| CODE | NUR5218 | ||||||||||||
| TITLE | Advanced Clinical Assessment and Reasoning for Nursing Practice | ||||||||||||
| UM LEVEL | 05 - Postgraduate Modular Diploma or Degree Course | ||||||||||||
| MQF LEVEL | 7 | ||||||||||||
| ECTS CREDITS | 10 | ||||||||||||
| DEPARTMENT | Nursing | ||||||||||||
| DESCRIPTION | This study-unit builds on the foundational competence acquired during pre-registration training and equips nurses with the advanced knowledge and skills needed for patient assessment and examination. Students will engage with frameworks and guidelines for physical examination and learn to apply them effectively in nursing practice. Through supervised simulated scenarios, students will further develop and refine their clinical assessment techniques. Additionally, this study-unit prepares nurses to assume leadership roles in creating and evaluating evidence-based, comprehensive nursing care plans within an interdisciplinary healthcare context. Study-Unit Aims: - To equip nurses with the knowledge and skills necessary to perform comprehensive and systematic advanced clinical assessments of patients; - To guide students in enhancing their critical thinking and clinical reasoning abilities for effective planning and evaluation of nursing care. Learning Outcomes: 1. Knowledge & Understanding: By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: - Critically analyse and discuss frameworks and guidelines of advanced clinical assessment; - Critically examine and evaluate factors that influence health status and behaviour; - Describe and discuss normal physiological findings and deviations from normal, with reference to common medical conditions affecting the different body systems; - Critically evaluate presenting complaints, examination / assessment findings and diagnostic information to identify problems and develop evidence-based nursing care plans; - Critically evaluate the effectiveness of nursing care plans in addressing patient needs holistically; and - Critically discus the medico-legal and professional issues related to advanced clinical practice. 2. Skills: By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: - Examine a patient using a comprehensive and systematic head-to-toe or systems-based approach as appropriate; - Obtain a comprehensive and detailed patient history; - Inspect, palpate, percuss and auscultate body areas (as appropriate); - Conduct primary and secondary assessments; - Conduct a general health assessment; - Conduct a detailed examination of the various body systems and body areas; - Assess a patient's in/dependence with carrying out activities of daily living and determine the nursing assistance that is required; - Evaluate a patient's level of health literacy and determine appropriate interventions for health education; - Use diagnostic equipment safely and effectively; and - Document and report assessment findings. Main Text/s and any supplementary readings: Main Texts: - Ellis, P. and Standing, M. (2019). Patient assessment and care planning in nursing. (4th. ed.). SAGE. Supplementary Readings: - Adlam, D., Hampton, J. and Hampton, J. (2024). The ECG made easy. (10th ed.). Elsevier. - Cox, C.L. (2019). Physical assessment for nurses and healthcare professionals. (3rd ed.). Wiley -Blackwell. - Cox, C.L. (Ed.) (2019). Pocket guide to physical assessment. Wiley-Blackwell. - Dains, J.E., Baumann, L.C. and Scheibel, P. (2023). Advanced health assessment and clinical diagnosis in primary care. (7th ed.). Elsevier. - Joo, Y., Gatewood, J.V., Israel, M.M., McGrath, K.W. and Neuwirth, B. (2025). Collins-Bride & Saxe's clinical guidelines for advanced practice nursing (4th ed.). Jones & Bartlett. - Myrick, K.M. and Karosas, L.M. (Eds.) (2019) Advanced health assessment and differential diagnosis: Essentials for clinical practice. Springer. - Rhoads, J. and Petersen, S.W. (2025). Advanced health assessment and diagnostic reasoning. (5th ed.). Jones & Bartlett. - Van-Leeuwen, A.M. and Bladh, M.L. (2016) Textbook of laboratory and diagnostic testing: Practical application of nursing process at the bedside. Davis. |
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| STUDY-UNIT TYPE | Lecture and Practical | ||||||||||||
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The University makes every effort to ensure that the published Courses Plans, Programmes of Study and Study-Unit information are complete and up-to-date at the time of publication. The University reserves the right to make changes in case errors are detected after publication.
The availability of optional units may be subject to timetabling constraints. Units not attracting a sufficient number of registrations may be withdrawn without notice. It should be noted that all the information in the description above applies to study-units available during the academic year 2025/6. It may be subject to change in subsequent years. |
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