Unit rationale, description and aim
Individual case management is an established area of dietetic practice. Dietitians work with individuals, and their carers and families, to support them to make dietary changes to improve their general health and wellbeing, or to treat a nutrition-related disease. This unit introduces students to nutrition screening, assists students to apply their understanding of disease pathophysiology through best practice dietetic management of common food and nutrition related problems including diabetes, cardiovascular system diseases, metabolic syndrome, coeliac disease and other gastrointestinal disorders, allergy and intolerance, and enteral feeding in individuals. Students will apply this new knowledge, and the knowledge and skills developed in NUTR501 Contemporary Dietetic Practice Theory and Application, and NUTR502 Dietetic Practice with Individuals, through practice placement. They will be expected to collect and interpret relevant nutrition assessment data to formulate nutrition diagnoses, agree on goals and actions to address food and nutrition related issues, and communicate professionally with all stakeholders in individual care environments. The unit aims to provide students with the opportunity to start to develop competence in the dietetic management of common food and nutrition.
Learning outcomes
To successfully complete this unit you will be able to demonstrate you have achieved the learning outcomes (LO) detailed in the below table.
Each outcome is informed by a number of graduate capabilities (GC) to ensure your work in this, and every unit, is part of a larger goal of graduating from ACU with the attributes of insight, empathy, imagination and impact.
Explore the graduate capabilities.
Collect, collate, and interpret appropriate data, ...
Learning Outcome 01
Effectively apply and document the elements of the...
Learning Outcome 02
Demonstrate client-centred nutrition management th...
Learning Outcome 03
Demonstrate ability to use dietary change counsell...
Learning Outcome 04
Communicate effectively and professionally with th...
Learning Outcome 05
Reflect on, and evaluate performance, and incorpor...
Learning Outcome 06
Content
This unit includes topics related to the development and demonstration of professional dietetic practice and competence according to the Accreditation Standards of Dietitians Australia. These are described under the heading ‘Building professional dietetic practice’ in each unit outline and build on topics delivered synchronously and progressively throughout the degree. Those in bold reflect ‘new’ topics addressed in this unit. Students will have opportunities for collecting evidence of competence in these, and in other areas (italics).
Building professional dietetic practice
- reflection and evaluation of practice, peer support and assessment
- acknowledges, reflects and understands own values, beliefs, attitudes, biases and assumptions privilege and power, at the individual and systems level, and their influence on practice
- scope of practice and standards of care, codes of conduct
- continuing professional development
- attributes (empathy, flexibility, adaptability, resilience, ethical, respectful, demonstrates integrity, honesty, fairness, critical thinker)
- workload and time management, prioritising workload
- excellence of practice
- feedback cycles
- client-centred approach to practice
- technological proficiency
- culturally safe and responsive practice (requiring emotional, spiritual and cultural intelligence)
- active listening, interpersonal and interviewing skills
- collaboration and communication skills with stakeholders
- systematically acquires, evaluates and applies findings into practice
- appropriate nutrition diagnoses/decision-making
- peer education, sharing new knowledge
- understanding and advocating for the role of the dietitian in individual nutrition management - consolidation
- reflection of own personal health and wellbeing
- taking responsibility for own actions
- resource, team worker, leader
This unit requires the completion of 18 days of individual case management placement. Content delivery is arranged as required to support these placements and the underpinning theoretical components. This content includes:
Food and nutrition assessment in practice environments
- advanced data collection, collation, interpretation, recording of data
- nutrition screening
Individualised nutrition management in practice environments
- disease pathophysiology and management, and consolidating nutrition diagnoses and collaborative, client-centred and tailored goal formation implementation, and review, including discharge planning and/or referral to other services where appropriate.
- advanced dietary change counselling to build self-efficacy for making sustainable, positive food, nutrition, and health changes in individuals
- continued translation of current food and nutrition science and dietetic best practice into practical advice with consideration of behavioural, social and environmental factors
- dysphagia
- use of enteral feeding in nutrition management
- individual client record keeping in accordance with placement and accepted standards for the following conditions:
- diabetes
- cardiovascular system diseases
- metabolic syndrome
- allergy and food intolerance
- coeliac disease, and other gastrointestinal diseases
- surgical nutrition
Both professional practice and performance will be directed by the university and the appointed placement supervisor at the host organisation, through a pre-defined and monitored set of criteria that encompass:
- ability to perform elements of individual case management of clients
- professional practices/attributes to be demonstrated whilst undertaking the experience
- ability to seek, respond to and provide feedback from clients (carers etc.) the healthcare team and supervisors
- overall student performance throughout the placement
Assessment strategy and rationale
Three assessment tasks are sequenced to progressively support students' learning and development of professional competence through authentic assessment.
