Unit Synopsis
The transition from university to clinical practice is both exciting and challenging. This unit will assist you to prepare for the transition from student to graduate registered nurse. You will explore leadership roles which graduate registered nurses are expected to assume and discuss the skills required to perform these roles. The power differentials and tensions that can exist within healthcare organisations will be explored, including how knowledge of governance systems can support the graduate registered nurse to provide safe patient care within these systems. Finally, you will also prepare for your role transition from student to graduate registered nurse by developing strategies for teamwork, workload management, and care prioritisation.
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: NURS13142 Professional Experience Placement 4
OR NURS12158 Clinical Nursing Practice 3 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 2 - 2026
Term 2 - 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. Written Assessment | 50% |
| 2. Written Assessment | 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: Student evaluation (SUTE)
A huge thank you to all the coordinators and lecturers for their hard work and dedication. Your efforts have made a noticeable difference in my learning experience, and we appreciate everything you do to support us. Thank you!
Continue to work hard to provide a consistent and high-quality service for students.
Unit coordinators worked consistently throughout the term to ensure students were given every opportunity to succeed.
Source: Student evaluation (SUTE)
I was expecting and hoping for more information around employment preparation.
Information about graduate nursing programs has been moved from the Week 12 Moodle tile to a dedicated graduate nursing program tile so that students can access it more easily from the beginning of Term. Information about cover letters and resumes is available in Week 9 content. Career planning content in Week 11 encourages students to reflect on their interests, experiences, and personality to determine which area/s of nursing might be a good fit. Week 12 is dedicated to Ahpra registration as well as creating alternative pathways to the students' dream careers.
The recommended changes to Moodle have been made.
Source: Student feedback
Students appreciated the weekly guest lectures from current industry professionals.
Continue inviting industry professionals to present weekly guest lectures.
Most weeks included a relevant guest lecture presented by a current industry professional.
Source: Email from student
Thank you for being approachable and emailing to see how we are doing.
Continue reaching out to students to provide support and feedback from early in the term.
Students of concern were contacted early, frequently, and regularly throughout the term.
Source: Microsoft Teams message from student
"I am really grateful for the content, effort and support that you all put in for this unit."
Continue to provide support to students.
In Progress
Source: SUTE evaluation data
Students felt that markers provided inconsistent or not enough feedback on assessments.
Advise and assist markers to provide consistent and comprehensive feedback when marking assessments. Provide thorough moderation in line with current policies.
In Progress
Source: SUTE evaluation data
Students had difficulty accessing Microsoft Teams as well as finding answers to previously asked questions.
Use Moodle forums for student questions rather than Microsoft Teams.
In Progress
Source: SUTE evaluation data
"I would have preferred if the in-person classes had continued, as I find face-to-face learning much more engaging and effective compared to online delivery."
Face-to-face classes were transitioned to online classes early in the term due to poor/minimal attendance. Encourage on-campus students to attend classes so that they remain a viable alternative to online classes.
In Progress
Source: SUTE evaluation data
"I believe this unit was an excellent choice for a final semester subject. The weekly content was both interesting and highly engaging."
Keep the activities when updating the unit content to maintain currency and relevancy.
In Progress
On successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:
- Identify transitional challenges that you may experience in your transition from student to registered nurse and explain the skills and strategies you may require to manage this transition.
- Explore power differentials that can exist within healthcare organisations and the tensions that may arise from these.
- Identify leadership roles undertaken by graduate registered nurses and discuss the skills required to undertake these roles.
- Analyse how the knowledge of governance systems can support the graduate registered nurse to provide safe patient care.
Content in this unit incorporates a number of professional nursing requirements
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
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
Comprehensive care
Communicating for safety
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 | 4 | |
| 1 - Written Assessment | • | • | • | • |
| 2 - Written Assessment | • | • | • | • |
| Graduate Attributes | Learning Outcomes | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | |
| 1 - Communication | • | • | ||
| 2 - Problem Solving | • | |||
| 3 - Critical Thinking | • | • | • | • |
| 4 - Information Literacy | • | |||
| 5 - Team Work | • | • | • | |
| 7 - Cross Cultural Competence | • | • | • | |
| 8 - Ethical practice | • | • | • | |
| Assessment Tasks | Graduate Attributes | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 10 | |