SYKPPRA21M Nursing Patients with Acute, Critical and Chronic Diseases 1 Course description

Practical training is the parts of the programme that take place in real-life working situations. The practical training is compulsory, and must have a scope of at least 30 weeks (45 credits). The practical training is organised in such a way that the students will encounter users from all age groups and have the opportunity to take part in interprofessional cooperation. Through the practical training, students are assigned tasks that provide the opportunity to discover and explore physiotherapy issues, and which require them to work in an evidence-based and patient/person-centred manner. The practical training is an important arena for developing new knowledge, skills and competence.

Practical training will be organised in an interprofessional context within primary – and specialist health services, and other arenas where physiotherapists work. For some of the practical training periods the students are expected to find suitable placements themselves, according to specified guidelines. This will make it possible to fulfil a placement period near the student's hometown

In the third year of study the student will complete one long period of practical training in the primary health service and one in the specialist health service. Since the university has agreements with several institutions in the health and care sector, the organisation of the students’ practical training will vary. Most of the institutions that make up the practical training arenas for this programme are located in Oslo and Eastern Norway. The student must expect to commute to and from the practical training establishment or to move to the practical training establishment for a period of time.

A 90 % attendance requirement applies to the practical training. Students who exceed the maximum permitted absence will fail the practical training period and are deemed to have used one of their attempts. For more information about practical training, see the Regulations relating to Studies and Examinations at OsloMet – Oslo Metropolitan University.

Students must comply with the clothing regulations in force at the practical training establishment. Special requirements for tests or vaccination may apply at individual practical training establishments.

A distinction is made between three types of practical training: experience-based practical training, supervised practical training and and project based practical training:

Experience-based practical training

Experienced-based practical training normally takes place over a short period of time. . The purpose of experience-based practical training is to give the students insight into physiotherapy practice and experience of specific physiotherapy tasks. Clinical testing and group instruction in exercises for patients may also be included. In experienced-based practical training, the student’s performance is not subject to professional assessment, but the student can be supervised.

Supervised practical training

In supervised practical training, the student’s performance is subject to professional assessment, and the student is entitled to supervision and feedback. The assessment is based on the student’s achievement of the learning outcomes for the practical training period and suitability assessments on a continuous basis in line with the university’s assessment system. This means that a supervisor from the field of practice, referred to as a practical training supervisor, will follow up the student in cooperation with a contact lecturer from the university. The midway and final assessments are made by the practical training supervisor in cooperation with the contact lecturer.

The practical training supervisor will supervise the student during the supervised practical training at the university’s outpatient clinic in the second year of the programme. If the student is at risk of not passing the practical training, the midway and final assessments will take place in consultation with another university staff member.

Project based practical training

In the project based practical training the student will, based on experiences from a physiotherapy relevant context, explore a professional issue, in relation to literature. The practice will be linked to an arena where a physiotherapist will be able to contribute with important input and expertise.

The practical training periods will become longer as the programme progresses and are organised with a view to ensuring progress in relation to the learning outcomes and gradually increasing independence.

Contact lecturer approves grade after recommendation from practical training supervisor. The final decision on whether to award a pass or fail grade is made by the university.

Internationalisation improves the quality of education and strengthens the academic community on the programme, at the same time as it prepares the students to become global citizens. The increasing globalisation of the labour market also makes international professional experience, language skills and cultural knowledge more and more important.

The use of international course literature and a focus on multicultural and global issues in the programme contribute to knowledge about and understanding of the opportunities and challenges inherent in diverse societies, both nationally and internationally. Syllabus written in the English language provides students with experience of reading academic literature and international research. An understanding of English academic literature is important to be able to actively participate in the international physiotherapy community.

The programme staff cooperates on research and education with a number of institutions in other countries. Students are given the possibility of gaining international experience and achieving related learning outcomes through learning activities at the university, locally in Oslo, through meetings with physiotherapy students on exchanges in Norway, and through the use of English as the language of instruction in selected courses. Students can choose to write their bachelor’s thesis in English, Norwegian or another of the Scandinavian languages. Students who go on exchanges must write their thesis in English if the exchange stay is in a country outside Scandinavia.

