MINTPRA20 Clinical Studies in Intensive and Critical Care Nursing, Level 2 Course description

The students will undergo practical training at intensive care units where ventilator treatment is performed, medical intensive care units, postoperative/recovery units, anaesthesia/surgical departments and/or accident and emergency departments. With some supervision, the students will attend to the functions and areas of responsibility of an intensive care nurse. The students are expected to demonstrate clear progress, take responsibility and, to an increasing extent, demonstrate the ability to make independent assessments in intensive care nursing practice.

Students must have passed INTENPRA10 Clinical Studies in Intensive and Critical Care Nursing, Level 1 in order to start this course.

After completing the course, the student is expected to have achieved the following learning outcomes defined in terms of knowledge, skills and competence:

Knowledge

The student

• has in-depth knowledge of complications in connection with acute and/or critical illness, advanced medical treatment and intensive care nursing
• has in-depth knowledge about maintaining and restoring vital functions if they are threatened

Skills

The student

• is capable of analysing and taking a critical approach to existing theories and methods in advanced medical treatment and intensive care nursing
• is capable of observing, assessing and identifying a patient's general and special needs, resources and problems through communication and cooperation with the patient and his/her next of kin
• is capable of preventing complications in connection with acute and/or critical illness, advanced medical treatment and intensive care nursing
• is capable of reducing stress, pain and discomfort in connection with advanced medical treatment and intensive care nursing
• is capable of maintaining and restoring vital functions if they are threatened
• is capable of applying knowledge of nutrition in connection with acute and/or critical illness
• is capable, with some supervision, of work on practical and theoretical problem-solving relating to the intensive care nurse's functions and areas of responsibility:
  • is capable of carrying out wholly or partly compensatory intensive care nursing in the event of serious failure of patients¿ organs or organ systems, including assisted respiration, circulation and nutrition and renal replacement therapy
  • is capable of identifying acute situations
  • is capable of administering and evaluating pharmacological and non-pharmacological pain relief to intensive care patients
  • is capable of administering and evaluating sedation of intensive care patients
  • is capable of checking and using medical equipment and has a reflective attitude to the possibilities and limitations of technology
  • is capable of practising intensive care nursing with respect for patient's autonomy, integrity and dignity
  • is capable of cooperating with patient's next of kin, showing respect and care, and safeguarding their rights
  • is capable of critical reflection when making choices and acting in an ethically and legally satisfactory manner
  • is capable of ensuring continuity in patient treatment through written and oral documentation
  • is capable of documenting, evaluating and quality assuring his/her own work

Competence

The student

• is capable, with some supervision, of analysing relevant ethical issues in intensive care nursing based on relevant discipline knowledge, research, experience and patient knowledge
• is capable, with some supervision, of carrying out wholly or partly compensatory intensive care nursing in the event of serious self-care deficits in relation to a patient's fundamental needs
• is capable of cooperating with members of his/her own profession and across professions in patient treatment

Simulation and supervised practical training

The following coursework requirements must be met before a student can receive an assessment for the course:

• The student's specification of learning outcomes for the course.
• The student must submit at least one written assessment per month
• Attendance in compulsory activities and simulation

The assessment is based on the learning outcomes for the course, the student's specification of the learning outcomes and the formative assessment made of the student during the practical training period.

An attendance requirement applies to practical training. In order to pass a practical training course, the student must have attended at least 90% of the planned activities in each course. Students must make up for absence exceeding 10% by agreement with the lecturer and the practical training establishment. If a student's absence exceeds 20%, he/she will fail the course. Students who fail a period of practical training must retake the whole training period.

Under supervision, the students will write an independent scholarly work in the form of a master's thesis. The work must be based on the functions and areas of responsibility of the intensive care nurse. In the work on their master's theses, students are to apply the knowledge acquired through the rest of the programme. The master’s thesis must demonstrate understanding, maturity and reflection. An approved and up-to-date project description is required before students can start writing a master’s thesis.

The thesis can be written individually or in groups of up to three students. Groups of students who write together submit one joint thesis. The purpose of group work is to develop cooperation skills as described under the competence section in the learning outcomes defined for the programme as a whole. Intensive care nursing requires a high degree of cooperation skills in the treatment team, and this makes cooperation skills an important part of an intensive care nurse's action competence.

The master’s thesis can be an independent research work or be included as a delimited part of an ongoing research project at the university or a cooperating institution. The thesis can also be a quality-related project in the form of a piece of quality improvement or quality control work. The students can also prepare a systematic overview of research on a relevant topic.

The master’s thesis is submitted in the form of a monograph, an article manuscript, a set of guidelines, a standard for a procedure, an information brochure or an information video. A master’s thesis in article form must be written in accordance with the guidelines for a selected scientific journal relevant to the discipline (peer review). The student must be the first or second author. A master’s thesis submitted in a format other than a monograph must be accompanied by a supplementary memo/introduction (‘kappe’). In this supplementary memo/introduction, the student(s) shall discuss and elaborate on a delimited methodological and/or substantial topic.

The master's thesis must have a systematic scholarly structure and be based on topical and relevant scientific literature that provides an answer to the research question formulated by the student(s).

The master’s thesis must be written in accordance with the master's handbook for the 2018 year group.

Pass-Fail.

The summative assessment is carried out by a representative of the practical training establishment and a representative of the university. The final decision on whether to award a pass or fail grade is made by the university.

Regular seminars are organised in connection with the master’s thesis at which the students present and discuss the drafts of their theses in a larger forum. Important topics relevant to work on the master’s thesis will also be dealt with at these seminars as required.

Supervision is an important part of the work on the master’s thesis and provides a necessary quality-assurance, for example that the work complies with the applicable guidelines for research ethics. The person responsible for any research work will be the supervisor. Each student/group is assigned a supervisor. Ten hours of supervision is provided per thesis. In addition, students receive supervision in connection with the master's thesis seminars. One hour of supervision on start-up of the project is compulsory.

If problems arise in the supervisor-student relationship, the student(s) shall first raise the matter with the supervisor and then, if relevant, contact the programme coordinator for the master’s programme.

Students have a duty to keep their supervisor informed about their work. This duty also applies to practical matters that could have a bearing on the project’s progress. Relevant ethical principles must be observed. All external correspondence must be approved by the supervisor. Applications to approval bodies, for example the Regional Committees for Medical and Health Research Ethics (REC) and the Norwegian Centre for Research Data (NSD), must be approved by the supervisor before submission.

Groups/students who fail their master’s thesis are offered three more hours of supervision.