*The advertised teaching dates are provisional, and subject to change*

This module is suitable for nurses and other registered healthcare professionals working with adult patients in a range of acute clinical settings including cardiology, cardiac surgery, acute medicine, pre-hospital and emergency care. 

It will enable students working within areas such as CCU, cardiac wards, investigational units, catheter labs and critical care areas to develop the in-depth knowledge and skills to appraise evidence-based interventions and to optimise patient care. 

The course can also be undertaken by practitioners working as paramedics, in A&E or in cardiac research units who would like to expand their knowledge in the care and management of cardiac patients

 

Aims

The module will enable students to develop the knowledge and skills required to rapidly assess acutely unwell cardiac patients and the knowledge to inform individualized, evidence-based care.

 

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:

Applied cardiac anatomy and physiology

• Cardiac and respiratory assessment

• Identification of the deteriorating patient

• History taking and chest pain assessment

• Cardiovascular risk factor assessment

• Respiratory assessment including arterial blood gas analysis

 

Acute Coronary Syndromes

• Aetiology and Pathophysiology

• Symptoms assessment and diagnosis

• Pharmacological treatments and intervention

• 12-lead ECG interpretation and cardiac biomarkers

• Complications associated with ACS

• Pre and post (Primary) PCI patient care

 

Cardiomyopathy and sudden cardiac death

• Classification

• Aetiology

• Pathophysiology

• Arrhythmias associated with cardiomyopathy

 

Inflammatory heart disease

• Endocarditis

• Pericarditis

• Myocarditis

 

Hypertension

• Aetiology

• Classification

• Complications

• Management

 

Heart Failure and Cardiogenic Shock

• Pathophysiology

• Identification and diagnosis

• Pharmacological management

• Interventions including intra-aortic balloon pump, CPAP, cardiac resynchronisation therapy, ultrafiltration, left ventricular assist device and transplantation

 

Cardiac Investigations and interventions

• Electrophysiology studies and ablation

• Permanent pacemakers, internal cardioverter defibrillator and cardiac resynchronisation therapy

• Percutaneous interventions

• Pre and post procedure care and complications of the above

 

Health promotion

• Primary and secondary prevention

• Cardiac rehabilitation, including lifestyle modification.

• Psychosocial support.

 

Common drugs used in Cardiology

• Beta Blockers

• Calcium channel blockers

• ACE inhibitors

• Diuretics

• Anti-anginal drugs

• Antiarrhythmic drugs

• Statins

• Antiplatelets

 

Academic practice

• Database searching

• Referencing and avoiding plagiarism

• Critical Thinking Skills Toolkit

• Presentation skills

 

Course length: 10 Teaching Days

Assessment

Reflective essay (3000 words)