Online Module 1

Distinguish the roles and responsibilities of a nurse in the selected specialty practice area. [LO 1.]

In this module we will explore the role of the specialist nurse, including identifying the special skill set of the specialist nurse in your elective area. We will identify some of the physical and emotional safety issues related to the specialty and determine some strategies you can use to keep yourself safe. We will conclude the module with examining the legal aspects associated with the specialty, both in terms of your responsibilities and the responsibilities of the employer.

In Australia specialty nursing practice is a post graduate qualification.  As registered Nurses you can work in any area of nursing, so what defines specialty practice?  What is the difference between a nurse practitioner and an advanced practice nurse as opposed to someone who has worked in same clinical area for 10yrs or someone who has a postgraduate certificate or Diploma in specialty area?

Module one looked at the specific rights and responsibilities of the registered nurse in a specialty clinical area, including from the perspective of keeping the nurse and her/his patients/clients physically and emotionally safe. It also raised the issue of legal responsibilities and identified issues specific to the specialty area

For your assessment: write 400 words on an issue of safety or of legal responsibility that you explored in some depth, ensuring it is specifically related to the specialty area.

PLEASE USE THIS FACT SHEET TO DO MODULE ONE and to use the reference from here.

PLEASE use all the website highlighted.

The following will help you establish a basis for your reflection and enable you to complete the activity:

Fact Sheet: Advanced nursing practice and specialty areas within nursing 

Shields (2013) discusses the role of the nurse in a reflective personal essay that makes for interesting reading on how nursing is viewed and where Australian nursing fits in the global scene. It makes for a good introduction to the elective and to the module. Please read this article:  Shields, L. (2013). A personal essay on the role of the nurse. Contemporary Nurse: A Journal for the Australian Nursing Profession, 43(2), 213-218.

Having read the above resources  it is time to explore what you know and understand about the role of the specialty nurse within your clinical practice area. Consider what you already know in relation to the NMBA standards of practice for registered nurses.  If all registered nurses need to meet these standards then what more is expected of someone with specialty experience?

Here is a link to the mandatory reporting requirements for suspected child abuse in the different states and as you can see it is not consistent across states either.  And here is another link to an article exploring issues of financial abuse of older adults in residential aged care.

Tilse, C., & Wilson, J. (2013). Recognising and responding to financial abuse in residential aged care. The Journal of Adult Protection, 15(3), 141-152.doi:

To get you thinking, here is a link to a book chapter on Personal Safety for Nurses. Admittedly it is from an American perspective, but useful nonetheless:

Trinkoff, A. M., Geiger-Brown, J. M., Caruso, C. C., Lipscomb, J. A., Johantgen, M. Nelson, A. L., … Selby, V. L. (2008). Personal safety for nurses. In R. G. Hughes (Ed.)., Patient Safety and Quality: an Evidence-Based Handbook for Nurses (pp. 1-36). Rockville, MD: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (US).

The next reading is a systematic review looking at stress in the Australian nursing workforce.

Lim, J., Bogossian, F., & Ahern, K. (2010). Stress and coping in Australian nurses: a systematic review. International Nursing Review, 57(1), 22-31.doi:10.1111/j.1466-7657.2009.00765.x

This final link discusses the concept of ‘burnout‘, and although the focus is on medical burnout, the author makes some important and relevant points that can be applied to nursing.

 Online Module Two

 Module two looks specifically at the rights of clients and in more depth the rights of their carers in the process of treatment and recovery. It raises some questions about how the nursing profession views and deals with the rights of the carers and their need for information, particularly in the context of patients/clients who may lack insight in their care needs.

For your assessment: Write 400 words on your understanding of the dilemma of providing information to carers while considering the confidentiality concerns relating to the patient/client.  Don’t forget to consider the ethical implications in your consideration of the issues.

