NUR250 Medical Surgical Nursing 1 S2 2015 NUR250 Medical Surgical Nursing 1: Assessment 1 Topic and Tasks S2 2015 Before you begin NUR250 Assessment 1 It is strongly recommended that students revisit and ensure they understand the University and Unit policies and guidelines related to academic integrity, plagiarism, submission, extension, late submission and resubmission. Information or links to related documents are on the Assessments menu on NUR250 Learnline It is the student’s responsibility to have read, understood and, if required, sought clarification of Assessment 1 information, including topic and tasks, requirements and related University and/or Unit policies and guidelines The Unit Coordinator cannot be held responsible for information about Assessment 1 that students may access outside of the NUR250 Learnline site or the communication tools used in NUR250. This includes information students may access from other students, whether enrolled in the unit or not, using social media tools such as Facebook and/or workplace colleagues they may discuss their assignment with. The Unit Coordinator is the person to contact if you have any questions or queries NUR250 Assessment 1 Topic: Nursing care of a patient with altered gastro-intestinal function Due date: 1500 Friday Semester Break Week Length: 2000 words Contribution to overall grade: 40% NUR250 Medical Surgical Nursing 1: Assessment 1 Topic and Tasks S2 2015 2 Aim and purpose of Assessment 1 Assessment 1 is the only written academic assignment in NUR250. The aim and purpose of Assessment 1 is to provide students the opportunity to demonstrate they:  Are developing their ability to locate, interpret, integrate, synthesize and apply nursing knowledge from NUR250, other units they have completed and a range of current, reliable sources to a patient case or scenario they may meet in day to day nursing practice in medical surgical settings  Are developing appropriate critical thinking, clinical reasoning and sound clinical decision making processes and strategies essential for safe, evidence-based and competent nursing practice in medical surgical settings  Are able to focus their attention to the needs of the individual patient as the key concern of nursing practice in medical surgical settings  Are able to explain and justify or defend their nursing care decisions  Have a developing understanding of the role and scope of practice of the registered nurse in the Australian health care context  Are progressing towards the level of professional written communication required for nursing practice in Australia  Are demonstrating ethical and professional practice by adhering to the University’s academic integrity standards and plagiarism policy NUR250 Medical Surgical Nursing 1: Assessment 1 Topic and Tasks S2 2015 3 NUR250 Assessment 1 Assessment 1 is to be prepared and submitted following the guidelines below. Academic literacy and academic integrity guidelines Note: Marks are allocated for following presentation guidelines and attention to academic integrity and literacy requirements. See the marking criteria for Assessment 1 for full details. Academic Literacy Reminder: Marks are allocated for presentation, written expression, organization and flow of content Format and style: Unless otherwise stated in task information, the format for Assessment 1 is objective, third person academic writing style in proper sentences and topic paragraphs under the specific headings below. An introduction and conclusion and/or a contents page are not required in this assignment. Do not copy in the task/question information for each item. It will do nothing more than contribute to the overall word count and may impact on the assignment mark.  Item 1: Clinical presentation  Item 2: Nursing management: Assessment and monitor of Nigel’s condition  Item 3: Nursing management: Assessing body temperature  Item 4: Nursing management: Medication management  Item 5: Nursing management: Maintaining fluid and electrolyte balance  Item 6: Reflection on process and new learning  References Assessment 1 is to be submitted and presented:  On the Assessment 1 template located in the Assessment 1 folder on NUR250 Learnline  As a computer generated document in Word format. o It is the student responsibility to ensure their assignment is converted to a Word format document before submission. Other word processing software or applications may not be compatible with Learnline and may interfere with formatting of your document and timely marking of your assignment  1.5 or double-spaced in either Arial font size 10 or 11 or Times New Roman or Calibri font size 11 or 12  In clear, coherent Australian English that demonstrates progression towards the standard for written communication for professional nursing practice in Australia  Items 1-5 are to be presented using appropriate professional terminology and formal academic language and style o Item 6 has different requirements, see specific task information  With no acronyms and abbreviations  With no dot or numbered points, lists, diagrams or tables  No more than 10% over or under that stated word count o Note: Headings, any task information copied in and in-text citations are included in the word count  Use of trade names is not acceptable. Only generic terms or names are to be used when referring to specific medications or other prescribed treatments or resources that may be used in nursing practice NUR250 Medical Surgical Nursing 1: Assessment 1 Topic and Tasks S2 2015 4 Academic Integrity: Acknowledging and using the work of others Students are reminded of their academic responsibilities and professional nursing practice requirements when using the work of others in assignments. Reminder: Marks are allocated for academic integrity. See the marking criteria for Assessment 1 for full details. Breaches of academic integrity will be lodged on the University system and may have serious consequences for students.  