91530 Pathophysiology and Pharmacology 2
Warning: The information on this page is indicative. The subject outline for a
particular session, location and mode of offering is the authoritative source
of all information about the subject for that offering. Required texts, recommended texts and references in particular are likely to change. Students will be provided with a subject outline once they enrol in the subject.
Subject handbook information prior to 2025 is available in the Archives.
Credit points: 6 cp
Result type: Grade and marks
Requisite(s): ( 91528 Health and Homeostasis OR (91562 Health and Homeostasis 1 AND 91561 Health and Homeostasis 2))
These requisites may not apply to students in certain courses.
There are course requisites for this subject. See access conditions.
Description
This subject provides an introduction to the science of diseases of the bones, muscles and joints (e.g. arthritis), the gastrointestinal system (such as ulcers and hepatitis), the blood (e.g. anaemia and blood cancers), and the circulatory system (shock). Students explore the pathophysiology (the alterations in body function) that underlie or are adaptations to the different diseases presented. They also consider how these diseases are managed and treated (including important classes of specific drugs). While the focus is on the common diseases encountered, there is also consideration of ones that are less common but have a profound impact on the person's life.
After completing the subject, students are able to recognise the signs (what can be observed by you or the person) as well as the symptoms (what the person experiences) that help assess what disease, or diseases a person may have, what laboratory tests are likely to be needed, and what aspects of management and treatment to provide in collaboration with other health professionals. Your decisions and actions will be guided by professional, ethical and legal principles.
Subject learning objectives (SLOs)
Upon successful completion of this subject students should be able to:
| 1. | Demonstrate a knowledge of the causes and pathophysiology for specific conditions of each of the body systems presented (musculoskeletal, haematological, circulatory and gastrointestinal system) (NMBA 2) |
|---|---|
| 2. | Identify or describe the organ structural and functional changes that characterise the diseases the body systems (musculoskeletal, haematological, circulatory and gastrointestinal system) which are presented (NMBA 2) |
| 3. | Compare and contrast similar signs or symptoms in different diseases (NMBA 2) |
| 4. | Investigate and demonstrate a knowledge of the treatments and management of the disease presented, in clinical practice (NMBA 2 & 4) |
| 5. | Interpret clinical information, provided in case studies and scenarios, and apply your pathophysiological and or pharmacological knowledge to formulate clinical judgments (NMBA 2, 4 & 9) |
| 6. | Work collaboratively with peers to discuss and appraise information that supports the clinical judgement(s) formulated (NMBA 2, 4 & 9) |
| 7. | Convey, in plain language and in different ways, practices as to the provision of care to people at risk of, or living with, cancer. These components include the detection, screening, monitoring, or treatment of cancer |
Course intended learning outcomes (CILOs)
This subject also contributes specifically to the development of following course intended learning outcomes:
- Communicate fluently and effectively for safe therapeutic and collaborative practice (3.1)
- Appreciate the value of communication to negotiate and create shared understandings as well as to develop and sustain professional relationships (3.2)
- Speak, read, write and listen effectively and with sensitivity to different audiences and contexts (3.3)
- Inquire critically to assess a body of evidence to inform practice (4.0)
- Demonstrate information literacy and technology skills and effectively apply these in the exercise of clinical judgement (4.1)
- Inquire critically to apply knowledge for the purposes of patient and professional education (4.3)
Contribution to the development of graduate attributes
This subject will extend your ability to assess the health status and condition of patients, interpret data, and make appropriate clinical decisions by assisting you to learn foundational pathophysiological and pharmacological knowledge critical to providing safe and evidence-based care of patients. You will learn to link disease processes from the cellular level to presentation of disease symptoms in the patient, and understand principles of management of these diseases and symptoms through the study of patient cases.
You will have the opportunity to increase your disciplinary knowledge and to demonstrate how this theoretical knowledge is applied in nursing practice and patient care. You will be given the opportunity to learn via an inquiry-oriented approach through the tutorial and assessment components of the course where you will apply professional skills of condition evaluation, critical thinking, problem-solving, medical documentation, and determination of appropriate solutions which are ethical, legal and respectful of the patient. The lectures and tutorials are designed to develop your knowledge of the needs of patients, by gaining insights into current applications of pathophysiology and pharmacology in the clinical arena, particularly towards returning a patient to health.
