96803 Complex Symptom Management
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Subject handbook information prior to 2025 is available in the Archives.
Credit points: 6 cp
Subject level:
Postgraduate
Result type: Grade and marksThere are course requisites for this subject. See access conditions.
Description
This interprofessional subject builds upon the student’s current palliative care symptom assessment and management knowledge and capabilities to test different clinical hypotheses. This subject extends students' clinical reasoning skills as applied to the complexity of managing multiple palliative care symptoms and other co-morbidities to optimise the diagnosis and management of the persons’ presenting problem(s). There is considerable focus on enabling students to: collect the most relevant assessment data during the patient-practitioner encounter; systematically integrate and apply different types of knowledge; weigh the existing evidence; and critically think about alternative arguments before arriving at a differential diagnosis. Students synthesise this data to generate an individualised management plan that prioritises person-centered palliative care and transitional care arrangements to optimise the time the person spends in their preferred place of care.
Subject learning objectives (SLOs)
| A. | Critically appraise clinical diagnosis, reasoning and decision making skills to manage complex palliative care symptoms. |
|---|---|
| B. | Examine the microsystem of a person, their psychosocial, physical and multi morbidity characteristics and symptom to deliver best palliative care outcomes. |
| C. | Combine, appraise and integrate the comprehensive assessment (microsystem) with a management plan underpinned by quality evidence to address complex symptoms. |
| D. | Prioritise delivering person centered complex symptom management inclusive of transitional care to optimise time spent in preferred place of care. |
| E. | Identify opportunities to integrate the existing complex symptom management evidence into routine clinical practice across different health care settings. |
Teaching and learning strategies
Combining future-focused curriculum with informed technology use, and championing an approach to learning design that places students at the centre of the creative learning experience, this subject uses ‘learning.futures' to produce graduates who are prepared to be palliative care change agents. The subject will be delivered exclusively online, enabling students to participate remotely. Students will be actively engaged in enquiry-based learning through a range of multimedia interactive activities, including inter-professional collaboration. The online learning platform ‘Canvas’ will be used to facilitate the delivery of the three subject modules and subject announcements. There will be regular online Zoom meetings where the team of interprofessional tutors and student’s meet for up to an hour. Preparatory materials are assigned in Canvas prior to zoom meetings.
Assessment activities will include individual tasks in the form of case studies analyis writing, online Q-Steam tests, and reflective writing. Regular interprofessional peers and tutor feedback will foster the establishment of a vibrant palliative care learning community that will support students throughout their course.
Content (topics)
The content of this subject is presented through a platform called Canvas as three modules.
Module 1 – Setting the scene
Students will work through a complex palliative care case study that involves symptom management needs that evolve during each module. This will support their engagement with the learning content and build their clinical capabilities.
- Introduction to the ‘WHY Framework’ for managing palliative care emergencies;
- Critical self-appraisal of current symptom management capabilities in the context of patients living with psychosocial and physical issues and multimorbidity;
- Consideration of different frameworks for understanding palliative care complexity; strengthening clinical reasoning skills; and
- Applying complex palliative care symptoms, management, evidence and skills to strengthen individual clinician professional standards.
Module 2 – Rethinking the screening, assessment and management of complex palliative care symptoms
Students will be exposed to new ways of thinking, new emerging evidence, and critical decision making within a learning environment that invites commitment to being a lifelong learner.
- Understanding, assessing and managing complex palliative care symptoms, including:
- Unrelieved pain;
- Cognitive neurological and mood disorders;
- Gut dysfunction and nausea;
- Breathlessness and excessive respiratory track secretions; and
- Fatigue
- Evidence-based pharmacological and non-pharmacological management of complex symptoms
- Evidence-based care at end of life
Module 3 – Functioning effectively within an evolving policy environment
Students will be challenged to consider the opioid misuse, quality and safety and complexity and off-license medications within the context of providing best evidenced-based palliative symptom management to their patients.
Complexity in symptom management involves:
- chronosystem (dynamic influences of time);
- mesosystem (interactions with family/health professionals);
- exosystem (palliative care services/systems);
- macrosystem (societal influences); and
- integration and development of transitional care for palliative care patients with complex symptom needs.
Assessment
Assessment task 1: Unpacking the Case Study and asking ‘WHY’
| Intent: | Using a complex palliative care case study provided, students will be challenged on their preconceived ideas about complexity in palliative care patients in regards to physical and psychosocial multi-morbidity. Students will examine the case in the context of preventing palliative care emergencies. |
|---|---|
| Objective(s): | This assessment task addresses subject learning objective(s): A and B This assessment task contributes to the development of graduate attribute(s): .0, .0 and .0 |
| Weight: | 30% |
| Length: | 1200 words |
Assessment task 2: Q-stream spaced education pain assessment
| Intent: | To complete a scientifically proven online spaced education program to improve clinicians cancer pain assessment knowledge. |
|---|---|
| Objective(s): | This assessment task addresses subject learning objective(s): A, C and E This assessment task contributes to the development of graduate attribute(s): .0, .0 and .0 |
| Weight: | 10% |
Assessment task 3: Extended Case Study and Transitional care plan
| Intent: | Transitional care is core to ensuring patients with palliative care needs spend the most amount of time in their preferred place of care. The palliative care case study from Assessment 1 will now have a focus on new physical symptoms and an increased emphasis on psychosocial issues. In this context, students will design a transitional care plan for their patient with complex symptom management and psychosocial needs, particularly focusing on determining preferred place of care and how they can work together with patients and families to enable this. |
|---|---|
| Objective(s): | This assessment task addresses subject learning objective(s): A, B, C, D and E This assessment task contributes to the development of graduate attribute(s): .0, .0, .0 and .0 |
| Weight: | 40% |
| Length: | 1500 words |
Assessment task 4: Engagement with online learning and presentation of toolkit
| Intent: | Preparation and meaningful engagement with a variety of resources is essential to collaboration and teamwork, skills that are critical to the role of a palliative care clinician. The intent of this assessment is to emphasise and encourage students’ contribution to team work as well as their engagement with online material. Using the framework of a toolkit, students will explain how they have reflected on their capabilities regarding managing palliative care complexity. |
|---|---|
| Objective(s): | This assessment task addresses subject learning objective(s): A and D This assessment task contributes to the development of graduate attribute(s): .0, .0, .0 and .0 |
| Weight: | 20% |
| Length: | 400 words |
Other resources
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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.
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