly aligned.
Provide clearer direction to markers regarding assessment requirements and feedback format.
A moderation guide was developed and distributed to all markers to ensure consistent interpretation of assessment criteria. In addition, standardised feedback templates were implemented to better align comments with rubric categories and provide clearer direction for students. Where possible, a comprehensive QuickMarks library was created to facilitate comprehensive feedback while reducing marking administrative burden.
Source: SUTE data
The assessment tasks were not clear.
Provide clearer and more specific directions for all assessments.
Assessment briefs were written in plain English and structured to clearly outline expectations, requirements, and marking criteria. Supplementary scaffolded guides, Zoom drop-in sessions, forum Q&As, and recordings were also developed and shared via Moodle to support students' understanding. All assessments were reviewed and approved by the DDLT. Given that over 30% of students achieved a Distinction or higher, the instructions appear to have been sufficiently clear and effectively supported student performance. There is opportunity to improve explicit wording or add additional drop in sessions for student support.
Source: Student email
I had found this unit to be challenging at times, however I found it to be overall great. So thank you for all your knowledge you have shared.
Continue to provide opportunities to challenge student's critical thinking.
Student feedback acknowledges the unit's academic challenge while expressing overall satisfaction. This suggests that existing supports—such as recorded lectures, guided assessments, drop-in sessions, and responsive communication—are effective. These strategies will continue to be embedded, and opportunities for further engagement (e.g., interactive learning tasks and peer support channels) will be explored.
Source: Student email, SUTE
Students reported appreciation for improved clarity of assessment instructions and expectations.
Continue to ensure alignment between assessments, content, and strong rubrics.
In Progress
Source: Student email, phone calls, SUTE
Students commented that assessments were clinically relevant and closely aligned with nursing practice.
Ensure clinically relevant case studies and real-world scenarios are utilised.
In Progress
Source: Student email, SUTE
Feedback in 2025 indicated appreciation for more constructive and actionable feedback on assessments. There is continued opportunity to improve constructive feedback.
Continue to provide timely, constructive, and actionable feedback that helps students understand their performance and identify areas for improvement
In Progress
Source: Student email, phone calls, SUTE
The unit was consistently described as highly relevant to the Bachelor of Nursing program and professional preparation.
Continue to ensure clinical relevance and alignment with clinical practice units.
In Progress
Source: SUTE
Assessments were very helpful for building knowledge required for graduate years.
Continue to align assessment tasks to real-world and clinically applicable scenarios.
In Progress
Source: SUTE
Oral presentation submission process was reported as difficult for some students. Further, Moodle struggled with high submission load with delays experienced by students when uploading.
Continued efforts will be made to improve the submission experience for oral presentations. Students are encouraged to submit early where possible to avoid potential technical delays during peak submission periods.
In Progress
On successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:
- Explain the pathophysiological changes that occur when a person experiences acute alterations in health.
- Apply the decision-making framework for nursing (NMBA 2020) to prioritise and justify care for the person experiencing acute alterations in health.
- Examine the role of the nurse and other members of the interdisciplinary team in the care of a person in a complex care environment.
- Analyse and apply the best available evidence, for safe, quality practice for a person experiencing an acute alteration in health.
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
Maintains the capability for practice
Develops a plan for 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
Teaching, supervising and assessing
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
| Assessment Tasks | Learning Outcomes | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | |
| 1 - Presentation | • | • | • | • |
| 2 - Case Study | • | • | • | • |
| Graduate Attributes | Learning Outcomes | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | |
| 1 - Communication | • | • | • | |
| 2 - Problem Solving | • | |||
| 3 - Critical Thinking | • | • | • | • |
| 4 - Information Literacy | • | |||
| 5 - Team Work | • | • | ||
| 8 - Ethical practice | • | • | • | |
| Assessment Tasks | Graduate Attributes | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 10 | |