Overview

This unit provides students with knowledge of the health-care needs of the older person, and the role of the nurse in promoting their health and preventing illness. This unit also focuses on the essential requirements of the registered nurse to understand patient safety and health informatics in the context of aged care. Building foundational knowledge and skills to improve patient safety will assist in preparing the student to practice safely across a range of healthcare contexts.

Requisites

Prerequisites

Admission into BA-NUR - Bachelor of Nursing

Teaching periods
Location
Start and end dates
Last self-enrolment date
Census date
Last withdraw without fail date
Results released date
Date Semester 2
Location
Hawthorn
Start and end dates
21-July-2025
09-November-2025
Last self-enrolment date
03-August-2025
Census date
15-August-2025
Last withdraw without fail date
19-September-2025
Results released date
09-December-2025
Date Semester 2
Location
Wantirna
Start and end dates
21-July-2025
09-November-2025
Last self-enrolment date
03-August-2025
Census date
15-August-2025
Last withdraw without fail date
19-September-2025
Results released date
09-December-2025

Learning outcomes

Students who successfully complete this unit will be able to:

  • Recognise the physiological changes that occur in adults and ageing populations and how this impacts health
  • Describe aspects of active ageing and how to support and maintain health and independence
  • Discuss the impact of specific cognitive conditions affecting the older population
  • Design appropriate discharge planning focusing on a holistic, person-centred approach to the ageing individual
  • Identify different elements of advanced care planning with consideration of legal and ethical requirements
  • Identify and evaluate the principles of clinical risk and current technologies in health informatics

Teaching methods

Hawthorn

Activity Type Activity Total Hours Number of Weeks Venue Type and Activity Detail
Online Lecture 10 10 weeks Asynchronous
On-campus Class 12 6 weeks Tutorial (2 hr tutorial every second week)
On-campus Practical 8 4 weeks Clinical Learning Environment (CLE)
Specified Activities Various 36 12 weeks Discussion boards, Readings, Group work
Unspecified Activities Independent Learning 84 12 weeks Independent study, Assignment preparation, Revision
Total Hours: 150  

Sarawak

Assessment

Type Task Weighting ULO's
Case Study Individual  40%  1,2,6 
Online Quizzes Individual  20%  1,2,3 
Oral Presentation Individual /Group  40%  1,2,3,4,5 

Content

  • Physiological differences of adults and ageing population
  • Concepts of health in an older person (active ageing)
  • Evaluation of the health needs or challenges of ageing
  • Legal considerations for the ageing population
  • Clinical Risk
  • Health informatics
  • Graduate Attribute – Communication Skills: Verbal communication
  • Graduate Attribute – Communication Skills: Communicating using different media
  • Graduate Attribute – Teamwork Skills: Collaboration and negotiation
  • Graduate Attribute – Teamwork Skills: Teamwork roles and processes
  • Graduate Attribute – Digital Literacies: Information literacy
  • Graduate Attribute – Digital Literacies: Technical literacy

Study resources

Reading materials

A list of reading materials and/or required textbooks will be available in the Unit Outline on Canvas.