Health Sciences

This module will provide students with the opportunity to critically examine a range of ethical issues arising from the clinical context in which they practice and consider the interface between ethical, legal and professional aspects of their role. Students will examine key ethical theories, perspectives and principles and apply these to a range of contemporary issues related to professional practice, nurse-patient relationships, and specific aspects of clinical intervention and treatment. Students will develop enhanced skills of ethical reasoning, in order to better equip them to appraise the increasingly complex ethical issues they encounter and construct robust ethical arguments to inform and enhance professional and clinical decisionmaking processes.

Within this module students will analyse the ways in which a range of socio-cultural factors such as race, ethnicity, gender, socioeconomic status, education and poverty impact on values, beliefs and behaviours related to health and illness, healthcare access and delivery systems as potential causes for disparity and inequality. Students will reflect on the implications for their own nursing practice as well as identifying ways that policies and systems for health care delivery can be enhanced and adapted to take account of such factors to reduce inequalities and ensure that health care is delivered in a culturally sensitive and meaningful way for individuals, communities and populations.

This module aims to enable students to further develop their knowledge in the area of health psychology through analysis of the contribution psychological theory can make to the understanding of health beliefs and cognitions, human behaviour, risk taking and behaviour change. Students will critically review a range of research to analyse the role that psychological models and strategies for behaviour change can contribute to nursing practice situations to improve health and explore the application of models of health and behaviour change with specific reference to common health care issues such as smoking, obesity, exercise and the uptake of screening, and their utility with different groups including children, young people, older adults and people with mental health problems.

It is a core requirement of the programme that all students undertake study of research methods at levels. This module will build on students existing knowledge of research gained during their diploma studies, through enabling them to develop a more in-depth and critical understanding of the nature, purposes and methods of research utilised within nursing and health care. Students will examine a range of research designs and methods as a prerequisite to enabling them to understand and critically evaluate research evidence, preparing them for the Evidence Based Nursing Practice module in semester 2 and their dissertation in their final year.

This module aims to broaden the intellectual and cultural interests of students by challenging and equipping them to confront personal values, make ethical judgements and prepare them for citizenship and leadership in diverse, global environments. Students will explore a range of leadership issues and challenges for the 21st century, including Leadership theories, concepts and practice; Poverty and inequality; Culture and diversity; Energy futures and Environmental sustginability; Business Ethics and Corporate Social Responsibility; Urban regeneration, social inclusion and sustainable communities; Entrepreneurship (social and for profit). Students will develop a balanced and liberal understanding of wider issues facing 21st century societies and a range of skills to equip them for leadership in the 21st Century e.g. communication, problem solving, critical analysis, team working and ethical dimensions of professional and civic life. The unit is delivered via on-line learning using a range of e-Iearning activities and content from world-renowned internal and external speakers from the public, private and voluntary sectors, providing an insight into leadership that supports economic, social and environmental sustainability.

During this module students will critically examine concepts, philosophies, practices and models for service delivery of supportive and palliative nursing care, in both hospital and community based settings, for individuals and families with life-limiting illness where disease is not responsive to curative treatments. Students will be equipped with knowledge and skills to further enhance their ability to deliver and evaluate high quality nursing interventions and care to relevant patient groups and families in a range of settings, within the context of proactive multidisciplinary team working. The unit focuses on the integration and application of knowledge drawn from the supporting sciences, as well as subject specific knowledge, in order to reflect the concepts of supportive and palliative care enhancing students’ knowledge and skills in relation to symptom control and communication with patients and their families in receipt of a life-limiting diagnosis. In order to facilitate the practice focus and utility of this module, as part of the learning hours for this module students will be required to engage in clinical practice for one day per week outside of the taught study blocks and seminars in order to develop skills in critical reflection on practice and further apply the knowledge and skills acquired to the care of patients with Supportive and Palliative Care needs and where appropriate their families and carers.

