Paediatric Intensive Care Practice

This subject has the following teaching availabilities in 2016:

170 hours

To enrol in this subject, you must be admitted in one of the Graduate Certificate in Nursing Practice (Paediatric Intensive Care). This subject is not available for students admitted in any other courses. Please contact the School of Melbourne Custom Programs for more information.

For the purposes of considering requests for Reasonable Adjustments under the Disability Standards for Education (Commonwealth 2005), and Students Experiencing Academic Disadvantage Policy, academic requirements for this subject are articulated in the Subject Overview, Objectives, Assessment and Generic Skills sections of this entry.

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 programs. Students who feel their disability may impact on meeting the requirements of this course are encouraged to discuss this matter with the Student Equity and Disability Support Team: http://www.services.unimelb.edu.au/disability/

This subject is designed to promote the practical aspects of paediatric intensive care nursing to support safe practice in caring for infants and children acutely or critically ill. Students will become familiar with the unique environments of individual critical care practice settings and learn essential knowledge and skills to prepare, manage and 'trouble-shoot' equipment and technology practice as well as the technical skills necessary to complete an admission assessment, understand admission findings, and identify patients at risk of life threatening complications. In the context of their practice as specialty nurses, students will become familiar with immediate interventions required to establish and maintain patient stability, including, but not limited to life support techniques. Students engage in field practice in specific critical care environments to address learning objectives focusing on the application of theoretical knowledge to skill development and the practice of caring for patients who are acutely and/or critically ill.

Students will be expected to be able to demonstrate their specialty nursing practice through:
• integration of the theoretical content covered in Paediatric Critical Care 1 & 2, to develop new knowledge that supports safe practice as a specialty nurse in the acute and critical care practice setting;
• the ability to integrate knowledge and skills learnt to recognise and plan a response to patients experiencing alterations to health and wellness that occur in the specific context of acute and critical care environments;
• the ability to understand and evaluate specialised interventions to provide a foundation for participating in the delivery of care of acute and critical care nursing practice;
• the capacity to use skills in problem-solving, critical thinking, rational inquiry and self-directed learning to apply knowledge learnt in Paediatric Critical Care 1 & 2 to acute and critical care nursing clinical practice;
• an understanding of the changing knowledge base in the specialist area;
• the ability to apply scientific knowledge to understand skills and techniques applicable to the specialist area.

• 6 x Clinical Skills Assessments (Distributed evenly across the year) - Hurdle
• A minimum of 2 clinical performance appraisals (one per semester) - Hurdle
• 1000 word reflective essay due Week 30 - 20%
• Patient Assessment and Care Plan x 2 (2000 words per plan) (one per semester) - 80%

This subject is not available as a breadth subject.

At the completion of this subject, students should be able to demonstrate:
• the capacity for information seeking, retrieval and evaluation;
• critical thinking and analytical skills;
• an openness to new ideas;
• the ability to communicate knowledge through web based activities.
• the ability to apply scientific principles to their clinical practice;