This module is suitable for nurses and other registered healthcare practitioners who wish to develop their knowledge and skills in caring for acutely ill patients. Using a flexible, technology enhanced approach, this core module will enable the practitioner to deliver high quality, evidence-based care which focuses on the timely recognition, effective assessment, and appropriate management of this challenging patient group.

Aims

The module will enable practitioners to develop confidence and competence in the prioritised assessment and management of the acutely unwell adult patient.

What and how you will learn on this module 

How you will learn:

This module is delivered using a blended learning approach which integrates a variety of on-campus and online activities, supported by Canvas, the University’s virtual learning environment. A complementary range of activities are employed to engage you in the critical exploration of key topic areas, and the completion of formative tasks during the module also helps to keep you on track with the learning and gain feedback on your understanding of the content. A sense of community is developed and maintained with frequent opportunities for peer learning, enabling you to share your practice experiences and to learn from each other. Level 6 and level 7 students taking this module may be taught together.

Academic writing and critical thinking skills are developed through ‘The Critical Thinking Skills Toolkit’ and other academic practice activities embedded within the module, that have been designed to nurture the skills needed to facilitate you to become a thoughtful, objective and reasoned thinker. This will help you tackle the assignment(s) confidently, understand marking criteria, use evidence, take a reasoned approach, make structured arguments and engage with other points of view. 

What you will learn:

Identification of the acutely unwell patient

• Identification of ‘at risk’ patients

• Principles of assessment and the ABCDE approach

• Early warning scoring systems

• Establishing priorities and identifying appropriate interventions

• Transfer of the acutely unwell patient

The dyspnoeic patient

• Respiratory assessment

• Oxygen therapy

• Arterial blood gas analysis

Cardiovascular dysfunction

• Haemodynamic assessment and monitoring

• Shock

• Sepsis

The cardiac patient

• Monitoring and arrhythmias

• Introduction to 12 lead ECG interpretation

• Acute coronary syndromes

Patients with acute abdominal dysfunction

• Acute abdomen

• GI bleeding

• Hepatic failure

• Nutritional assessment

Acute kidney injury

• Classification of acute kidney injury

• Fluid and electrolyte management

• Interpretation of blood results

Diabetic emergencies

• Diabetic ketoacidosis

• HHS

• Hypoglycaemia

Impaired consciousness and acute pain

• Neurological assessment

• Management of the patient with impaired conscious level

• Assessment and management of the patient in acute pain

Ethics and bereavement

• Death and bereavement

• Management of relatives

• Ethical issues in acutely unwell patients

Academic practice

• Database searching

• Referencing and avoiding plagiarism

• Critical Thinking Skills Toolkit

Course length: 10 teaching days

Assessment

Case Study (3000 words) and Competency assessment document