Nursing Associate FdSc

This module will introduce the learner to the expectations of academic study and the skills required to meet the needs of people in their care to help ensure safe and effective person-centred practice including resilience, emotional intelligence and reflective skills. Learners will have the opportunity to develop their academic literacy and transferable skills including: teamwork, numeracy, academic and reflective writing, referencing, library, digital and technological skills.

An authentic approach to learning will be reflected in throughout the module content through the use of enquiry-based learning, reflection and application to enable the development of core academic skills alongside the understanding of the key regulatory, ethical and legal principles that underpin professional practice and how it relates to the nursing associate role within the wider context of health and social care delivery. The module will enable the learner to explore concepts such as the duty of care, duty of candour, accountability, self-regulation and autonomy as aligned to the Nursing and Midwifery Code (NMC 2018).

This module, which runs across one academic year, prepares learners for their role as a registered nursing associate. This module will provide a conduit to exercise and develop the knowledge, skills, attitudes, and behaviours required for nursing practice to enable the learner to meet the Future Nurse: Standards of Proficiency for Registered Nursing Associates (NMC, 2024).

The knowledge and skills learners achieve as part of this module will enable learners to engage in practice learning confidently and meaningfully and work with various health and social care professionals in care delivery demonstrating the principles of EDI and the NMC Code. The content will, therefore, include skills for professional practice, including skills for safeguarding across the life course and medicines management, within the context of policy and legislative frameworks.

This module is grounded in authentic learning and assessment practices. Practice-based learning sits within this module, whereby students undertake practice-based placements and are assessed in practice by their practice assessor in accordance with the NMC (2023) requirements of the Standards for student supervision and assessment.

Principles of experiential learning, role modelling, reflective practice and social learning theories will underpin this module. Learning will be framed within the clinical practice setting, skills laboratories incorporating case studies within simulated practice. Learners will also be directed to complete themed guided independent practice-related activities and exercises, as well as further reading and online resources to support the development of an appropriate knowledge and skill base.

Modern health professionals require a broad, inclusive and diverse understanding of the factors that can influence health and wellbeing. This module aims to help you explore both the psychological and sociological factors that can influence and impact health and wellbeing.

Contemporary, current and relevant issues related to health will be examined at individual, community and population levels. You will explore the topic from a variety of positions and frameworks. The module will encourage you to examine and academically interrogate the complexity of health and wellbeing. You'll gain an understanding of how policies, practices and behaviours impact health and disease in real-world scenarios. You'll have the opportunity to gain an understanding of the impact interventions have on societies health, wellbeing and the economy. You will also study the nature of volitional behaviour and explore the role and responsibility that governance and leadership have in promoting sustainable community, societal and global health outcomes. You will consider the possibilities of intervention strategies to improve behaviour-related health at a variety of life stages.

Healthcare practice requires a broad knowledge base encompassing biological, psychological and sociological theories of health. This module focuses on biological sciences and provides learners with the foundational knowledge of human anatomy and physiology, including the structures and functions of various body systems, and principles of pharmacology, key knowledge essential for effective care delivery. The module also covers the psychosocial and biological theories of human development from conception to death to enable the delivery of holistic, non-judgmental, person-centred care.

An authentic approach to learning will be reflected in throughout the module content through the use of enquiry-based learning, reflection and application to enable the students to apply their knowledge of  biological, psychological and sociological theories of health to practice. The module content also addresses the impact of genomics and its influence on human development and the maintenance of mental, physical, social and behavioural health and well-being across the lifecourse. The content is contextualised within a salutogenic approach to health and well-being while also considering the relationship between salutogenesis and pathogenesis enabling learners to have an understanding of these contrasting approaches to health.

This module will integrate collaborative, enquiry-based learning, poster presentations, real-world health priorities, and reflection to support authentic learning and therefore build on the learners’ foundational knowledge of evidence-based practice acquired during their Level 4 studies.

This module will cover the principles and importance of evidence-based practice, sources of evidence, research methodologies and data collection along with methods for appraising and applying research. The module emphasises the importance of evidence for public health interventions and the wider context of health and social care delivery within a whole system approach. The module also has a particular focus on the role of evidence in quality improvement and its influence on health and social care policy.