Through the tutorial components of the course, you are encouraged to interact with your peers and academic staff, thereby developing your understanding of basic concepts of pathophysiology and pharmacology, and developing and using communication skills. The lectures and tutorials are also designed to encourage you to use several information sources, such as family history, laboratory test results, and authoritave sources (textbooks, government or professional websites, peer reviewed articles) in order to make a reasonable conclusion and treatment plan. This in turn is the beginning of skill development of information research and critical analysis, which are required for continued intellectual development and professional education.
The skills of evaluation and application of effective solutions to improve nursing practice and patient care, an enquiry oriented approach, knowledge application in patient care and professional education, as well as communication in a culturally safe and appropriate way to different audiences and contexts, are introduced and developed in Pathophysiology and Pharmacology 2, which are assessed through quizzes, a clinical case scenario and a patient-focussed health information sheet.
Teaching and learning strategies
In this subject, you will be encouraged to learn via your lecture notes, reading material from the textbook, and participation in tutorials. Over the session, you will have lectures delivered online and on-campus tutorials.
Lectures: 2 hours per week for nine weeks
Each teaching week (Weeks 1 to 5 and then Weeks 9-12), there will be presentations either on the diseases of an organ system or one or more specific class(es) of drugs. Their purpose is to provide content as you continue to expand the clinical knowledge base that you will draw upon as part of your nursing praxis. In some cases, the lecture will be a live presentation delivered online (on the Zoom platform), in which case you will have the opportunity to make direct inquiries to the lecturer, and there may also be opportunities to construct your knowledge collaboratively. On other occasions, the lectures may be pre-recorded if the assigned lecturer is unavailable for a live presentation. Regardless of how the lectures are created, the recordings will be available to you via the Canvas site for the subject. This will allow you to "catch up" if you miss a live session and revise or just watch (again) the presentations at your own pace. Also, you can lodge inquiries about any of the lecture materials on the discussion board that can be accessed via the Canvas site.
Tutorials: 2 hours per week for nine weeks
The purpose of the tutorials is two-fold. Firstly, in some cases, you will be given the opportunity to review and deepen the anatomy and physiology that underpin the pathophysiology and pharmacology you will be learning through the lectures. In other cases, you will have the opportunity to learn about other aspects of the diseases you have been engaging in in the lectures. IOr, you will have the opportunity to work collaboratively on case studies designed to allow you to apply and embed what has been presented to you in some of the lectures. The structure of these case studies draws upon the practice models of Clinical Judgment(1) and Clinical Reasoning (2). That is, you will have a patient presentation, and you will be invited to make a suggestion as to the condition, or conditions, that lead to the presentation, to elucidate the underlying pathophysiology, to suggest practices and strategies that could be undertaken as part of bringing the person to a better physiological state. Your ideas and suggestions will be recorded in your Tutorial manual. The format and approach of the tutorial studies are reproduced in the assessed Clinical Case Scenario.
1) Tanner, C. A. (2006). Thinking like a nurse: A research-based model of clinical judgment in nursing. Journal of Nursing Education, 45(6), 204-211.
2) Levett-Jones, T. (2018). Clinical Reasoning Learning to think like a nurse. Pearson.
Content (topics)
This subject will cover some of the most common diseases in each body system (musculoskeletal, haematological, circulatory, gastrointestinal) studied in this subject. This will provide insight into the processes involved in the different pathophysiology of some major diseases and the consequences of these diseases in affecting other body systems. The following topics may be included in the learning material.
- Sepsis, septic and other forms of shock: The means by which infection organisms are introduced systemically, how this and other situations can lead to profound and life-threatening failures in circulatory function
- Musculoskeletal Pathophysiology and Pharmacology: The pathophysiology of alterations that occur within the skeletal and muscular systems (including bone fractures, mineral and organic bone deficiencies, osteo- and rheumatoid arthritis)
- The pharmacology of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and immunosuppressives.
- Gastrointestinal Pathophysiology and Pharmacology: The pathophysiology of the alterations that occur with the gastrointestinal system (including vomiting, gastroesophageal reflux, gastro- and duodenal ulcer disease, diarrhoea and constipation, malabsorption syndromes, inflammatory bowel disease, hepatitis, fatty liver diseases, cirrhosis, liver failure, portal hypertension, cholelithiasis, pancreatitis).
