Exploring Evidence and Uncertainty in Nursing
| Module title | Exploring Evidence and Uncertainty in Nursing |
|---|---|
| Module code | NUR2100 |
| Academic year | 2025/6 |
| Credits | 60 |
| Module staff | Ms Leila Morgan (Convenor) Dr Joel Faronbi (Convenor) |
| Duration: Term | 1 | 2 | 3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Duration: Weeks | 5 | 6 | 7 |
| Number students taking module (anticipated) | 60 |
|---|
Module description
This module will explore disease processes and treatments associated with commonly occurring conditions. It will develop your understanding of public health with the intention that as a graduate nurse you will have the knowledge, skills and experience to integrate public health perspectives in your everyday nursing practice. You will continue to work across the Academy of Nursing’s seven pillars of nursing; patient and public involvement, fundamental essentials of nursing care, evidence for practice; no health without mental health, leadership and management of healthcare, ethics and professionalism and global health. Subject to availability the module includes 2-3 weeks of elective weeks, either overseas or within the UK. An elective provides a flexible opportunity for you to learn about healthcare in other settings and to develop the self-awareness required to interact sensitively across cultures.
Module aims - intentions of the module
• This module continues to develop your understanding of modern nursing and develop knowledge, skills, attitudes and behaviours that will underpin your growing professionalism and competency as a nurse.
• The module supports your academic and professional development as a nurse with its various forms of assessment: essays, reflection, presentation, case study, MCQs and practical examinations which tap into and develop distinct transferable skills: academic writing, identifying and reviewing relevant literature; e-learning; IT proficiency and digital sills, extracting relevant content and summarising it, working as part of a group, communicating complex data to an audience in an accessible form and taking independent responsibility for your lifelong learning and professionalism.
• You will develop and apply public health perspectives to your nursing practice.
• You will explore cultural competency and healthcare organisation.
You will integrate Exeter’s six pillars of nursing with your theoretical and practical knowledge of nursing science in order to explore evidence and learn how to manage uncertainty in nursing knowledge and practice, as indicated below:
Fundamental essentials of nursing care: as an Exeter nurse you will enhance your skills in assessing, planning and delivering high quality fundamental care for people with increasingly complex nursing needs. You will understand the complexity involved in effective health promotion and improving health outcomes, including social economic and genomic elements which determine health. F
Patient and Public Involvement: you will integrate the principle of “nothing about us without us” in all your interactions with patients, carers and members of the public. You will understand how nurses work in partnership with people to improve, maintain and support people’s health and wellbeing and appreciate the importance of maximising quality of life and health improvement. PPI
Evidence for practice: you will demonstrate the ability to use findings from nursing science and health services research studies in your practice. You will accurately process information gathered during assessment and develop person-centred evidenced based plans through the lifespan including at the end of life. E
No health without mental health: you will develop a deeper understanding of the importance of early years interventions and the impact of adverse life experiences on lifestyle choices and mental and physical health. You will develop your understanding of case management and be able to identify evidence-based and effective self-management resources, understand how services are organised and use this to support people. MH
Leadership and management: you will develop an understanding of team working and the importance of inter-professional working across and within organisations; for example in complex discharge planning. You will develop an understanding of effective risk management and risk aversion to monitor and improve quality of care, and organise and lead on safe discharge. L&M
Global health: We will encourage you to take an overseas or UK elective to enable you to experience nursing in other countries or healthcare settings. You will gain an understanding of cultural competence and organisational aspect of different care systems which will inform your understanding of health policy and your awareness of the politics and economics of healthcare. GH
Ethics and Professionalism: The Exeter Nurse will demonstrate commitment to professional values - including social justice - and to the flourishing of individuals, families and communities. The Exeter Nurse aspires always to do the right thing and to be of good character. E & P
Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs)
ILO: Module-specific skills
On successfully completing the module you will be able to...
