92444 Professional Accountability
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
Subject level:
Undergraduate
Result type: Grade and marksRequisite(s): (92441 Contemporary Indigenous Health and Wellbeing OR 92317 Contemporary Indigenous Health and Wellbeing OR 92465 Contemporary Indigenous Health and Wellbeing OR 92456 Contemporary Indigenous Health and Wellbeing OR 93212 Indigenous Health and Well-Being OR 93226 Indigenous Health and Well-Being)) AND (((92434 Professional Identity OR 92324 Professional Identity)) OR ((90 credit points of completed study in spk(s): STM90553 144cp Enrolled Nurse BN OR 90 credit points of completed study in spk(s): STM90551 144cp Graduate Entry BN))
These requisites may not apply to students in certain courses. See access conditions.
Description
This subject challenges students to prepare for their transition into the role of a beginning graduate nurse. It builds on the first year discussion of professional identity by focusing on how students prepare for a professional role by using the ethico-legal framework and Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia Registered Nurse Standards of Practice as a guide to complex health care issues. The faculty attributes necessary for sustained professional status in a global health care context are also addressed. Opportunities are provided to enable students to reflectively incorporate an informed understanding of accountability in nursing practice into their modes of perception, thought, feeling and response. They are encouraged to appreciate that clinical capability and judgement cannot be accomplished without an understanding of the full range of personal accountability in practice. The subject further develops students' critical and analytical abilities, their competence with the variety of literacies required of professional practitioners, and their skill in the appropriate expression and communication of ideas.
Subject learning objectives (SLOs)
| A. | Discuss the key ethical dimensions of professional practice: direct dealings with patients, collaboration with colleagues, institutional issues, and policy matters (Registered Nurse Standard for Practice 1, 3). |
|---|---|
| B. | Demonstrate appropriate critical and analytical capability in identifying and thinking through ethical-legal issues (Registered Nurse Standards for Practice 1, 3, 7 ). |
| C. | Demonstrate awareness of the complex interactions within legal and ethical dimensions of practice (Registered Nurse Standards of Practice 1, 3, 6). |
| D. | Demonstrate an ability to access and evaluate literature to inform practice (Registered Nurse Standards for Practice 3). |
| E. | Plan own learning and contribute to collaborative learning through productive discussions and independent studies (Registered Nurse Standards for Practice 1, 2, 3). |
| F. | Relate the need for ongoing personal, academic and professional development in order to realise own goals as a means of contributing to the delivery of local and international quality patient care (Registered Nurse Standards for Practice 1, 3). |
Course intended learning outcomes (CILOs)
This subject also contributes specifically to the following graduate attributes:
- Embody a professional disposition committed to excellence, equity and sustainability (1.0)
- Engage in person-centred care that is appropriately sensitive to the needs of individuals, families and communities (2.0)
- Inquire critically to assess a body of evidence to inform practice (4.0)
Teaching and learning strategies
In this subject, students will participate in a range of teaching and learning strategies that are designed to encourage them to engage with the legal and ethical aspects of nursing practice.
Lectures and online learning materials
This subject benefits from both the real time delivery of content and access to online resources including readings, videos and online activities. Online lectures enable students to work through introductory and revision material at their own pace. Online materials should be completed before attending tutorials to ensure students are prepared to engage in tutorial discussion, activities and debates.
Tutorials
Students should attend tutorial sessions ready to engage in and contribute to discussions, activities and debates with their peers related to subject content, case studies and new graduate application process. Students will receive feedback from peers and teachers not only on their knowledge of content covered, but also their ability to communicate their thoughts, and relevant information in a clear, coherent, and confident manner.
Content (topics)
Identity construction
Health care organisations in contemporary Australia are large-scale and very complex compared with organisations in other societies. Our health care system is largely comprised of large-scale bureaucratic organisations and this has ramifications for nurses as in the care they give and the professional that they become. Knowledge about the policies and funding models that drive them are a necessary feature for the health professional practice today and especially for nurses, who spend much of their career working in hospitals where there may be conflicts between the goals of the organisation and the ideals of nursing care. The model of holistic care, for instance, can be at odds with the task orientation approach to health care evident in some institutions. This subject offers the student an opportunity to reflect on the nursing care within such organisations and to consider their own growth and career development as they build profiles for interviews and job applications.
Nurses and direct dealings with patients
This segment builds on students’ understanding of professional codes of ethics and conduct. There will be critical discussion of the scope and limits of such codes, and of moral principles relevant to professional practice. Codes and principles will be examined in context of nurse-patient scenarios, whether hypothetical or drawn from students’ own experience. Particular emphasis will be placed on patient-centred practice and its reflection in ethical concerns and legal requirements, and will involve discussion of consent and respect for autonomy, paternalism, truth-telling and deception, documentation, privacy and confidentiality. Students will have opportunity to consider whether nursing practice implies a special ‘nursing ethic’, and whether there are particular nursing roles or functions [such as advocacy] which have moral significance.