- The pharmacology of drugs that cause or are used in treating nausea and vomiting may also be studied.
- Haematological Disorders and Pharmacology: Anaemias, bleeding disorders, coagulopathies, haemoproliferative disorders, blood group incompatibilities, and the pharmacology and applications of drugs that arrest blood clotting
- Cancer: the cellular changes that lead to cancer initiation, promotion and progression. The distinctive features of melanoma and breast cancer. How cancers are treated
Assessment
Assessment task 1: Online Quizzes
| Intent: | This assessment task contributes to the development of the following graduate attribute:
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|---|---|
| Objective(s): | This assessment task addresses subject learning objective(s): 1, 2, 3 and 4 This assessment task contributes to the development of course intended learning outcome(s): 4.0 |
| Type: | Quiz/test |
| Groupwork: | Individual |
| Weight: | 30% |
| Length: | 10 or 30 min depending on the amount of content examined |
| Criteria: | Each of the five quizzes will be an assessment of previous weeks' lecture material. A detailed breakdown of the dates, times and contents is provided in the Tutorial manual. Each quiz will be made up of multiple-choice questions with four distinguishable choices of which only one is correct. |
Assessment task 2: Clinical Case Scenarios
| Intent: | This assessment task contributes to the development of the following graduate attributes:
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|---|---|
| Objective(s): | This assessment task addresses subject learning objective(s): 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 This assessment task contributes to the development of course intended learning outcome(s): 4.0 and 4.1 |
| Type: | Case study |
| Groupwork: | Individual |
| Weight: | 30% |
| Length: | You will have a period of fifteen (15) minutes to write your answers into the spaces on the specific Canvas page. |
| Criteria: | You will be assessed based on (i) the accuracy of the information that you provide and (ii) how you have demonstrated that you understand the underlying pathophysiology of the condition presented and the biological principles that underly the tests or the interventions to be performed. |
Assessment task 3: Health Information Sheet
| Intent: | This assessment task contributes to the development of the following graduate attribute:
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|---|---|
| Objective(s): | This assessment task addresses subject learning objective(s): 4 and 7 This assessment task contributes to the development of course intended learning outcome(s): 3.1, 3.2, 3.3 and 4.3 |
| Type: | Presentation |
| Groupwork: | Individual |
| Weight: | 40% |
| Length: | All the information should be contained with two sides of an A4 sheet of paper. |
| Criteria: | You will be assessed, in relation to the cancer that you choose. (1) The accuracy of the information you provide; (2) Your awareness of what is considered best practice regarding screening, detecting, monitoring or treatment (3) The clarity (including avoiding jargon) and quality of the language and formatting used to communicate the information to the person. (4) The clarity and relevance of any image used (5) The suitability of the additional web resources you have provided the patient as additional sources of support and or information (6) The suitability of any resources you use. This will be submitted separately from the information sheet submission. |
Minimum requirements
You are expected to have attended a minimum of 80% (that is at least seven) of the tutorials that are scheduled.
All assessment items are compulsory, and to pass the subject, you must attain at least 50% out of a possible 100% for the total mark of the subject. While there is no requirement to pass any assessment item individually, a fail mark for any individual item will seriously impede your capacity to get a minimum pass mark for the subject as a whole. If any assessment task is missed without a legitimate reason, that task will be assigned a mark of zero (0).
Required texts
Recommended texts
A reading list has been set up on the library website and comprises digitised book extracts, podcasts, and e-books. For tutorials, the principal reference will be
Judt Craft, Christopher Gordon and Adriani Tiziani Understanding Pathophysiology ANZ Adaptation
- There are 12 e-licences of the 2010 edition, which can be accessed during the tutorials. via the Reading List page on the Canvas site
- Where feasible, digitised sections from 2023 edition will be available
References
Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia (https://www.nursingmidwiferyboard.gov.au/)
NSW Government Department of Health (https://www.health.nsw.gov.au/Pages/default.aspx)
NSW Government Department of Health - Nursing & Midwifery (https://www.health.nsw.gov.au/nursing/Pages/default.aspx)