- 1. Describe and apply epidemiology, demography, genomics and the wider determinants of health, illness and wellbeing at all stages of the life cycle evaluating this to develop an understanding of patterns of health and illness and health outcomes, noting cultural and global impacts. E; GH; MH
- 2. Discuss disease processes and treatments associated with commonly occurring conditions and illustrate how relevant knowledge of pharmacology, immunology, microbiology and pathophysiology can affect the judgements nurses make. F; E; MH
- 3. Explain and explore the principles of partnership, collaboration and multi-agency working across all sectors of health and social care. PPI; L&M
- 4. Successfully formulate a learning contract for your elective experience recognising and acknowledging risk and seeking feedback as appropriate. L&M
ILO: Discipline-specific skills
On successfully completing the module you will be able to...
- 5. Apply knowledge of pathophysiology to accurately process information for fundamental nursing care to inform person-centred evidence-based plans for nursing interventions with agreed goals throughout the lifespan including at the end of life. E; F
- 6. Explore the role nurses play in improving, maintaining and supporting peoples mental, physical and behavioural health and wellbeing in order to maximise quality of life and improve health and wellbeing. GH; PPI
- 7. Evaluate the importance of early years interventions, case management and the impact of adverse life experiences on lifestyle choices and mental and physical wellbeing MH
ILO: Personal and key skills
On successfully completing the module you will be able to...
- 8. Demonstrate the ability to communicate effectively using a range of skills and strategies with colleagues and people at all stages of life and with a range of mental, physical, cognitive and behavioural health challenges. F; PPI
- 9. Demonstrate the ability to undertake a range of drug calculations, data collection, interpretation and analysis. F
- 10. Use a range of digital technologies to access, input, apply and safely share and information and data within interdisciplinary teams. F
Syllabus plan
Whilst the module’s precise content may vary from year to year, an example of an overall structure is as follows:
The module consists of a mixture of interactive lectures, problem based learning workshops, seminars, simulation and on-line learning. The indicative content as it relates to each pillar is below.
Fundamental essentials of nursing care
Biological and social sciences, pathophysiology of common physical and mental health conditions and “normal” complex ageing processes such as frailty and co-morbidities, wider determinants of health and wellbeing, risk and risk aversion, re-enablement. Developing and integrating your physical examination and assessment skills into holistic nursing assessment for people with acute and long term and palliative conditions when planning, implementing and evaluating care with them. Medication and fluid management.
Patient and public involvement
Role of the nurse and other professions in health and wellbeing promotion and maintenance. Negotiation and advocacy as part of empowerment, partnership working with people, their family and carers to support their choices and changes they seek to make in their lives. Patient and public involvement models in research. The philosophy of patient and public involvement.
Evidence for Practice
Research evidence and statistics, research questions, ethics and data management, developing, testing, evaluating and implementing complex interventions. Implementation science.
No health without mental health
Assessing common mental health problems, medication support, understanding simple ‘low-intensity’ and self-help non-pharmacological strategies. Adverse early life events, vulnerability, adaptation to loss and bereavement, mental health legislation and policy. Principles of case management and self-management.
Leadership and management
Responsible and proactive the organisation of a relevant external elective. Developing and applying nursing philosophy. Nursing care of people with a variety of health problems, their investigation and accompanying wellbeing issues such as pain, anxiety and depression. Managing and starting to lead nursing care across the life span and within the multidisciplinary team and inter-professional team. Risk assessment and risk aversion, complex discharge planning.
Global Health
Cultural competence, health care organisations, health systems and models of organisation, political economy of health.
The learning and teaching hours contribute to meeting the NMC and EU Directive requirements of 2,300 of theoretical learning hours. This module equates to 712 hours; rather than the nominal hours associated with a typical undergraduate 60 credit module.
