Overview

This unit provides opportunities for students to develop their knowledge and skills in the assessment of the health status of individuals across the lifespan, and to integrate their knowledge of normal processes and pathophysiology to nursing practice. Students will focus on factors that impact on mental and physical health assessment. At the completion of the unit students will be able to undertake a comprehensive subjective/objective systems assessment on an individual, and critically apply this knowledge to nursing practice.

Requisites

Concurrent prerequisites
BIO10004 Anatomy and Physiology

Rules

Pre-requisite
Admission into BA-NUR - Bachelor of Nursing

Concurrent Pre-requisite
BIO10004 Anatomy and Physiology

Equivalent units
NEU10002 Neuroscience

Equivalent
HET134 - Neurosciences (Discontinued)

Teaching Periods
Location
Start and end dates
Last self-enrolment date
Census date
Last withdraw without fail date
Results released date
Semester 1
Location
Hawthorn
Start and end dates
26-February-2024
26-May-2024
Last self-enrolment date
10-March-2024
Census date
31-March-2024
Last withdraw without fail date
12-April-2024
Results released date
02-July-2024
Semester 1
Location
Wantirna
Start and end dates
26-February-2024
26-May-2024
Last self-enrolment date
10-March-2024
Census date
31-March-2024
Last withdraw without fail date
12-April-2024
Results released date
02-July-2024

Learning outcomes

Students who successfully complete this unit will be able to:

  • Undertake a comprehensive health history and a systematic physical assessment to obtain data to inform decision making
  • Analyse a person’s history across the lifespan including physical and psychosocial examination findings to determine physical and sensory capacities.
  • Integrate and apply knowledge of anatomy, physiology and pathophysiology as evidence from additional sources to inform decision-making
  • Demonstrate effective and culturally safe communication skills
  • Recognise the role and scope of a registered nurse in the undertaking of a health assessment

Teaching methods

Hawthorn

Type Hours per week Number of weeks Total (number of hours)
On-campus
Lecture
1.00 12 weeks 12
On-campus
Class
2.00 12 weeks 24
On-campus
Class
2.00 8 weeks 16
Online
Learning activities
2.00 12 weeks 24
Unspecified Activities
Various
6.17 12 weeks 74
TOTAL150

Assessment

Type Task Weighting ULO's
AssessmentIndividual 30% 1,2,4 
AssignmentIndividual 40% 1,2,3,4,5 
Oral PresentationIndividual 30% 1,2,4,5 

Content

  • Body systems evidence based framework for health assessment
  • Culturally safe communication skills in history taking, assessment and examination
  • Mental, psychosocial and physical health assessment skills and examination techniques
  • Collection and analysis of data (subjective and objective)
  • Problem solving and clinical reasoning
  • Lifespan development
  • Graduate Attribute – Communication Skills: Verbal communication
  • Graduate Attribute – Communication Skills: Communicating using different media
  • Graduate Attribute – Teamwork Skills: Collaboration and negotiation
  • Graduate Attribute – Teamwork Skills: Teamwork roles and processes
  • Graduate Attribute – Digital Literacies: Information literacy
  • Graduate Attribute – Digital Literacies: Technical literacy

Study resources

Reading materials

A list of reading materials and/or required textbooks will be available in the Unit Outline on Canvas.