Unit rationale, description and aim
Peri-operative specialty nursing requires a foundation understanding of scientific concepts that support the management and care for patients before, during and after surgery or interventional procedures. These scientific concepts support evidence based best practice and clinical reasoning as well as assist student analysis, and evaluation of complex presentations in the peri-operative setting further contributing to the understanding of the impact on patients when undergoing a surgical procedure. The diversity of patients presenting for surgery or interventional procedures require scientific based considerations for the management and care of complex patients and their families. Benchmarked against national standards, this unit will reflect model the Australian College of Perioperative Nurses (ACORN) Standards (2023) for perioperative nursing in Australia and the National Safety and Quality Health Service Standards ensuring that all patients in the peri-operative setting receive the highest quality of evidence-based care.
This unit is required by students to assist their understanding of the pathophysiology underpinning the requirement of surgical interventions and the holistic approach to their care before, during and after their procedure. Selection of content is based on best practice in the management and care of patients in the peri-operative setting with consideration of contemporary, conservative and invasive treatment methods. The unit compliments the learning on the foundation nursing concepts including lifespan, bioscience, person centred care and ethically accountable practice. A holistic approach to care warrants a consideration of referral to rehabilitative and/or palliative approaches to care in the perioperative setting.
On completion of this unit, students will acquire the knowledge, understanding and skill to deliver a person-centred and evidence-based approach to perioperative care.
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.
Analyse developmental and pathophysiological conce...
Learning Outcome 01
Evaluate the science underpinning nursing manageme...
Learning Outcome 02
Critically analyse and apply the evidence underpin...
Learning Outcome 03
Evaluate best practice treatment and management op...
Learning Outcome 04
Content
Topics will include:
- Preoperative care and management
- Complex health conditions
- Pathophysiology related to perioperative procedures
- Developmental issues arising in relation to perioperative procedures
- Bioscience concepts underlying complex health problems
- Preoperative assessment
- Anesthetic considerations
- Invasive versus non-invasive ventilation
- Neural blocks
- Peripheral nerve blocks
- Neuraxial blocks
- Intraoperative care and management
- Anaesthesia – physiology, pharmacology, airway management and oxygenation
- Patient positioning and pressure injuries
- Physiological changes in the intraoperative period
- homeostasis
- thermoregulation
- neurovascular changes
- integumentary considerations
- fluid and electrolyte considerations
- Standard precautions in the operating room
- Complications in the operating room – malignant hyperthermia
- Postoperative care and management
- Airway management
- Pain management in the recovery room
- Wound and drain care in the recovery room.
- The role of the recovery nurse in patient education
- Specialty nursing care for complex and or diverse perioperative presentation
- Nursing diagnosis
- Patient safety
- Intubation
- Bronchoscopy rigid vs flexible
- Ethical dilemmas
- Pharmacology – agents used in perioperative setting
- Laparoscopic surgery
- Common perioperative procedures
- Gastrointestinal (Gi)
- Hernia repair and bariatric surgery
- Gynaecological and obstetric surgery
- Otorhinolaryngologic surgery
- Ophthalmic surgery
- Plastic and reconstructive surgery
- Orthopaedic and trauma surgery
- Genitourinary surgery
- Breast, thyroid, and parathyroid surgery
- Neurosurgery
- Reconstructive procedures
- Skin, muscle and bone
- Complex reconstructive procedures
- traumatic injuries
- Management of complex health conditions
- Diagnosis
- Treatment
- Pharmacological and non-pharmacological
- Rehabilitative palliative, curative or preventative approaches to care
- Evidence based practice
- Nursing care in perioperative nursing
- preoperative, operative and postoperative
- Patient health and wellbeing in perioperative setting
- Ethical considerations in perioperative settings
Assessment strategy and rationale
The assessment strategy used in this unit encourages the progressive development of students’ scientific knowledge underpinning practices in perioperative nursing to enable them to meet the unit learning outcomes. To develop the knowledge and skills required to achieve the learning outcomes and Graduate Attributes, students first demonstrate knowledge of scientific concepts in the peri-operative setting through participation in the online multiple-choice quiz. Students’ understanding of the science underpinning the requirement for a surgical or interventional procedure in the peri-operative setting is further developed through the development and presentation of an electronic poster. The final assessment will consolidate the unit learnings by students, addressing the pathophysiological concepts that support a wholistic approach to treatment and management of a patient within the peri-operative setting using current evidence-based practice. To pass NRSG540 Perioperative: Comprehensive management of the patient in Surgery, students must demonstrate achievement of every learning outcome and obtain a minimum mark of 50% for the unit.
Overview of assessments
Assessment Task 1: Quiz Enables students to demo...
Assessment Task 1: Quiz
Enables students to demonstrate acquired foundation scientific knowledge and concepts related to specialised peri-operative nursing through the completion of the online learning modules.
20%
Assessment Task 2: ePoster Enables students to a...
Assessment Task 2: ePoster
Enables students to analyse the pathophysiological concepts and scientific underpinnings of common peri-operative presentations. This is a collaborative activity where students will be required to participate in a discussion forum to synthesise ideas.
40%
Assessment Task 3: Case Study Enables students t...
Assessment Task 3: Case Study
Enables students to apply learned scientific knowledge and demonstrate critical thinking skills, analysis and synthesis of evidence in relation to a complex presentation in the peri-operative specialty setting.
40%
Learning and teaching strategy and rationale
Teaching and learning strategies utilised in this unit will support students in meeting the aim and achieving the learning outcomes relevant to this unit as well as to the broader course learning outcomes. This unit is offered online via the ACU Online platform and uses active learning to support students to focus on their perioperative nursing specialty practice and apply developmental and pathophysiological concepts and evidence-based practice to support the management of patients in the perioperative environment. Students will evaluate the science underpinning nursing management of complex presentations in the perioperative setting and develop the knowledge and skill of the specialist perioperative nurse through the evaluation of care strategies applicable within the perioperative environment. Students are required to complete online activities and assessments to demonstrate the application of specialist peri-operative nursing knowledge. The learning and teaching strategy used in this unit allows flexibility for students while ensuring they have expert support. These modes of delivery assist students in linking knowledge, understanding and skills to the peri-operative nursing context, and to develop shared meanings through online experiential reflections and discussions.
Representative texts and references
Recommended text
Greenhalgh, T., Bidwell, J., Crisp, E., Lambros, A., & Warland, J. (2020). Understanding research methods for evidence-based practice in health (Second edition. ed.). John Wiley & Sons Australia.
Hoffmann, T., Bennett, S., & Del Mar, C. (2017). Evidence-based practice across the health professions (3rd ed.). Elsevier Australia.
Knights, K. M., Darroch, S., Rowland, A., & Bushell, M. (2023). Pharmacology for health professionals (6th edition. ed.). Elsevier Australia.
McCance, K. L., Huether, S. E., Brashers, V. L., & Rote, N. S. (2019). Pathophysiology : the biologic basis for disease in adults and children (Eighth edition ed.). Elsevier.
Patton, K. T., & Thibodeau, G. A. (2019). Anatomy & physiology (Adapted International edition. ed.). Elsevier.
Sutherland-Fraser, S., Davies, M., Gillespie, B. M., & Lockwood, B. (2021). Perioperative Nursing: An Introduction. Elsevier.
Taylor, K., & Guerin, P. (2019). Health care and Indigenous Australians : cultural safety in practice (Third edition. ed.). Palgrave Macmillan.
Other recommended references
Recommendations for further texts will be made in the extended unit outline based on the specialty of the students enrolled in the unit.