Course Coordinator: David Freer
Phone: +61 8 8313 2010
Email: david.freer@adelaide.edu.au 
Location: Level 4, AHMS, Adelaide Nursing School, University of Adelaide

On successful completion of this course students will be able to:

1	Recognise the signs of cardio-respiratory distress; and differentially diagnoses potential causes based on history-taking and clinical assessment.
2	Analyse and interpret diagnostic tests and monitoring used to assess the adequacy of the cardio-respiratory systems.
3	Discuss the aetiology and pathophysiology of common cardio-respiratory disorders potentially resulting in cardio-respiratory failure.
4	Identify the priorities and formulate an effective nursing care plan to manage a patient with the potential to, or is experiencing cardio-respiratory distress.
5	Demonstrate an understanding of the indications, rationales, setup, operation, application, monitoring, and troubleshooting required for managing a patient requiring technology to optimise their cardio-respiratory condition.
6	Plan, implement and evaluate holistic plans of care in collaboration with the health care team.
7	Identify and evaluate the current clinical issues in critical care nursing and considers the implications for your clinical area.
8	Identify, critically appraise and integrate current evidence based guidelines and consensus statements to inform competent clinical practice.

Prescribed texts

Aitken, L Marshall, A & Chaboyer, W 2019, ACCCN’s critical care nursing, 3rd edn, Elsevier, Sydney.

OR

Curtis K, and Ramsden C 2019, Emergency and Trauma Care for Nurses and Paramedics 3rd edn, Elsevier, Sydney.

AND

Talley, NJ & O’Connor, S 2018, Clinical examination: a systematic guide to physical diagnosis, 8th edn, Churchill/Livingstone, Elsevier, Sydney.

AND

Wesley, K 2019, Huszar’s: ECG and 12-Lead Interpretation, rev. 5th edn, Elsevier

Reading lists, web-links, library resources, study guides, along with the Adelaide Nursing School - Style and Referencing guide, the Academic Manual and information on Turn It In.

• Use of MyUni, CANVAS, for resource materials / lectures
• Use of announcements, discussion boards, recorded presentations - ECHO 360, quizzes, external web-links
• Materials will be made available during the semester

This course will be delivered through a blended learning mode:

Up to five hours face-to-face sessions per week (on-campus) including: a blend of presentations from expert clinicians and tutorials utilising the principles of; ‘Problem-Based Learning’.

Lectures
The presentations will be recorded via ECHO 360 and available in MyUni along with the notes. The MyUni course will facilitate students preparation for specific weeks, and therefore students are required to review these resources prior to attending presentations and tutorials.

Reading
There are several prescribed texts for this course and an online reading list that will be made available via MyUni. The readings have been carefully chosen for relevance and currency. The required and recommended readings have been selected to optimise knowledge on the topic.

Clinical Practice and Skill Acquisition
This course supplements theoretical knowledge acquisition with field based learning. Students are required to complete clinical skills and work a minimum of 300 clinical hours in their specialty setting during the semester.

The information below is provided as a guide to assist students in engaging appropriately with the course requirements. The delivery mode of this course is mainly face-to-face lectures and tutorials on campus (up to five hours contact per week). Although attendance is not compulsory in this course, students are strongly encouraged to attend the classes. Many of the lectures and tutorials presented in this course will involve problem-based learning using real-life case studies and will have a close link to your clinical specialty.

Reading
There are several required texts for this course. The online reading will be made available via MyUni. However you are strongly advised to research and read widely each topic in this course. You are expected to invest about 24 hours per week of study to successfully complete this course.

It is recommended that you plan your time commitment to the course at the beginning of the semester. This includes all study activities, attendance at lectures / tutorials, readings and assessments; some weeks it will be more and others less.

The course content will include the following:

WEEK	TOPIC
1	Introduction to the course Respiratory Anatomy & physiology Respiratory assessment; mointoring & diganostics
2	Acute Respiratory failure Common respiratory disorders
3	Oxygen therapy Non-invasive & Invasive ventilation
4	Cardiovascular anatomy & physiology 120 lead ECG interpretation, Axis
5	Rhythm monitoring: Sinus & Atrial arrhythmias Anti-arrhythmic pharmacology
6	Juncitional & Ventricular arrhythmias Differentiation of broad complex tachycardias
7	Atrio-ventricular blocks Cardiac pacing
8	Bundle branch & Fascicular blocks Syncope & other ECG findings
9	Acute Coronary Syndromes Heart Failure
10	Haemodynamic monitoring Shock states I
11	Shock States II Inotropes & Vasoactive pharmacology
12	Massive Transfusion Hyperensive Crisis Vascular emergencies
13	Pain, Analgesia & Procedural sedation UWSD insertion & management

Clinical Practice and Skill Acquisition
This course supplements theoretical knowledge acquisition with field based learning. Students are required to complete clinical skills and work a minimum of 300 clinical hours in their specialty setting during the semester.