Nurses and professional relationships
Students will reflect on processes to ensure safety and manage risk in the workplace and ethical and legal implications of professional relationships with other health-care colleagues, and with institutional management. The codes of ethics and conduct imply that nurses have direct and unmediated obligations to their patients. Nursing also has its distinctive understanding of health, illness, and patients’ situations. In light of these things, students will consider such things as collaboration and teamwork with other professional colleagues, and the necessity to work in contexts structured by legal requirements and management directives. Particular emphasis will be placed on potential disparity between nursing’s obligations and nursing’s authority, and the importance of nursing’s ‘voice’ being maintained in collaborative health care teams. Illustrative situations will include tension between ‘cost’ centred management of patient stay in hospital, and the holistic patient centred perspective on patient care. Students will consider the difference between reasonable compromise in collaborative situations, and being compromised in regard to one’s professional
integrity.
Matters of life and death
This component will deal with the complex interaction of ethical and legal considerations in matters relating to life and death. Attention will be given to such issues as abortion, and recent developments of wrongful life and wrongful birth suits. Students will also consider the complex of issues involving the ending of patients’ lives: withholding and withdrawing of treatment, debate on euthanasia and assisted suicide, and advance directives. Students will sustain reflection on nursing’s direct obligations to patients, and what this means for the scope of nursing’s role: there will be discussion of the proposal that nurses be empowered to write NFR orders. Attention will also be given to the role of the coroner.
Assessment
Assessment task 1: Dimensions of professional practice quizzes
| Intent: | For students to engage with subject material to check their understanding of RN responsibilities in relation to professional accountability and patient safety. |
|---|---|
| Objective(s): | This assessment task addresses subject learning objective(s): A, B, C and D This assessment task contributes to the development of graduate attribute(s): 1.0 and 4.0 |
| Weight: | 20% |
| Length: | 10 minutes to complete each quiz |
Assessment task 2: Professional accountability and patient safety
| Intent: | Students will demonstrate their understanding of the relationship between their professional accountability and patient safety. |
|---|---|
| Objective(s): | This assessment task addresses subject learning objective(s): A, B, C and D This assessment task contributes to the development of graduate attribute(s): 1.0, 2.0 and 4.0 |
| Weight: | 30% |
| Length: | 10 minute presentation + 5 minute question time. |
Assessment task 3: CV and VIVA
| Intent: | For students to be able to create a Curriculum Vitae (CV) and prepare for a Viva Voce examination for a new graduate registered nurse and reflect on their growth and development throughout their degree in preparation for a job application. |
|---|---|
| Objective(s): | This assessment task addresses subject learning objective(s): E and F This assessment task contributes to the development of graduate attribute(s): 1.0 |
| Weight: | 50% |
| Length: | 2 pages CV 30 minute face to face interview |
Required texts
Johnstone, M. (2019). Bioethics: a nursing perspective (7th ed.). Chatswood, NSW. Elsevier Australia.
Staunton, P. & Chiarella, M. (2020). Law for nurses and midwives (9th ed.). Chatswood, NSW; Elsevier Australia.
NB: It is ok to use an earlier edition of these textbooks if you have one and copies of these texts will be made available in the UTS library.
Other resources
UTS Student Centre
Building 10
Monday to Friday: 9am - 5pm
Tel: 1300 ASK UTS (1300 275 887)
Details for student centres: www.uts.edu.au/current-students/contacts/general-contacts
For other resources/ information refer to the Faculty of Health website (www.uts.edu.au/about/faculty-health) and Canvas at: https://canvas.uts.edu.au/.
UTS Library
The Library has a wide range of resources, facilities and services to support you including textbooks, subject readings, health literature databases, workshops and bookable study rooms. There is also a team of librarians to help you with your questions available via online chat, phone and in person. W: https://www.lib.uts.edu.au/, Facebook: UTS Library, Twitter: @utslibrary Tel: (02) 9514 3666.
Improve your academic and English language skills
Marks for all assessment tasks such as assignments and examinations are given not only for what you write but also for how you write. If you would like the opportunity to improve your academic and English language skills, make an appointment with the HELPS (Higher Education Language & Presentation Support) Service in Student Services.
HELPS (Higher Education Language & Presentation Support)
HELPS provides assistance with English language proficiency and academic language. Students who need to develop their written and/or spoken English should make use of the free services offered by HELPS, including academic language workshops, vacation intensive courses, drop-in consultations, individual appointments and Conversations@UTS (www.ssu.uts.edu.au/helps). HELPS staff are also available for drop-in consultations at the UTS Library. Phone (02) 9514 9733.
Please see www.uts.edu.au for additional information on other resources provided to students by UTS.
The Accessibility and Financial Assistance Service
The Accessibility Service can support students with disabilities, medical or mental health conditions, including temporary injuries (e.g., broken limbs). The Accessibility Service works with Academic Liaison Officers in each Faculty to provide ‘reasonable adjustments’ such as exam provisions, assistive technology, requests and strategies for managing your studies alongside your health condition. If you’re unsure whether you need assistance, we recommend getting in touch early and we can provide advice on how our service can assist you. Make an appointment with an Accessibility Consultant (AC) on +61 2 9514 1177 or Accessibility@uts.edu.au.
The Financial Assistance Service can assist you with financial aspects of life at university, including Centrelink information, tax returns and budgeting, interest-free student loans and grants to assist with course-related costs. Check eligibility and apply online and make an appointment on +61 2 9514 1177 or Financial.assistance@uts.edu.au.