Leading Advanced Practice

Subject 514-721 (2008)

Note: This is an archived Handbook entry from 2008.Search for this in the current handbook

Credit Points: 12.500
Level: Graduate/Postgraduate
Dates & Locations:

This subject has the following teaching availabilities in 2008:

Semester 2, - Taught on campus.
Pre-teaching Period Start not applicable
Teaching Period not applicable
Assessment Period End not applicable
Last date to Self-Enrol not applicable
Census Date not applicable
Last date to Withdraw without fail not applicable

Mixed distance education and on campus delivery of 2 days.

Timetable can be viewed here. For information about these dates, click here.
Time Commitment: Contact Hours: 12 hours on-campus lectures and tutorials plus weekly on-line participation.
Total Time Commitment: Students are expected to devote approximately 6 hours per week to this subject
Prerequisites: n/a
Corequisites: None
Recommended Background Knowledge: None
Non Allowed Subjects: None
Core Participation Requirements: It is University policy to take all reasonable steps to minimise the impact of disability upon academic study and reasonable adjustments will be made to enhance a student's participation in the University's courses. Students who feel their disability will impact on meeting this requirement are encouraged to discuss this matter with the Course Coordinator and the Disability Liaison Unit.

Coordinator

Jill Stow
Subject Overview:

This subject considers contemporary issues relating to the professional responsibility associated with assuming advanced practice roles. Students are guided to appreciate the history and development of advanced practice and the role of the advanced practitioner as it is positioned within the local and global health care environment. Health policy is considered as a driving force for development of advanced practice and health policy implications of extended practice are critiqued. The regulations governing nurse accountability are analysed and the relationship between accountability, legislation, licensure, certification and credentialing are examined. Legal and ethical issues relating to advanced practice are considered. The need to monitor and evaluate the contribution of advanced practice activities to health outcomes is explored within a framework of clinical governance and students learn how to use clinical audit processes relevant to their advanced practice role. The importance of leadership as a component of advanced practice is emphasized. Students participate in learning activities to identify leadership qualities, develop their leadership potential and develop their skills in disseminating knowledge using a variety of verbal and written methods. An on-campus class forum provides students with the opportunity to demonstrate their ability to contextualise the content of this subject and debate key issues.

Assessment: Presentation of an on-line tutorial equivalent to 1,000 words: 20% 3,000 word assignment : 80% (due end of semester)Hurdle requirement: Participation in 70% of on-line discussion forums
Prescribed Texts: Hamric, A.B. Spross, J.A., & Hanson, C.M. (eds) (2005). Advanced Practice Nursing: An Integrative Approach. St Louis: Elsevier Saunder
Breadth Options:

This subject is not available as a breadth subject.
Fees Information: Subject EFTSL, Level, Discipline & Census Date
Generic Skills: On completion of the subject students should have developed the ability to apply the generic skills of the Melbourne graduate and postgraduate to support advanced nursing practice by demonstrating:
  • The capacity to analyse and critically appraise the relationship between health policy, politics and nursing practice and global and local trends in advanced nursing practice that impact on health care delivery;
  • An awareness and appreciation of the socio-cultural and professional tensions that have accompanied the introduction of advanced practice roles locally, nationally and internationally;
  • An understanding of the regulation of advanced nursing practice by government, statutory bodies and the profession in local, national and international advanced practice contexts;
  • The capacity to contextualise regulation of nursing practice by articulating relationships between accountability, legislation, licensure, certification and credentialing specific to the individual's workplace and advanced practice role
  • The capacity to critically examine legal and ethical concerns relating to advanced and extended nursing practice and initiate problem solving and decision making consultations within multi-disciplinary health care teams according to contemporary legal requirements and ethical guidelines;;
  • The capacity to evaluate and synthesise the research and professional literature in the discipline to contribute orally and in writing to collegial forums on a range of contemporary health policy and professional issues influencing advanced practice nursing;
  • The capacity to communicate as scholarly clinicians through the presentation of work for the consideration of peers;
  • A profound respect for truth and intellectual integrity, and for the ethics of scholarship;
  • An awareness and understanding of the requirements for monitoring and providing justification for practice decisions by developing audit tools and audit processes consistent with a clinical governance framework;
  • An appreciation of leadership qualities and the ways in which advanced knowledge equips the practitioner to offer leadership in the specialist area including a capacity to engage in public debate on issues relevant to health care policy and practice.
Links to further information: http://www.nursing.unimelb.edu.au/
Notes:

Special computer requirements:
This subject has a distance education component, taught entirely over the Internet. Students must have access to appropriate computer facilities and the Internet.

The minimum computer hardware and software specifications for the subject are consistent with the University's guidelines on the expected standard of computer equipment (http://www.unimelb.edu.au/student/CompStd.htm):

Hardware

Pentium PC or equivalent 500MHZ

Windows 98

Sound card

16 bit video

128MB RAM

10GB hard disk

Software

Any word-processing program

A web-browser program, either Netscape (version 4.7 or later) or Internet Explorer (version 6.0 or later).

Special computer skills required (if applicable):

No special computer skills are required. Students are required to have skills consistent with the University's Statement of "Basic Expectations of Student Computer Skills" : http://www.infodiv.unimelb.edu.au/stuskills.html which includes basic knowledge of computer operating systems, word-processing skills, email use, and the internet. Specifically students need to be able to write, edit and save an essay on the computer and be competent in the use of standard WWW browsers and should be able to use information searching techniques.

Students will have access to a range of online resources such as full-text academic journal articles, search engines and databases through the University library


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