Learning activities and teaching methods (given in hours of study time)
| Scheduled Learning and Teaching Activities | Guided independent study | Placement / study abroad |
|---|---|---|
| 200 | 400 | 112 |
Details of learning activities and teaching methods
| Category | Hours of study time | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Scheduled learning and teaching activities | 50 | Problem Based Learning. Blended asynchronous and synchronous small group work using zoom of MS Teams. |
| Scheduled learning and teaching activities | 41 | Lectures Online and blended delivery with videos, discussion boards and quizzes using ELE. Asynchronous delivery PE |
| Scheduled learning and teaching activities | 31 | Seminars. Blended Asynchronous and synchronous delivery small group discussion using MS team or Zoom and yammer |
| Scheduled learning and teaching activities | 8 | Professional tutorials. Synchronous blended small group |
| Scheduled learning and teaching activities | 70 | Simulation and skills preparation Face to face in ward and clinical skills resource centre |
| Placement/study abroad | 112 | One of the following compulsory activities: 1.Elective Placement 2.Online virtual collaboration with other university. Pre-requisite for assessed presentation. |
| Guided Independent Learning | 100 | Preparation for the drug calculation test. |
| Guided Independent Learning | 100 | Preparation and reading for sessions |
| Guided Independent Learning | 200 | Preparation for assessments |
Formative assessment
| Form of assessment | Size of the assessment (eg length / duration) | ILOs assessed | Feedback method |
|---|---|---|---|
| Objective Structured Clinical Examinations (OSCE) 1 | 1 exam with 3 stations of 10 minutes duration | 1-20 | Written and oral feedback on performance |
Summative assessment (% of credit)
| Coursework | Written exams | Practical exams |
|---|---|---|
| 80 | 0 | 20 |
Details of summative assessment
| Form of assessment | % of credit | Size of the assessment (eg length / duration) | ILOs assessed | Feedback method |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Health promotion poster with a written justification (this assessment must be passed at 40%) | 30 | 2,400 words (written justification) | 1, 6-7 | Written and oral |
| OSCE 2 station 1 mandatory element (this assessment must be passed at 100%) | 0 | n/a | 5-10 | Written and oral |
| OSCE 2 station 1 (this assessment must be passed at 40%) | 6 | 20 minutes | 5-10 | Written and oral |
| OSCE 2 station 2 mandatory element (this assessment must be passed at 100%) | 0 | n/a | 5-10 | Written and oral |
| OSCE 2 station 2 (this assessment must be passed at 40%) | 7 | 20 minutes | 5-10 | Written and oral |
| OSCE 2 station 3 mandatory element (this assessment must be passed at 100%) | 0 | n/a | 5-10 | Written and oral |
| OSCE 2 station 3 (this assessment must be passed at 40%) | 7 | 20 minutes | 5-10 | Written and oral |
| Case study essay (this assessment must be passed at 40%) | 30 | 3000 words | 1-3, 5-6 | Written and oral |
| Oral presentation relating to elective placement (this assessment must be passed at 40%) | 20 | 15 minutes (10-minute presentation and 5-minute Q&A) | 1-3 | Written |
| Drug calculation test Stage 2 (this assessment must be passed at 80%) | 0 | 1 hour, end of term 3 | 9 | Written |
Details of re-assessment (where required by referral or deferral)
| Original form of assessment | Form of re-assessment | ILOs re-assessed | Timescale for re-assessment |
|---|---|---|---|
| Health promotion poster with a written justification (30%) | Health promotion poster with a written justification (2,400 words) (30%) | 1, 6-7 | Within 4 weeks of results being released |
| OSCE 2 station 1 mandatory element (0%) | OSCE 2 station 1 mandatory element (0%) | 5-10 | Within 4 weeks of results being released |
| OSCE 2 station 1 (6%) | OSCE 2 station 1 (6%) | 5-10 | Within 4 weeks of results being released |
| OSCE 2 station 2 mandatory element (0%) | OSCE 2 station 2 mandatory element (0%) | 5-10 | Within 4 weeks of results being released |
| OSCE 2 station 2 (7%) | OSCE 2 station 2 (7%) | 5-10 | Within 4 weeks of results being released |
| OSCE 2 station 3 mandatory element (0%) | OSCE 2 station 3 mandatory element (0%) | 5-10 | Within 4 weeks of results being released |
| OSCE 2 station 3 (7%) | OSCE 2 station 3 (7%) | 5-10 | Within 4 weeks of results being released |
| Case study essay (30%) | Case study essay (3,000 words) (30%) | 1-3, 5-6 | Within 4 weeks of results being released |
| Oral presentation (relating to elective placement) (20%) | Oral presentation (20%) | 1-3 | Within 4 weeks of results being released |
| Drug calculation test Stage 2 (0%) | Drug calculation test Stage 2 | 9 | Within 4 weeks of results being released |
Re-assessment notes
10 items of assessment are required for this module. You must pass allitems of assessment and demonstrate professionalism and fitness to practise to progress to Stage 3.
