Acute and High Dependency Care Core Skills

The focus of the course is to develop your skills and knowledge in high dependency care. You will critically evaluate specific areas of practice in relation to the respiratory, cardiovascular, neurological, and renal systems. You will review pain management and explore how we cope with breaking bad news and dying within critical care.

The course will also enable you to develop skills in physical assessment and acquire a critically reflective approach to the care of the deteriorating patient. You will learn through lectures, seminars and simulated practice and are expected to undertake independent study.

Who is it for?

This course is for qualified nurses or midwifes (etc.) currently working in an acute and high dependency clinical area who want to develop their clinical practice within their specific patient/client field.
This course is for nurses working in the UK or overseas.

Timetable

Term 1

Oct: Wednesday 9 and 23 October 2024
Nov: Wednesday 6 and 20 November 2024
Dec: Wednesday 4 December 2024

Benefits

The key takeaway is the development of core skills in acute and high dependency care.

This is a 15-credit course at degree level.

On successful completion of this course, you will be able to:

Knowledge and understanding:

• critically apply knowledge of disordered anatomy and physiology to the patient and provide reasoning for the care decisions made.

Skills:

• demonstrate the ability to work collaboratively and effectively communicate patient information within the multidisciplinary team
• critically evaluate the care provided, to proactively influence patient outcome
• utilise your professional experience to systematically assess the deteriorating patient and then take the appropriate action
• explore the evidence base for care and develop new skills in your own area of practice.

Values and attitudes:

• reflect upon your professional role within the high dependency care area and work to promote evidence-based practice in your clinical area
• respect the needs of the dying patient and their family within the high dependency environment.

Assessment

The assessment is a 3,000-word essay where you are asked to discuss in depth, ONE specific patient problem that you have encountered whilst caring for a Level 2 patient. Ideally you should identify someone with either a respiratory, cardiovascular, or neurological problem.

You will need to look critically at your personal learning and identify how you can change or improve practice in your clinical area.

Teaching:

You will learn through lectures, seminars, and simulated practice. You are expected to undertake independent study in preparation for these sessions. You should also be supported in practice so that you are able to apply and develop your skills.

This is a 15-credit Level 6 CPD course. You will receive written confirmation on successful completion.

This course is provided by the School of Health & Psychological Sciences.

Credits

This course is worth 15 credits toward eligible programmes.

You must have at least 6 months’ experience of working within an acute and high dependency care area, be currently working in this field and ideally have a clinical mentor.

English requirements

If your first language is not English, one of the following is required:

• A first degree from a UK university
• A first degree from an overseas institution recognised by City, University of London as providing adequate evidence of proficiency in the English language, for example, from institutions from Australia, Canada or the United States of America.
• International English Language Test Service (IELTS) a score of 7.0 is required with no subtest below 7.0
• Pearson Test of English (Academic) score 72 required
• TOEFL 100 overall with 24 in Writing, 20 in Listening, 19 Reading and 20 Speaking
• Other evidence of proficiency in the English language, which satisfies the board of studies concerned, including registration with your professional regulator.

There is a comprehensive reading list provided at the start of the course and each study day has specific pre-reading material.