International semester (incoming exchanges)

In the spring semester, the programme can receive students who have been admitted to programmes at foreign institutions of higher education. Students who are admitted can take courses taught in English in all of the spring semesters (second, fourth and sixth semester).

Courses that can be taught in English or in Norwegian will only be taught in English if international students have been accepted as incoming exchange students.

• FYB1050 Public Health and Health Management (5 credits)
• FYB1060 Evidence-Based Practice (EBP) in Health Care (5 credits)
• FYB2210 Physiotherapy for Health Conditions INT (15 credits)

Exchanges

Students are encouraged to take part of their education at an institution abroad. The programme has many partners abroad that might be relevant for students wanting to go on an exchange. Students in the physiotherapy programme can take three to six months of the programme abroad, primarily in the fourth semester. Students can only go on an exchange if the partner institution offers courses in subject areas corresponding to those covered by the programme in the semester in which the student wants to go on an exchange.

Required coursework is all forms of work, tests and compulsory attendance that are requirements for a student to be assessed/permitted to take the exam or pass practical training. Required coursework is assessed as approved/not approved. The coursework requirements for each course are described in the relevant course description.

The purpose of the coursework requirements is to:

• promote progress and academic development
• encourage students to seek out and acquire new knowledge
• facilitate cooperation and communication on physiotherapy issues

The programme has coursework requirements in the form of compulsory attendance, oral presentations, written assignments and tests. The coursework requirements are set to help students to develop their competence in accordance with one or more of the expected learning outcomes of the course. Required coursework is carried out individually or in groups.

Compulsory attendance

The programme emphasises a social learning environment. Attendance is compulsory for all parts of the programme in which the students cannot achieve the learning outcomes on their own, or for parts of the programme where cooperation with fellow students is a precondition for completing the learning activities. A minimum of 80 % attendance in teaching specified as “compulsory attendance” in the lecture schedule programme is required. A minimum of 90 % attendance is required for practical training, both in experience-based practical training, supervised practical training and project based practical training.

If a student exceeds the maximum limit for absence, the lecturer will consider whether it is possible to compensate for the absence by meeting alternative requirements, for example individual oral or written assignments. Whether or not it is possible to compensate for absence depends on the extent of the student’s absence and which activities they have missed. Absence from compulsory teaching activities that cannot be compensated for may lead to delayed progress in the programme.

Written and practical assignments

Several courses have written assignments, practical exercises and tests as coursework requirements. Written and practical work that is not approved must be reworked before re-submission. If the work is not approved on re-submission, the student cannot take the ordinary exam/assessment.

Students are entitled to a third attempt before the resit/rescheduled exam. If a piece of required coursework is not approved, this may lead to delayed progress in the programme. More detailed requirements for written and practical work, deadlines etc. are set out in the teaching plan for the course in question.

Different forms of assessment are used in the programme that are adapted to the learning outcomes of the different courses. The forms of assessment used are intended to support learning and document that the students’ competence is adequate in relation to the applicable learning outcomes. The students will receive advice and supervision and have their performance assessed during the programme. It is important and necessary to assess students’ knowledge and skills often, so that the students receive feedback on whether their performance is in line with the programme’s requirements and whether they have achieved the learning outcomes.

Exams and practical training are assessed in accordance with the applicable rules set out in the Act relating to Universities and University Colleges, the Regulations relating to Studies and Examinations at OsloMet and the Guidelines for Appointment and Use of Examiners at OsloMet. The forms of assessment and criteria are described in the individual course descriptions. All exams taken will be stated on the diploma, along with the title of the student’s bachelor’s thesis.

Assessment/exam

All courses conclude with a final assessment and/or an exam. The student’s performance is assessed on the basis of the learning outcomes defined for the course. The grades used are pass/fail or letter grades from A to F, with A being the highest grade and E the poorest pass grade. The grade F means that the student has failed the exam.

In some courses, the exam consists of more than one part. The student’s performance in each part of the exam is assessed by a separate grade, before a final overall grade is awarded. For courses that use exams consisting of more than one part, the course description will state how the final grade for the course is arrived at on the basis of the separate grades awarded for the different parts of the exam.