In all cases re-assessment will be in the same format as the original assessment. Where you have been referred/deferred for any form of assessment detailed above you will have the opportunity to retake within a specified period from the date that feedback was provided. In the case of failure or mitigation in one or more OSCE assessments, you will only be referred or deferred in the relevant station(s).
If you pass re-assessments taken as a result of deferral, your re-assessment will be treated as it would be if it were your first attempt at the assessment and the overall module mark will not be capped.
If you pass re-assessments taken as a result of referral (i.e. following initial failure in the assessment), the assessment(s) will be capped at 40% but the overall module mark will not be capped.
If you fail re-assessments taken as a result of referral (i.e. following initial failure in the assessment), you will be failed in the module and the programme.
Indicative learning resources - Basic reading
Alligood, M.A. (2018) Nursing Theorists And Their Work, Elsevier. [Electronic resource]
Ashelford, S., Raynsford, J., and Taylor, V. (2016) Pathophysiology & Pharmacology for Nursing Students, Sage.
Berry,TA. Workman, Ml. and Eggert, JA. (2018) Genetics and Genomics in Nursing and health care. F.A.Davis [Electronic resource]
Bickley, L.S (2017) Bate’s Guide to Physical Examination and History Taking. Wolters Kluwer.
Bickley, L.S (2017) Bate’s Pocket Guide to Physical Examination and History Taking. Wolters Kluwer.
Blank, R.H., Burau, V., & Kuhlmann, E. (2017) Comparative Health Policy (5th ed.) Macmillan International. [Electronic resource]
Bradshaw, T., and Mairs, H. (eds) (2017) Health Promotion and Wellbeing in people with Mental Health problems, Sage publications.
Brooker, C., &Nicol, M. (2015) Alexander’s Nursing Practice 4th ed. Churchill Livingstone. [Electronic resource]
Chenery-Morris, S and McLean, M (2013) Normal midwifery practice. Sage [Electronic resource]
Costello, J. (2004) Nursing the Dying Patient. Caring in different Contexts. Palgrave Macmillan.
Delves-Yates, C. (ed.) (2015) Essentials of Nursing Practice, Sage.
De Souza, J and Pettifer, A. (2019) End of life nursing care: a guide for best practice Sage [Electronic resource]
Dowie, I (2019) Dimond’s legal aspects of nursing. A definitive guide to law for nurses. Pearson [Electronic resource](
Downs, M and Bowers, B (2014) Excellence in dementia care: research into Practice McGraw Hill Education [Electronic resource]
Edelman, C.L., & Kudzman, E.C. (2018) Health Promotion Across the Life span, Elsevier.
Gates, B., Ferns, D., Welch, J. (eds) (2015) Learning disability nursing at a glance. Wiley-Blackwell [Electronic resource]
Germain, S.(2018) Justice and profit in healthcare law:a comparative analysis of the united states and the united kingdom [Electronic resource]
Giger, J.N. (2017) Transcultural Nursing; Assessment and Intervention (7th ed.), Elsevier. [Electronic resource]
Glasper, E.A., McEwing, G., Richardson, J.(eds) (2016) Oxford handbook of children’s and young people’s nursing, Oxford University Press.[Electronic resource]
Gould, D & Brooker, C. (2008) Infection Prevention and Control; Applied Microbiology for Healthcare (2nd ed.) Palgrave Macmillan. [Electronic resource]
Griffith, R., & Tengath, C. (2017) Law and Professional Issues in Nursing: Transforming Nursing Practice, Sage.
Hockenberry, M, Wilson, D, Rodger, C (2018) Wong’s Nursing care of infants and Children. Elsevier [Electronic resource]
Hubert, R.J., and Van Meter, K.C. (2018) Gould’s Pathophysiology for the Health Professions, Elsevier. [Electronic resource]
Hyden,LC. And Antelius, E. (2017) Living with dementia: relations, responses and agency in everyday life. Palgrave [Electronic resource]
Innes, J.A., Dover. A.R & Fairhurst, K. (eds.) (2018) Macleod’s Clinical Examination (14th ed.), Elsevier.