All information is to be interpreted and restated in your own original words demonstrating your ability to interpret, understand and paraphrase material from your sources  It is recommended that direct quotations be kept to an absolute minimum in number and length. It is far better to paraphrase to demonstrate your understanding  Your thoughts and ideas are to have complete, correct and consistent in-text citations with full and complete publication details in the reference list in CDU APA 6th (Reference list is to start on a new page at the end of the assignment) Academic integrity: Draft checking for inadvertent breaches of academic integrity To assist students to check their final draft assignments for possible breaches of academic integrity, there is a Draft Checking site on NUR250 Learnline.  A few days before you submit your assignment, submit a draft copy of your assignment to generate a report for you to check  Be aware that the report will not be generated immediately, it can take several hours to be available  Ignore information at the beginning of the template and assignment information such as the headings you have been asked to use that will be common to all assignments  Pay attention to any highlighted content in your response for each item. Check any material identified as possible plagiarism and review it to either improve paraphrasing or check it has been appropriately acknowledged as a direct quote and/or referenced. A word of caution when using SafeAssign. SafeAssign only matches text to the range of documents and internet sites it has access to or to assignments that have been previously submitted on the CDU system. It is not 100% accurate and does not guarantee that there are no breaches of academic integrity in your assignment. SafeAssign may not detect material taken from sources it does not have access to or that it doesn’t recognise as a match. Students are strongly advised to manually edit and check their assignment to ensure material has been appropriately paraphrased or appropriately acknowledged and referenced. Your lecturer and assignment markers will check your sources where they have concerns as to the originality of your work. NUR250 Medical Surgical Nursing 1: Assessment 1 Topic and Tasks S2 2015 5 Academic Integrity: Use of current, reliable evidence for practice Markers must be able to access ALL your sources. All resources must be accessible via CDU databases or freely available by internet search.  All resources for NUR250 assignments should be from quality, reliable and reputable nursing journals. This is where you will find information about the nursing management of patient/health problems. Remember that you will have to apply information from other countries to the Australian health and nursing context.  In some items, it may be appropriate to use articles from other journals. If you locate what you think is a relevant article from a non-nursing journal, carefully evaluate the article to ensure it is relevant to nursing, and/or that the information is relevant to the role and scope of practice of the RN in Australia.  All resources must be dated between 2007 and 2015  There must be at least 12 peer-reviewed journal articles cited in your assignment. Articles reporting original research, formal literature and/or systematic reviews are the preferred resources.  Only one textbook can be cited as a reference in the assignment and it must be a current edition. This includes any books from the CDU Library eBook collection. If you must use a textbook, one of the set texts is the preferred reference.  Relevant documents from reputable, reliable, professional websites may be used where it is appropriate to do so.  All resources cited in your assignment must have complete and correct details in the reference list. Resources that are NOT appropriate The following are NOT appropriate resources as they cannot be considered reliable sources of information:  Textbooks for lower level nursing courses. For example, any edition of Tabbner’s Nursing Care (Funnell and/or Koutoukidis, et al) does not have the depth or breadth of information required by a RN.  Dictionaries  Journal abstracts  Journal articles that are not in English  Journal articles that cannot be accessed via CDU databases or search engines  Websites such as Wikipedia, myDr, Nurse.com, Scribd, and other nursing/health/medical blog sites  Information from organisational intranet sites or other sites that require registration or log in to access material. This is not publicly available information.  