Assessment Task	Task Type	Weighting	Learning Outcome
Search Strategy	Formative	NGP	3, 7, 8
Essay	Summative	30%	1 - 8
Exam	Summative	40%	1 - 8
Quizzes	Summative	30%	1 - 5, 7, 8
Clinical Skills Diary	Summative	NGP	1 - 8

It is recommended that students closely follow the guidelines provided in the School Manual and the School Style and Referencing Guide all assessments required in this course, as course coordinators strictly follow these guidelines when marking students’ work.
All assessment in this course must be attempted and submitted in order to satisfactorily complete this course. Where assessments items are not satisfactorily attempted and/or completed, final grades will be withheld.

Search Strategy – Formative (NGP): 1000 words. Assessment 1 is designed as preparation for Assessment 2 & 3. It is early in the semester so that you can receive feedback on your work before handing in your Annotated Bibliography and final Essay.
It is the detailed description of the search strategy that you have created in order to identify current and relevant references in your topic of choice.

Discuss the recent advances (within the last 10 years) that have occurred in the assessment and management of one of the following:
Shocked states – Choose one type
• Cardiogenic
• Hypovolaemic
• Distributive – septic, anaphylactic or neurogenic
• Obstructive – Pneumothorax, Pulmonary Embolism and Tamponade

These are broad topics, and you may wish to focus on one particular aspect of these.
Once you have made your selection:
• Identify the topic chosen and provide a brief paragraph which situates the topic, providing background, to assist in the development of the introduction for your final essay.
Your search strategy must be referenced with primary and secondary sources about searching the literature.

Anotated Bibliography – Summative (30%): 1750 words. Using your search strategy from the first assessment, identify 10 of the most relevant articles on the topic and familiarise yourself with their content.
Out of the 10 choose 5 and write an annotated bibliography for each justifying your choice after each Annotated bibliography based on sample, methodology, clinical context, etc..
1. Bibliography list of the 10 articles (not in the word count)
2. Annotated Bibliography – 5 articles - (200-250 words) and justification for inclusion (max 150 words).

Essay – Summative (30%): 2000 words. In Assessment 3 you will use the Search Strategy and the Annotated bibliography to write your Essay.

Subject: Discuss the recent advances (within the last 10 years) that have occurred in the Assessment and management of one of the following:
Shocked states – Choose one type
• Cardiogenic
• Hypovolaemic
• Distributive – septic, anaphylactic or neurogenic
• Obstructive – Pneumothorax, Pulmonary Embolism and Tamponade
These are broad topics, and you may wish to focus on one particular aspect of these.

In your discussion you must include the following headings:
• pathology/ pathophysiology
• assessment
• management

Written Exam – Summative (40% - grade of 50% or more is required to complete the course): The examination will consist of a combination of multiple choice questions and short answer questions. Students will be expected to be able to analyse patient situations. The examination will be two hours in duration and will examine the theory taught in Foundations of Critical Care.
 
Clinical Skills Diary - Summative (NGP). The assessment of skills will occur throughout the semester. Students will be assessed by the critical care registered nurses and clinical titleholders, with whom they work. Please refer to the information provided in the Clinical skills Diaries regarding skills assessment criteria.

It is essential that students, who do not have exposure to a particular skill, negotiate with the coordinator within enough time to arrange for clinical experience to occur. The diaries will be graded Pass or Fail.

Assessments, unless otherwise stated in your Study guide, are to be submitted electronically via Assignments in MyUni on the due date identified in this Study guide. Instructions for assignment submission are available for all students under Tutorials at www.adelaide.edu.au/myuni/.

Turnitin is used to submit all assignments in this course. Turnitin is a plagiarism software tool that enables the student to identify any
matching text before final submission.

An assessment submitted via MyUni must be submitted as a .doc, .docx or .rtf file. If submitting a PowerPoint presentation for marking, the .ppt or .pptx must be submitted as .pdf file. It is also important to submit your file under your name, such as surname.firstname. MyUni stamps all the other details against your filename once you submit your assessment.

Clinical Skills Diaries should be submitted in person to the students' respective Course Coordinator by 1630hrs on or before the due date.

Best aspects of this course 
Lectures and the articulated lectures online
Teaching method is good
Huge wealth of topics relevant to my practice
The lectureres make learning the content interactive and fun
Very hepful with my role in emergency.
Information is relevant and the content pushes us to learn best practices. It also is content relevant to all critical care environments which encourages each speciality to learn about the other.
Contact hours, combined learning with ED and cardiac students. Two of the lecturers have current practice knowledge making the content more relevant
Very relevant topics, well presented mostly
Weekly face to face lectures.

Areas for improvement
Just housekeeping, wrong lecture times printed, calendar incorrect
Sharing content around some weeks are very content heavy and others are light
More relevant assignments. The assignments could have been more related to the lecture content.