This module will build on some of the key knowledge and skills relevant to quantitative research methods developed during the Research Methods module in semester one and further enhance the research appraisal skills required for the Evidence Based Nursing Practice module. The module will enable students to develop more in-depth knowledge and understanding of statistical methods commonly encountered in health and social care research as well as methods of effectively summarising and presenting statistical data. Students will examine different data types and critically explore concepts of probability distribution, estimation, confidence intervals and hypothesis testing. Students will apply the methods taught using an on-line statistical software package to analyse data sets and be guided on appropriate ways of presenting results.

This module will examine the nature of evidence based practice (EBP) exploring hierarchies of evidence and key influencing factors on the adoption of EBP in healthcare generally and nursing in particular. It will build on the Research Methods module undertaken in semester one of the programme and focus specifically on equipping students with in-depth knowledge and skills to adopt systematic approaches to critical appraisal and synthesis of research evidence to ensure evidence based approaches to nursing care and clinical decision making. Students will be required to apply the knowledge and skills acquired to select and critically reflect on specific common aspects of nursing carel procedures, identify relevant research and evidence based guidelines and compare current practice with the evidence base, identifying clear recommendations for practice.

This module draws together the knowledge and skills developed through the programme in terms of an extended piece of work (10,000 words) in which students are required to undertake an in-depth literature review and critical analysis of the evidence, policy and practice related to a specific aspect of nursing practice. Following on from this, students are required to identify implications arising from the literature review and formulate either a research proposal or an evidence based proposal for practice development and change. The proposal for practice development or change will be focussed on one of the following aspects of practice – clinical practice, management/leadership; education/training. In formulating their proposal, students will critically evaluate the methods and processes to be used, underpinned by sound rationales based on theory and relevant research identifying the resources required and appropriate imescales and project plans. Examples of the evidence based proposal for practice development and change may include: (1) Development of a clinical protocol or pathway for the care of patients with a specific health problem or in a specific clinical area (2) Proposal for the development of a new service or the re-configuration of an existing service (3) Proposal for how an aspect of evidence based practice could be implemented within a routine service context. (4) Proposal for an education/training programme to meet the learning needs of a clearly identified group of staff. The dissertation is spread over both semesters of year 2 and, following a series of dissertation preparation taught sessions in semester one, each student will be allocated an individual dissertation supervisor. Based on a clearly formulated learning contract, the supervisor will work with stUdents to support the development of their focus and ideas and provide guidance and feedback on their dissertation. As well as individual supervision, ongoing small group work during the taught study blocks will enable students to share their progress, developing ideas and receive and provide support to one another. Dissertation progress reviews with the whole cohort are built into face to face teaching blocks during this year.

During this module students will critically evaluate the relevance and importance of public health to contemporary health care practice and the specific ontribution that nurses can make to promoting public health through a variety of health promotion activities building on some of the theoretical knowledge acquired as part of the Health Psychology and Behaviour Change module in year 1. The module will examine the history, context, politics, philosophies and theories of public health within a global and localised context and their implications for the health of individuals, groups and communities. Students will critically analyse and utilise a range of models and approaches to health needs assessment and health profiling and utilise information from such assessments to design innovative health promoting activities for a range of groups and communities. As part of this module students will be required to gather information on the public health needs of a specific population, identify resources available and plan, and design a health promotion activity focussed on the identified health needs of a particular group or community.

This module will focus on enhancing students’ knowledge and skills in the care of people with a range of long term conditions (LTCs). Students will critically examine the physical, psychological and social impact of living with a LTC on the individual, their family and significant others and a range of models for assessment and history taking. Evidence based strategies for enhancing care delivery and devising care pathways based on the principles of effective case management that seek to optimise health and meet complex needs will be explored within the context of multi-disciplinary team working. Students will be introduced to models of patient empowerment, self management and the ‘expert patient’ and critically reflect on the ways in which such models may be adapted and applied in different cultural contexts. Students will be required to identify a range of ways in which skills and knowledge acquired will enable them to lead changes in practice for the health improvement of people with LTCs. In order to facilitate the practice focus and utility of this module, as part of the learning hours for this module students will be required to engage in clinical practice for one day per week outside of the taught study blocks and seminars in order to develop skills in critical reflection on practice and further apply the knowledge and skills acquired to the care of patients with LTCs and where appropriate their family and carers.