Consumer websites such as the Better Health Channel or consumer information from government departments or agencies  Preview copies of books from online retailers NUR250 Medical Surgical Nursing 1: Assessment 1 Topic and Tasks S2 2015 6 Submission It is the student’s responsibility to:  Ensure Assessment 1 is submitted on the required template for the assignment. (See the Assessment 1 folder on NUR250 Learnline)  Ensure the correct copy of your assignment is submitted on the correct submission point for the assignment by the due date.  Have read, understood and, if required, clarified the University/School and/or NUR250 policies and guidelines related to extensions, late submission and resubmission  Ensure the academic integrity of assignments before submission Assignments are to be submitted:  In Word format following the presentation guidelines above and on the Assessment 1 template provided in the Assessments 1 folder on the on NUR250 Learnline.  Via the correct Assessment 1 SafeAssign submission point on NUR250 Learnline Assessment Submission menu Only one submission is allowed. Resubmission of assignments and supplementary assessments are not available. Assignments not submitted on the correct submission point will not be accepted or marked. Assignments submitted with no student identification on the document will not be marked until all other assignments have been marked and student ID can be confirmed Label the assignment file you submit in the following format: Surname, Student Number, NUR250 Assessment 1 Emailed, faxed, posted or hand-delivered assignments will not be accepted or marked NUR250 Medical Surgical Nursing 1: Assessment 1 Topic and Tasks S2 2015 7 Assessment 1: Topic Nursing care of a person with altered gastrointestinal function Source: Flickr, may be subject to copyright Meet Nigel. You will be caring for him today. Shift handover: Nigel was admitted 3 days ago with an acute abdomen. After medical assessment and initial investigations, he had a laparotomy where they resected an area of small bowel to remove areas of bowel cancer. He now has a colostomy and has been recovering well post operatively until last evening. This morning, he is now 3 days post operation. Overnight he has had increasing abdominal pain, rigidity and rebound tenderness of the abdomen, abdominal distension and nausea. Bowel sounds have been diminishing and changing in character overnight. This morning he is febrile, tachycardic, tachypnoeic, lethargic, sometimes disorientated and has decreased urine output and skin turgor. He is now nil by mouth and the nasogastric tube inserted during theatre remains in situ on low suction. Naso-gastric aspirates and drainage are bile stained and variable in amount. He has had minimal drainage from the colostomy overnight. Current medications include an opioid infusion via a PCA, prn analgesics, metronidazole, an aminoglycoside antibiotic and an anti-emetic. He has nasal prong oxygen in situ @ 2 litres/min and 2 intravenous lines for fluids and medications. Nigel is quite distressed about his current condition and is afraid he is going to die today. NUR250 Medical Surgical Nursing 1: Assessment 1 Topic and Tasks S2 2015 8 Assessment 1 Tasks: An important part of your nursing care today is to keep Nigel as comfortable as possible and to undertake frequent assessment for, and early recognition of, potential complications. This involves  Assessment and monitoring of Nigel’s condition  Monitoring fluid and electrolyte balance Your task in Assessment 1 is to critically discuss key issues related to Nigel’s nursing care today. Based on the handover you received at the beginning of your shift today (on the previous page) and current reliable evidence for practice, address the following 6 items. Do not make up or assume information in relation to or about Nigel. Only use what you know from the handover information you received today. Note: Unless otherwise stated, textbooks are not appropriate references for the items below. Students are expected to locate, critically evaluate and use current, reliable and relevant evidence from reliable nursing journals. It is recommended, however, that students refer to the set texts to help identify key points to include in their responses and assist them to develop sound search strategies to locate appropriate journal articles. Item 1: Clinical presentation No textbooks are to be cited as references in this section An important first step in the clinical reasoning process is to anticipate what you might see, hear and feel when you first meet the people you are caring for each shift. Nigel is one of the people you will be caring for today but you haven’t met or seen him as yet. Based only on the handover information you are given and using current, reliable journal articles to support your thoughts and ideas (Textbooks are not appropriate references in this section)  Describe what you might expect to see, hear and/or feel when you first meet Nigel at his bedside AND  Explain why you might expect to see, hear or feel these findings (300 words, 5 marks) NUR250 Medical Surgical Nursing 1: Assessment 1 Topic and Tasks S2 2015 9 Item 2: Nursing Management: Assessment and monitoring of Nigel’s condition No textbooks are to be cited as references in this section An important part of caring Nigel today is to monitor his condition during your shift to ensure early detection of any changes in his condition.  