Naidoo, J., and Wills, J. (2016) Foundations for Health Promotion, Elsevier. [Electronic resource]
Neal, MJ. (2012) Medical pharmacology at a glance. Wiley Blackwell [Electronic resource]
Norman, I and Ryrie, I. (2013) The Art and Science of Mental Health Nursing Fundamentals of mental health nursing [electronic resource] : an essential guide for nursing and healthcare student
Polit, D.F. (2017) Essential of Nursing Research: Appraising Evidence for Nursing Practice. Wolters Kluwer.
Polit, D.F and Beck, C.T. (2017) Nursing research: generating and assessing evidence for nursing. Wolter Kluwer.
Papadopoulos, I. (ed.) (2006) Transcultural Health and Social Care; Development of Culturally Competent Practitioners, Butterworth Heinemann.
Richards, D.A., and Hallberg, I.R. (eds.) (2015) Complex Interventions in Health. Routledge.[Electronic resource]
Schon, D.A. (2006) the Reflective Practitioner: How Professionals Think in Action. Ashgate. [Electronic resource]
Sethia, B., and Kumar, P. (eds.) (2019) Essentials of Global Health, Elsevier. [Electronic resource]
Silverman,J. Kurts,SM and Draper,J. (2013) Skills for communicating with patients. Radcliffe. [Electronic resource]
Stein-Parbury, J. (2018) Patient & Person: Interpersonal Skills in Nursing, Elsevier.
Tashiro, J., Shimpuku, Y., Naruse, K., et. al., (2013) Concept analysis of reflection in nursing professional development. Japan Journal of Nursing Science 10(2):170-179 available at: https://www.evidence.nhs.uk/Search?q=nursing+reflection&sp=on
Terlizzi,A (2019) Health systems decentralised and recentralization: ideational and institutional dynamics in Italy and Denmark [Electronic resource]
Trenowerth, S (2017) Promoting recovery in mental health nursing Sage.[Electronic resource]
Tortora, G.J., Derrickson, B (2017) Principles of Anatomy and Physiology. Wiley.[Electronic resource]
Waller, D.G., Sampson, A.P et., al. (2017) Medical Pharmacology & Therapeutics, Saunders, Elsevier [Electronic resource]
Watson, C. (2018) The Language of Kindness: A Nurse’s Story. Chatto & Windus.
Waugh, A. Grant, A. (2018) Ross & Wilson, Anatomy and Physiology in Health and Illness, Elsevier.
Waugh, A. Grant, A. (2013) Ross & Wilson, Anatomy and Physiology in Health and Illness, Elsevier. [Electronic resource]
Wild, K (2018) Public health and health promotion for nurses at a glance. Wiley[Electronic resource]
Wright, K. M., and McKeown, M. (2018) Essentials of Mental Health Nursing, Sage Publications
Indicative learning resources - Web based and electronic resources
Nursing and Midwifery Council: www.nmc.org.uk
Royal College of Nursing: www.rcn.org.uk
Department of Health: www.gov.uk/government/organisations/department-of-health-and-social-care
National Institute of Health and Clinical Excellence: www.nice.org.uk
World Health Organisation: www.who.int
Healthtalk online: www.healthtalk.org
WeNurses (@WeNurses) · Twitter: https://twitter.com/WeNurses https://intlearningcollab.org/mission/the-fundamentals-of-care/
https://www.clinicalskills.net
Indicative learning resources - Other resources
Journals:
American Journal of Nursing
British Journal of Community Nursing
British Journal of Nursing
Evidence-based Nursing
International Journal of Nursing Studies
Journal of Advanced Nursing
Journal of Clinical Nursing
Journal of Psychiatric and Mental Health Nursing
Nursing Ethics
Nursing Management
Nursing Older People
Worldviews on Evidence Based Nursing
| Credit value | 60 |
|---|---|
| Module ECTS | 30 |
| Module pre-requisites | NUR1000, NUR1100 |
| Module co-requisites | None |
| NQF level (module) | 5 |
| Available as distance learning? | No |
| Origin date | 28/06/2018 |
| Last revision date | 20/09/2024 |
