SYKPPRA60 Nursing for Patients with Complex Health Challenges Course description

In this course, nursing of patients in the context of care and rehabilitation is a key area. The course covers the nursing of patients with complex health challenges on short-term or long-term stays in different institutions. Students will gain experience of communicating and interacting with patients and next-of-kin related to long-term health challenges. Mapping of loss of function, challenges related to key patient phenomena and cognitive deficits will be part of the course. Emphasis is also placed on attention to the patients’ background as a basis for nursing. Management, organisational competence, ethics and work on the nurse's pedagogical function are also included.

Passed course:

• SYKP/SYKP1000 Theoretical Foundations of Nursing/Fundamentals of Nursing 1, 13 credits
• SYKK/SYKP1100 Anatomy, Physiology and Biochemistry, 12 credits
• SYKK/SYKP1200 Microbiology and Infection Control, 5 credits
• SYKK/SYKP1300 Pharmacology and Drug Administration, 5 credits
• SYKK/SYKP1400 Diseases and Health Deficits, 10 credits
• SYKK/SYKPPRA10 The Fundamentals of Nursing/2, 15 credits
• SYKK/SYKPPRA20 Nursing Patients with Acute, Critical and Chronic Diseases/1, 20 credits
• SYKK/SYKPPRA30K Decision-making in Nursing and Patient Safety/Nursing Patients with Acute, Critical and Chronic Diseases 2, 10 credits

or equivalent

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 is capable of

• explaining age-related diseases and treatments
• assessing the patient’s existential needs, and central phenomena such as, meaning, hope, faith, and reconciliation
• explaining what promotes and impedes well-being and a sense of belonging in the event of long-term health deficits
• stating the grounds for how health and social care policy can set the guidelines for quality development in the municipal health service

Skills

The student is capable of

• observing, assessing, and making clinical decisions in complex nursing and treatment processes, and documenting the patient’s situation and needs for nursing in the patient records
• observing and assess drug treatment to prevent problems with polypharmacy
• using knowledge of dementia when encountering challenging behaviours
• carrying out prioritised patient safety measures and discussing how this is exhibited in the nursing and care services
• taking responsibility for professional management by delegating and following up work tasks, and guiding colleagues in a team
• using knowledge about learning, mastering and change processes in counselling and teaching of the patient’s, next-of-kin, students, and relevant personnel
• reflecting on patient-centred nursing in complex and complicated conditions, and planning and carrying out targeted cooperation processes with patients, next-of-kin and other practitioners

Competence

The student is capable of

• reflecting on different ways of organising and leading the nursing services and how these impacts on the quality of the services
• reflecting on what can prevent and resolve conflicts
• identifying and reflecting on relevant ethical issues and dilemmas at the individual, group, and society level reflecting on the significance of social relations and the role the patient’s next-of-kin of patients who are on short- or long-term stays in institutions
• reflecting on the meaning of good care pathways for elderly people and chronically ill patients and how these can contribute to ensuring a coordinated, holistic, and cohesive service

A digital coursework requirement is implemented before the start of studies and includes an e-learning module and is implemented via OsloMet's digital learning platform. Practical training: in the municipal health service (8 weeks), including self-studies, lectures, digital learning resources and theme-based seminars with presentations.

Part 1 Assessment of practical training

Practical training has requirements for attendance 90 %. The student fills in a self-presentation for the start of the practice and self-assessment for the mid- and final assessment.

Part 2 Individual home exam

The following must have been approved in order for the student to take part 2 of the examination:

• Completed e-learning module. The workload for the students is estimated at approx. 30 hours. To be completed in June, before the autumn semester of the 3rd year of study.
• Planning and carrying out supervision for a group of first year students in cooperation with the practical training supervisor and contact lecturer (inspiration practical training).

Combined assessment and examination

Part 1 Assessment of practical training.

The assessment takes its point of departure in given criteria based on learning outcomes for the course, assessment criteria, the continuous assessment, the suitability assessment and compulsory activities carried throughout the practical training. Students’ practical training can only be assessed if their attendance is sufficiently high (90%). 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.

Part 2 Individual home examination

• Three days
• Scope: 2,500 words (+/- 10 %)

Part 1 and part 2 can be taken independently of each other. The student must have obtained a pass on both parts in order to pass the course as a whole and earn the credits.

All aids are permitted, as long as the rules for source referencing are complied with. 

This joint course is developed for all the Bachelor programmes at the Faculty of Health Sciences which are part of RETHOS (National guidelines for the Health and Social Studies), and is considered as an introductory course, preferably taken during the first part of the study programme.

In this course, starting with relatable examples, students will learn about the rationale for evidence-based practice (EBP) and its Core Competencies: Ask, Acquire, Appraise and Interpret, Apply, and Evaluate. Areas of focus are critical thinking (e.g. asking critical questions about health claims and the sources of claims), and shared decision-making. The course provides a foundation for learning and applying more advanced and field-specific skills.

Part 1 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. Part 2 Two examiners assess the examinations. At least 10% of the exam papers will be assessed by an external examiner. The external examiner’s assessment shall benefit all students.

On successful completion of the course, the student has acquired the following learning outcomes classified as knowledge, skills and competence:

Knowledge

The student

• can define what EBP is and recognizes the rationale for EBP and shared decision making
• knows the steps of EBP
• is familiar with the levels in the S-pyramid and acknowledges the difference between single studies and systematic reviews
• knows the characteristics of a scientific article, e.g. IMRAD
• can explain the purpose and characteristics of qualitative and quantitative studies and syntheses of studies, e.g. systematic reviews
• understands the principles for critical appraisal and knows how to use check lists for different study designs, clinical guidelines and professional procedures
• knows different types of categorical and continuous measures of association and effect, and key graphical presentations

Skills

The student

• can identify different types of professional/clinical questions, such as questions about treatment, diagnosis, prognosis, experiences and etiology
• can, for each type of clinical question, identify the preferred order of study designs
• can formulate searchable professional/clinical questions using e.g. PICO
• and variations of PICO
• can construct and carry out an appropriate and simple search strategy for professional/clinical questions from the top of the S-pyramid

General competencies

The student

• can critically assess health claims in the media