Identify o How you will assess and monitor Nigel’s condition during your shift today o Potential complications you will monitor Nigel for today AND  Explain o How these strategies will help you to identify any changes in Nigel’s condition o Changes that indicate improvement or deterioration in his condition (400 words, 15 marks) Item 3: Nursing Management: Assessing body temperature No textbooks are to be cited as references in this section. In this section, students are required to locate current, reliable journal articles that report original research or formal systematic or literature reviews relating to assessing body temperature to support their statements. Assessing body temperature is a frequent and fundamental nursing assessment of any person. However, there is quite a bit of variation in practice amongst nurses when assessing body temperature. Bases on current, reliable evidence reporting original research, formal systematic or comprehensive literature reviews related to assessing body temperature:  Identify and compare o Acceptable equipment or methods to assess body temperature o The acceptable time frame required to accurately assess body temperature o Factors that can prevent or enhance accurate assessment of body temperature AND  Based on your findings above, develop a current, evidence-based best practice statement about how to accurately assess body temperature for a medical surgical setting Note: Your best practice statement must be your own original statement. It is not acceptable to restate any protocols you may be using or find in your current workplace or on the internet. (350 words, 10 marks) NUR250 Medical Surgical Nursing 1: Assessment 1 Topic and Tasks S2 2015 10 Item 4: Nursing management – Medication management Two important aspects of medication management by registered nurses is for the nurse to understand why a patient has been prescribed specific medications and how to monitor the patient to ensure they are responding to prescribed medications as they should.  Briefly explain why Nigel has been prescribed o an opioid infusion using a patient controlled analgesic device o an aminoglycoside antibiotic o the dopamine antagonist anti-emetic, metoclopramide AND  Explain o The nursing responsibilities associated with administering the 3 medications above o How you will monitor Nigel to ensure he is responding appropriately to these 3 medications you are administering today (350 words, 15 marks) Item 5: Nursing management: Maintaining fluid and electrolyte balance No Textbooks are to be cited as references in this section An important nursing goal in Nigel’s care today is to maintain adequate fluid and electrolyte balance  Explain why o Nigel is at risk of a fluid volume and electrolyte deficit o Maintaining fluid and electrolyte balance is an important nursing goal in Nigel’s care today AND  Identify o Strategies you would implement in your nursing care today to monitor Nigel’s fluid and electrolyte balance o Indicators that will identify that Nigel has developed a fluid and/or electrolyte deficit (400 words, 15 marks) NUR250 Medical Surgical Nursing 1: Assessment 1 Topic and Tasks S2 2015 11 Item 6: Reflection on process and new learning An important part of the clinical reasoning process is to reflect on what you have done and learnt and to identify areas where you need further development and/or learning. In this item, reflect on what you have learnt while you have prepared your assignment about o Caring for someone like Nigel o The role and scope of practice of the registered nurse when caring for someone with altered gastro-intestinal function o Where you think you need further development and/or learning (200 words, 5 marks) Presentation guidelines for Item 6 only In this item you are required to write about your thoughts and feelings about what you have done and learnt in this assignment. Reflective writing is the opportunity for you to document your thoughts and feelings. This requires a different writing style to the rest of the assignment. As you are expressing your thoughts and feelings, you write in the first person. It is expected to see words like “I” and “my“ and phrases like “I have learnt…”, “I now understand or realise that…” It is also not appropriate to reference your own personal thoughts and feeling. However, if you refer to professional nursing standards and codes, information from specific sources (eg a text book or NUR250 Learnline) or draw on your understanding of the role and scope of practice of the registered nurse, you must provide a reference to support your statements. A reminder to  Check the submission time and day before submission  Ensure the academic integrity of your work before submission  Prepare and submit your assignment as directed in the presentation guidelines earlier in this document

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• 1507627525-NUR250 Assess 1 S2 2015 Final.pdf