This module draws together the knowledge and skills developed through the programme in terms of an extended piece of work (10,000 words) in which students are required to undertake an in-depth literature review and critical analysis of the evidence, policy and practice related to a specific aspect of nursing practice. Following on from this, students are required to identify implications arising from the literature review and formulate either a research proposal or an evidence based proposal for practice development and change. The proposal for practice development or change will be focussed on one of the following aspects of practice – clinical practice, management/leadership; education/training. In formulating their proposal, students will critically evaluate the methods and processes to be used, underpinned by sound rationales based on theory and relevant research identifying the resources required and appropriate imescales and project plans. Examples of the evidence based proposal for practice development and change may include: (1) Development of a clinical protocol or pathway for the care of patients with a specific health problem or in a specific clinical area (2) Proposal for the development of a new service or the re-configuration of an existing service (3) Proposal for how an aspect of evidence based practice could be implemented within a routine service context. (4) Proposal for an education/training programme to meet the learning needs of a clearly identified group of staff. The dissertation is spread over both semesters of year 2 and, following a series of dissertation preparation taught sessions in semester one, each student will be allocated an individual dissertation supervisor. Based on a clearly formulated learning contract, the supervisor will work with stUdents to support the development of their focus and ideas and provide guidance and feedback on their dissertation. As well as individual supervision, ongoing small group work during the taught study blocks will enable students to share their progress, developing ideas and receive and provide support to one another. Dissertation progress reviews with the whole cohort are built into face to face teaching blocks during this year.

This module focuses on equipping students with knowledge and skills as qualified nurses to support and facilitate learning for pre-qualifying students and other colleagues within the clinical environment. Students will critically evaluate research and evidence related to creating a clinical practice learning environment conducive to learning and a range of teaching and learning styles, theories and methods that can be used to enhance student learning in practice. Students also explore principles and practice related to the assessment of clinical skills and competencies in order to enable them to contribute (as permitted) to the formative and summative assessment in practice of pre-qualifying student performance. As part of the learning hours for this module students will be required to engage in clinical practice for one day per week outside of the taught study blocks and seminars and as part of that time provide support and mentorship to a pre-registration nursing student in the clinical environment including some elements of formative competency assessment and designing a learning activity or package for delivery to a group of pre-registration students. This will require further discussion and close collaboration with NYP, NP and ITE Clinical Instructors and relevant Directors of Nursing to secure ground support for this and to match UoM students with pre-registration student nurses from each institution for this exercise and to support both students.

During this module students are equipped with core knowledge and skills central to the development of nursing practice, quality improvement and service re-design. Students will critically appraise a range of leadership concepts, models and theories, and the evidence underpinning approaches to their application in leading change in healthcare practice. Analysis of organisational contexts, structures and cultures will develop students’ understanding of their own organisations’ governance structures and processes and facilitate effective planning and management of practice improvements. Knowledge translation skills will be developed so students can contribute to planning and leading practice development, safety and quality improvement initiatives and formulate change objectives and measures to evaluate the impact of proposed changes on practice outcomes. Organisational change management case studies and problem based learning scenarios will enable students to focus on key concepts, issues and practicalities in achieving change, including the identification of resistance and strategies to overcome these. Effective teamwork, project planning, evaluation and quality assurance and enhancement methods are also covered. Central to the unit is an emphasis on the importance of engaging a wide range of stakeholders in innovation and change and the inclusion of patient and carer perspectives. A key component of this module will require students to critically reflect on leadership approaches and strategies used to achieve change in nursing and health care practice.

Legend
SC: Singapore Citizens
SPR: Singapore Permanent Residents
IS: International Students

For a list of relevant polytechnic diplomas for the respective degree programmes, please click here. 

The above table is not applicable for non-relevant diploma holders/A-Level/other qualifications (equivalent to A-Level). 

For students admitted to SIT in AY2011/12, the annual tuition fee is fixed at the AY2011/12 rate for the duration of their degree programme.

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