By the end of the module, learners will have gained the knowledge and skills necessary to deliver authentic evidence-based practice to enhance care delivery, promote health and wellbeing, support quality improvement efforts, and contribute to the ongoing development of evidence-based practices across systems. Learners will understand how to integrate evidence into everyday practice and collaborate effectively within a multi-disciplinary team to ensure safe and effective care across the life course.

In this module learners will develop and apply knowledge and skills in relation to pharmacology, health numeracy and medicines calculations. Learners will use the safeMedicate e-learning platform for both formative and summative assessments.

Medicines Management module is a skills-based, competency-driven module that’s naturally aligned with authentic assessment, particularly through its use of the safeMedicate platform and real-practice simulation. Learners will explore the types of drug calculations commonly used in practice and evaluate them to identify areas of challenge. Learners will examine the base constituents of common drugs and administration routes, to understand how potentially dangerous interactions occur. The module will also explore methods to minimise the risk of drug calculation and administration errors.

Learners will have access to the safeMedicate, an online platform which provides authentic learning opportunities through the use of real-world scenarios whereby students practice healthcare numeracy and apply pharmacology knowledge to the scenarios. This occurs throughout the duration of the module to practice calculations formatively.

This module builds on the knowledge, skills, attitudes and behaviours learnt in year one providing a conduit to enable the learner to achieve the Standards of Proficiency for Registered Nursing Associates (Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) 2024).

The knowledge and skills learners achieve as part of this module will enable learners to engage in practice learning confidently and meaningfully and work with various health and social care professionals in care delivery demonstrating the principles of EDI and the NMC Code. The content will, therefore, include skills for professional practice, including skills for safeguarding across the life course and medicines management, within the context of policy and legislative frameworks.

This module is grounded in authentic learning and assessment practices. Practice-based learning sits within this module, whereby students undertake practice-based placements and are assessed in practice by their practice assessor in accordance with the NMC (2023) requirements of the Standards for student supervision and assessment.

Principles of experiential learning, role modelling, reflective practice and social learning theories will underpin this module. Learning will be framed within the clinical practice setting, skills laboratories incorporating case studies within simulated practice. Learners will also be directed to complete themed guided independent practice-related activities and exercises, as well as further reading and online resources to support the development of an appropriate knowledge and skill base.

During this module learners will also be required to complete and evidence completion of the mandatory training accessed through the eLearning Skills for Health portal. They must do this before they commence their practice learning placements.

This module will use authentic learning approaches to build on learners’ knowledge and skills acquired in other modules, through the use of enquiry-based learning, to enable the learners to further understand how individuals respond to illness across the lifecourse.

The dynamic nature of contemporary healthcare practice will require practitioners to utilise a range of evidence-based diagnostic and intervention methods and problem-solving approaches to address current care practice for various acute, non-acute, long term and palliative conditions.

This module will cover a range of common illnesses, injuries, and co-morbidities and how they present themselves in different patient groups. The module content will address the necessary skills for holistic assessment and safe and effective care delivery.

This module will prepare the learner for registration as a nursing associate and enable them to develop the skills to enter the profession with confidence as a registrant nursing associate and as a member of the multi-professional team. It also equips the learner with the skills attitudes and behaviours to continue life-long learning and development and to consider how they contribute to improving practice.

The module reflects, skill-based, professional readiness, and reflective of authentic learning and assessment. It uses real-world tasks including CV writing, and reflective analysis, which simulate professional demands. The module will therefore enable the learner to further develop knowledge and skills for team working and leadership for nursing associate practice within the context of uncertainty, complexity and multidimensional health and social care. It will explore theoretical models of leadership and teamwork alongside quality improvement and patient safety.

The module also provides opportunity to explore how these concepts interrelate and impact the delivery of care and prepare the learner for the transition from student to NMC registered Nursing Associate. Within this context the module aims to reflect, skill-based, professional readiness, reflective of authentic learning and assessment. It uses real-world tasks including CV writing, and reflective analysis, which simulate professional demands.