Herring, J. (2007). Where are the carers in healthcare law and ethics? Legal Studies, 27(1), 51-73.doi: 10.1111/j.1748-121X.2006.00037.x

Gold, M., Philip, J., McIver, S., & Komesaroff, P. A. (2009). Between a rock and a hard place: exploring the conflict between respecting the privacy of patients and informing their carers. Internal Medicine Journal, 39(9), 582-587.doi:10.1111/j.1445-5994.2009.02020.x

Most health care organizations have a patient charter or similar document that is given to patients or clients in the care of the organization, to explain their rights.

• Find this document for your specialty area and read it.
• Consider, who is it aimed at and does it include the rights of the carers as well?
• Is the organizational charter proscriptive in nature allowing no room for flexibility based on ethical considerations

It would also be worth finding out if the health cares organization has specific policies to cover the rights of patients/clients and their carers.

• Go to the organization’s policies and procedures manual or web page, and find out what the relevant policies are.
• Are there policy for each party or just a general policy that is inclusive, again is there flexibility in the policy

Jot down some answers to these points as they will assist you in completing the assessment task 3 component for this module.

References

Buchanan, H., Cooper, L., Fielding, A., Godwin, I., Hird, A., Migliorino, S., . . . Isted, Lyn. (2012). Ethical practice for health professionals (2nd Ed.). Australia: Cengage Learning Australia.

Online Module 3

Reflect on the personal perceptions and meaning of health, illness, dying and death as appropriate in the specialty practice area. [LO7]

The perspectives on and understanding of health, illness, dying and the experience of someone’s death is a very personal matter and the meaning a persona ascribes to it varies from person to person. As nurses it is important for us to understand that different people view these concepts and experiences in a variety of ways and some of those ways may surprise or even dismay us.

For this module you are asked to explore some of the writings in the public domain on how people have made meaning of their health related issues.

Exploring how people perceive a variety of issues in health, illness and dying may help us make meaning of it, both in terms of our own views on these concepts, and in terms of how the people in our care or people related to those in our care, may respond to alterations in health and experience illness.

Reflection is not a new concept, the ancient Greek philosopher Plato insisted that reflection and ultimately change was important component of our humanity.  Reflection is not an artificial technique it is inherently human and reflection and action are the impetus for change and personal improvement (Daly, Speedy & Jackson, 2014).  This being said in order to reflect fully we must know ourselves well, our drive, ambition and prejudices if we are going to understand others fully.

Here are some examples to get you started. Watch the following on YouTube

“The Spoon Theory”: Elucidating The Chronic Illness Experience [Reading & Personal Reflection]

Maggie’s story of hope, recovery & healing

 READING

The following article relates to informal carer, while the article is based in Europe there is relevance to Australian Health care system with increasing number of community and home services

Plank, A., Mazzoni, V., &Cavada, L. (2012). Becoming a caregiver: new family carers’ experience during the transition from hospital to home. Journal Of Clinical Nursing, 21(13/14), 2072-2082.doi:10.1111/j.1365-2702.2011.04025.x

 ACTIVITY

Find three articles from magazines, journals, blogs, online postings (most numerous), where the person writes about the meaning an illness has had for them.  Preferably this will be from your area of specialty practice however this may prove difficult for some specialties in this case pick a specialty area that interests you where there is information available.  Choose one article each from the following perspectives or points of view.

• From the perspective of the person being cared for
• From the perspective of the person closest to them (partner, parent, child, etc)
• From the perspective of a health professional caring for such a person

Choose one of your readings and write a reflection on how that has changed your perspective or given you some insight into the meaning illness has for a particular person.

When writing your reflection makes sure you consider your own perceptions, morals and ethics.

Are You Looking for Solution ? To get answer

Please CHAT WITH LIVE Assignment Advisor to know more about Referencing styles and Citations.

Chat with our 24x 7 Online Agents CLICK CHAT NOW

Ask Your Assignment Question?
Check out our Assignment Help Services
Find Your Assignment Experts