Assessment task 1 (graded hurdle), a series of nutrition management case studies related to common nutrition-related conditions, extends the development of individual case management skills through the nutrition care process commenced in earlier units. These case studies allow students to progress their professional competence from novice to advanced beginner whilst allowing assessment of students’ developing knowledge and understanding. This task is a hurdle as it is the only task students can demonstrate an appropriate level of competency in the nutrition care process.
Assessment task 2 requires students to constructively apply their learning and feedback to apply theoretical knowledge. This task provides students with the opportunity to demonstrate their understanding of theoretical nutrition management with individuals and commence developing an approach to dietary counselling.
Assessment task 3 (graded hurdle) is an extension of the professional practice portfolio. In addition to continuing to collect evidence of developing professional competence, students will reflect on the final assessment of placement and articulate a plan for continued development of professional competence. This task is a hurdle to ensure students demonstrate the competency standards required by Dietitians Australia.
Overview of assessments
To pass the unit, students must demonstrate that they have achieved each learning outcome, passed any graded or ungraded hurdle tasks and obtained a total mark of 50% in the unit as the minimum standard.
Completing 100% of placement hours is a requirement to pass this unit. Students are required to submit a medical certificate or statutory declaration for any professional experience placement hours missed. An interim grade of “IP” will be made if 100% attendance at the professional experience placement is not achieved.
Assessment 1: Case Studies (Graded hurdle) Enabl...
Assessment 1: Case Studies (Graded hurdle)
Enables students to demonstrate their ability to interpret and apply evidence related to dietetic practice.
*Graded hurdle
40%
Assessment 2: Written assessment task Enables s...
Assessment 2: Written assessment task
Enables students to critically review nutrition care process, including dietary change counselling in dietetic practice to inform own practice.
40%
Assessment 3: Professional practice portfolio (Gr...
Assessment 3: Professional practice portfolio (Graded hurdle)
Enables students to gather evidence to demonstrate competence to practice, and critically reflect on supervisor’s report of placement.
*Graded hurdle
20%
Ungraded hurdle Successful completion of 18 days...
Ungraded hurdle
Successful completion of 18 days of placement
**Ungraded hurdle
*If a student has not achieved a mark of ≥ 50% for the graded hurdles, one re-attempt may be offered for each hurdle to allow demonstration of an appropriate level of competency. The offer of one re-submission will only be made if the student has also successfully completed the ungraded professional practice placement hurdle.
**If a student has not successfully completed the ungraded hurdle, additional placement time (up to one third of total placement time) may be offered to allow demonstration of an appropriate level of competency.
Learning and teaching strategy and rationale
The unit content is unit will be delivered in two stages. The theoretical and case study/simulation component will be delivered intensively in the first six-eight weeks of semester with a gradual increase in placement days per week from the mid to latter weeks of semester. The learning and teaching strategy adopted aligns with the sequencing of the learning outcomes and consists of three phases that are designed to provide students with a developmental learning experience. The unit begins with approaches designed to support consolidation of specialist knowledge and application for individual case management in dietetic practice, the assessment of nutritional status, nutrition management planning, dietary counselling for common food and nutrition-related conditions. The approaches used to facilitate students’ learning include online learning modules and readings. The unit then builds on this theoretical knowledge and assists students to develop understanding and then application through practical skills development first through case studies and role play and then practice placement. Overall, the approaches used in this unit have a constructively aligned developmental sequence designed to progressively, and logically, support students’ learning in ways that maximise the perceived (and actual) relevance and value of each stage. As an overarching strategy, this is expected to engender high levels of engagement, efficiency, and effectiveness in students’ study behaviours, and to maximise their learning achievements. This strategy and approaches will allow students to meet the aim, learning outcomes and graduate attributes of the unit. Learning and teaching approaches will reflect respect for the individual as an independent learner. Students will be expected to take responsibility for their learning and to participate actively in learning activities.
Representative texts and references
Australian Government Department of Health. (2015). Australian Dietary Guidelines. https://www.eatforhealth.gov.au/.
Australian Government Department of Health. (2015). Nutrient Reference Values for Australia and New Zealand. https://www.nrv.gov.au/.
Bauer, K. D., Liou, D. & Sokolik, C. A. (2020). Nutrition Counselling and Education Skill Development. 4th Ed. Cengage Learning.
Croxford, S, Itsiopoulos, C, Forsyth, A. et al. Ed. (2015). Food and Nutrition Throughout Life. Allen & Unwin.
Gandy, J. Ed. (2019). Manual of Dietetic Practice. 6th Edition. Wiley.
Stewart. R. (2020. Handbook of Clinical Nutrition and Dietetics. 6th Ed. Nutrition Care Professionals Pty. Ltd.
Stewart, R., Vivanti, A. & Myers, E. (2016). Nutrition Care and Process Terminology. Nutrition Care Professionals Pty. Ltd.
Whitney, E.N., Crowe, T., S., Cameron-Smith, D., Walsh, A., and Rady Rolfes, S. (2014). Understanding Nutrition: Australian and New Zealand Edition (2nd Ed.). Cengage Learning.