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LA TROBE UNIVERSITY

ALBURY/WODONGA CAMPUS

SCHOOL OF NURSING

FIRST SEMESTER 1998

SUBJECT OUTLINE

INTRODUCTION

In this subject students will have an opportunity to study various aspects of individual and community health from a primary health care perspective. Evolving health care needs of the community and the contemporary and future trends in health care delivery will be examined. A wide range of topics will lay a foundation for understanding the principles and practice of primary health care and the roles of the nurse in providing primary health care within an Australian community context. In addition students will have the opportunity to examine major health issues in problem-based learning groups. Clinical experience will be gained in a variety of community based health services where students will explore health care issues and critically analyse the nursing role in effecting and participating in change in health care. Students will also engage in a real primary health care nursing project to apply learned theoretical concepts.

OBJECTIVES

Successful completion of this subject will enable the student to:

1. examine the concepts of community, primary health care and community health;
2. examine the impact that environmental stressors may have on the health of a community;
3. identify selected community health problems and describe their impact on the health of individuals, families and the wider community;
4. describe the community as a social system with an emphasis on the way it is organised to meet the health needs of its members;
5. demonstrate beginning ability to engage in the assessment of a community;
6. apply the caring process and principles of primary health care to assist individuals, families and groups to meet their health related needs in selected settings;
7. provide and defend a critical definition of primary health care orientated community health nursing practice.

Students are encouraged to obtain either of the following:

Spradley, B. & Allender, J. 1996, Community Health Nursing Concepts and Practice, 4th edn, Lippincott, Philadelphia.

Stanhope, M. & Lancaster, J. 1992, Community Health Nursing Process and Practice for Promoting Health, 3rd edn, C.V. Mosby, St. Louis.

The following books offer Australian content and are useful resources. (McMurray is not as substantial as the above and should not be considered a substitute.)

McMurray, A. 1993, Community Health Nursing Primary Health Care in Practice, 2nd edn, Churchill Livingstone, Melbourne.

Wass, A. 1994, Promoting Health The Primary Health Care Approach, Harcourt Brace, Sydney.

Note: Additional reading of library resources will be essential.

 

PEP is an extremely important part of this subject and will play a vital role in each student's professional development. Some activities will take place in teams while others will require individual work. Considerable variety exists in possible community placements and flexibility will be necessary in the management of time. Students must operate within given parameters but will have a large degree of autonomy. With this autonomy comes a high level of responsibility and it is expected that students will conduct themselves according to the standards of professional nurses. Clinical educators will be available as resource persons to support students on PEP.

The capacity to both learn from and teach peers reflects valuable skills for primary health care practitioners (indeed for all nurses). Accordingly, time will be allocated in the PBL tutorials for students to present a report of their learning on PEP, to their peers. After consultation, students will be allocated a topic for their presentation that will avoid undue overlap of information and provide an opportunity for students to report on an area of particular interest encountered on PEP.

Attendance at clinical placements and completion of other PEP activities as approved by staff are requirements for satisfactory grading. If considered necessary by staff, with the approval of the subject coordinator, students may be required to complete additional PEP activities to demonstrate satisfactory performance.

The 90 hours will be allocated as follows. (13 days x 7 hours)

Community assessment 3 or 4 days in teams }

PHC nursing project 5 or 6 days in teams } 9 days total

Service placements }

(or approved camp) } 4 days individuals

A loose leaf log is to be maintained based on the documents contained in this Subject Outline on pages 10 to 12. In this log you will maintain records of your activity and progress on PEP and these must be signed weekly by your Clinical Educator. You must complete a Placement Data Collection Form for each placement venue you attend during PEP for this subject and these are to be added to your log.

The community assessment and PHC nursing project will be conducted in accordance with problem based learning principles. Each team of students will actually be identifying and dealing with problems in real communities. This problem based, experiential learning will be both challenging and rewarding. Students will need to draw upon PBL skills developed in earlier years of the course. Each team will be assigned a clinical educator who will act as a facilitator.