Most courses have required coursework that must be approved before the student can take the exam. See the course descriptions for more details.

Resits/rescheduled exams

Resit and rescheduled exams are carried out in the same manner as the ordinary exam unless otherwise specified in the course description. In special cases, resit and rescheduled exams in courses with group exams may be held as individual exams.

For exams where a percentage of the exam papers are selected for assessment by an external examiner, the external examiner’s assessment should benefit all the students. In such cases, one external and one internal examiner will first grade the selected papers. The internal examiner then continues grading the remaining papers together with another internal examiner. The assessments from the first part are summarised to serve as guidelines for the assessments carried out by the two internal examiners.

Grades awarded for written exams can be appealed, cf. Section 5-3 of the Act relating to Universities and University Colleges. It is not possible to appeal the grades awarded for oral and practical exams. In a group exam, the result of an appeal will only have consequences for the candidates who have submitted the appeal.

Assessment of practical training

Practical training is assessed as pass or fail. The assessment is based on the learning outcomes for the course and the continuous suitability assessment that students are subject to throughout the practical training period. To pass the practical training, the student must have met the compulsory attendance requirement. A minimum attendance requirement of 90 % applies to practical training courses. If the maximum limit for absence is exceeded, the student can make up for the practical training/teaching activities missed if practically possible. This must be clarified with the person responsible for the course (first year of programme) and with the practical training supervisor and contact lecturer for the second and third years of the programme. If it is not possible to compensate for the absence, the whole period must be retaken. This will result in delayed progress in the programme.

External programme supervisor

The study programme has an external programme supervisor in accordance with the Guidelines for Appointment and Use of Examiners at OsloMet. The external programme supervisor is charged with evaluating the programme’s structure and coherence, including the relationship between the learning outcomes as described in the programme description, the work and teaching methods and assessment arrangements. The external programme supervisor should normally supervise all the courses in the programme over the course of a three-year period and provide feedback and advice that the academic environment can use in its further work on the quality of education.

Suitability assessment

Diplomas for the completed programme will only be awarded to graduates who are suited to practise the profession. A student who represents a potential threat to the physical or mental health, rights and safety of their patients and colleagues is not suited for the profession.

Suitability assessments are made on a continuous basis throughout the study programme, and will be included in the overall assessment of the students’ professional and personal suitability for work as health personnel. Students who demonstrate little ability to master the physiotherapist profession must be informed of this at the earliest possible stage of the programme. They will be given supervision and advice on how to improve, or be advised to leave the programme.

Special suitability assessments are used in special cases, cf. the Regulations concerning Suitability Assessment in Higher Education. For more information about suitability assessment, see https://student.oslomet.no/skikkethetsvurdering

Practical training consists of both practical training, activities along the way and supervised practical training that takes place during the practical training period. The practical training period (7 weeks) take part in the municipal health service, home-based services. Other practical training and activities (1 week) can be lectures, simulation, flipped classroom, digital learning resources and seminars.

For practical training, there is a requirement for 80% attendance in theory, activities and practical training that is marked compulsory in the timetable, as well as 90% attendance during the practical training period itself. The student fills in the self-assessment for the start of the practical training, the rotating schedule during the first week of practical training and the self-assessment form no later than two working days before the agreed mid- and final assessment. Other compulsory assignments included in the overall assessment of the course are:

• Simulation palliation
• Innovation and service development, participation in workshops related to innovation and innovation processes
• Group assignment (3-5 students) - based on learning outcomes in the course, the group formulates an issue related to nursing in private homes or in care homes. Scope 1000 words (+/- 10 %). Based on the project description, the group creates a poster that is presented at a seminar before the final assessment.

The assessment takes its point of departure in given criteria based on learning outcomes for the course, criteria for failing the practical training, criteria for suitability assessment and compulsory activities carried throughout the entire course. During the practical training period, a minimum of 90 percent attendance is required to pass the practical training. For more information, see the general part of the programme description about the assessment of practical training.

If the student has failed the practical training, the whole practical training course must be retaken. This includes associated requirements.

Not relevant.

Pass/fail.

SYKKPRA70x, SYKPRA70x and SYKDPRA70 are fully overlapping.