On-campus PBL tutorials will focus on the real problems identified while on PEP and the problem solving processes themselves. This approach has been selected to enable students to learn the principles and practices of PHC and to further develop problem solving and thinking skills, particularly those related to community nursing practice.

WEB BASED TEACHING

The content of the lectures presented in this subject has been further developed and converted to HTML format for presentation on the internet, specifically on the world wide web (WWW). The web site generally is referred to as WebTeach and is located on our local campus web server. This material is restricted to students enrolled in this subject. Each student will need a special password that must be remembered. It can be accessed from the computers in the two campus computer laboratories enabled with web browser software or from off-campus if you have access to the WWW through an internet service provider (ISP). Access may be gained at: http://www.aw.latrobe.edu.au/phc/index.html

Since there are insufficient computers on campus to enable all students to access the materials at the same time, there will be two groups and two different time periods scheduled for your access. When accessing the computers at the scheduled times, if there are other students occupying them, you will need to ask them politely (but firmly if necessary) to vacate as the lab is booked for your class. You are free to use the material outside of the scheduled times of course, but you will not have any right to ask other users to vacate. The resources must be shared.

There are many benefits to employing web-based teaching. Students can progress at their own rate, as fast or slow as required. The material can be repeated as required and can be accessed more flexibly. Individual interaction is incorporated which means the student is active in the learning process. The interactive nature also provides feedback to the teacher to enable an appropriate response to each student’s progress.

PEP assessment. This will be graded as satisfactory or unsatisfactory.

1. Continuous Assessment

   This includes the review of your Log and Placement Data Collection Forms by your Clinical Educator together with the Educator’s informal ongoing review of your progress and feedback obtained from time to time by the subject staff and from staff at PEP venues.

2. PEP Presentation

   Each student will make a presentation during a tutorial session relating to experience on PEP. Further details concerning topics will be provided and guidance on methods will be available from staff.

Written assignments.

1. Assignment 1

   Length: 1500 words. Due: 1700 hrs Monday 6 April, 1998. Value: 30%.

   Submit a well referenced and thoroughly polished essay on the following topic.

   Primary health care embodies principles that apply universally, so it is as relevant inside Australian hospitals as it is in any rural community. Discuss

2. Assignment 2

   Length: 3000 words. Due: 1700 hrs Monday 1 June, 1998. Value: 70%.

   [You are advised to plan your time carefully. No extensions will be granted based on reasons associated with the block placement for WNR310. Consideration should be given to submitting this assignment well before the due date.]

   Submit a report based on your community assessment and primary health care nursing project. Although much of your source material will be group data your report is to be your own individual work and must include:

   • A discussion of up to 1000 words that both documents and justifies your chosen assessment methodology, clearly indicating its consistency with professional nursing practice and the principles of primary health care.
   • A balanced discussion of your assessment (ie strengths and weaknesses) that concludes with your findings, expressed either as diagnoses or problems (according to your preference).
   • A discussion of your project that demonstrates how it reflects primary health care practice and includes details of planned project evaluation.
   • Any assessment tools used, whether adopted, adapted or developed specifically, are to be appendixed (and are not included in the word count).

Late submission of assignments without an approved extension will be penalised at the rate of 10% of the available marks for the assignment per university working day. Students who anticipate a late submission are advised to request an extension as early as possible. Poor organisational skills will not be accepted as a reason for an extension.

Owing to the importance of PBL sessions to the development of skills and approaches suitable for PEP and PHC practice, attendance at all such sessions is mandatory. Suitable explanations for unavoidable absences will of course be accepted, but appropriate compensatory work may be required.

To be eligible for a passing grade students must be assessed as satisfactory in both PEP assessment components, achieve a cumulative score value of 50% or greater in the remaining components and satisfy the attendance requirement.

MARKER:

Student:

Project Community:

NB: Attach this page to your assignment

COMMENTS ______________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

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MARKER:

Student:

Date:

Tutorial Group:

Topic:

NB. Complete the above and hand this marking guide to your marker.

Grading: Satisfactory / Unsatisfactory

COMMENTS

___________________________________________________________________________

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MARKER:

PEP LOG

Service Placement Data Collection Form

Date signed:

Comments:

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