ESSENTIALS OF SPECIALIST PRACTICE AND HEALTH ASSESSMENT - 2025/6
Module code: NURM200
Module Overview
This module will blend critical comprehension of evidence-based theory with the acquisition of practical skills essential for effective practice as a Specialist Practitioner in primary and community care settings. Students will gain the skills to undertake comprehensive health assessments encompassing multiple body systems, using their findings to formulate a differential diagnosis. Furthermore, they will employ the consultation process to evaluate a patient's healthcare requirements and formulate a comprehensive care plan.
Module provider
School of Health Sciences
Module Leader
OOZAGEER GUNOWA Neesha (Health Sci.)
Number of Credits: 15
ECTS Credits: 7.5
Framework: FHEQ Level 7
Module cap (Maximum number of students): N/A
Overall student workload
Workshop Hours: 5
Independent Learning Hours: 65
Lecture Hours: 60
Tutorial Hours: 5
Guided Learning: 5
Captured Content: 10
Module Availability
Year long
Prerequisites / Co-requisites
Students must be currently undertaking a Specialist Practice SPQ programme. Students must be supported by an Organisation who will provide a practice placement with an allocated Community Practice Assessor to assess the student in practice and a Practice Supervisor to support their learning. If there is a need for a temporary withdrawal, the student's acquired knowledge and skills need to remain valid to allow them to achieve the proficiencies set by the NMC.
Module content
In this module students will enhance knowledge and skills associated with holistic health assessment aimed at improving outcomes for people in their care. This will be using person centred care planning and encourage a collaborative and integrated approach to optimise outcomes. The advanced skills required for caseload management will be include triage, communication, delegation and teaching opportunities with a focus on research based and innovative practice in the following areas:
Health assessment skills across the lifespan will cover the following body systems:
General Survey
Cardiac
Respiratory
Abdominal
Neurological
Further conent be flexible to include contemporary issues relevant to professional practice. Indicative content:
Interprofessional and Interagency Working
Ethics and values.
Mental Capacity Assessment
Equity, Diversity and Inclusive principles applied in practice.
Workforce planning/ delegation/ skill mix.
Complex Personalised Care Planning.
Caseload management to include triage, clinical decision making and delegation.
Advanced Communication skills
Teaching, assessment, and feedback skills.
Safeguarding and legal frameworks for care.
Innovations in clinical care for example- wound care/ palliative care/ diabetes/ cancer
Assessment pattern
| Assessment type | Unit of assessment | Weighting |
|---|---|---|
| Practical based assessment | Health Assessment OSCE | Pass/Fail |
| Practical based assessment | Practice Portfolio | Pass/Fail |
| Coursework | Complex Care Plan | 100 |
| Practical based assessment | Practice Hours | Pass/Fail |
Alternative Assessment
N/A
Assessment Strategy
The assessment strategy is designed to provide students with the opportunity to demonstrate skills in health assessment required for specialist practice and to meet the proficiencies required for professional registration with the NMC.
Thus, the summative assessment for this module consists of three parts:
Part 1
Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) (Learning outcomes 1,2).
15 minutes examination of single (unseen) system
Part 2 Practice Assessment Document (Learning outcomes 1-6)
A Practice Assessment Document (PAD) of evidence which demonstrates the achievement of the NMC SPQ Standards of Proficiency specific to the student’s pathway. The evidence in the PAD should contextualise the student’s learning and demonstrate their application of knowledge and skills to the SPQ pathway of professional practice. Assessment in practice is measured against the Standards of Proficiency for SPQ (NMC 2022).
Part 3
Complex Care Plan with 1500-word critical analysis of the evidence that underpins one element of the care plan (learning outcomes 2,5,6).
This will be joint marked by the Practice Assessor and the Academic Assessor.
A minimum number of 847.5 hours of practice should be achieved. Pass/Fail
In line with the Professional and Regulatory body, Codes of Practice/Standards of Proficiency, if there is evidence of unsafe practice or any breach of confidentiality, the assessment will not meet the criteria to achieve a pass.
Formative assessment:
The student will have the opportunity for formative health assessment practice with their Practice Assessor in the clinical setting.
Student progress will be reviewed in practice at three strategic points in the programme. The student, Practice Assessor and Academic Assessor will be present at these meetings. Students will develop their PAD as evidence of learning and complete a self-analysis of their progress to be discussed at each visit.
Feedback:
Students will have the opportunity to formatively practice all skills required for the OSCE in simulation within taught sessions, receiving feedback from the teaching team.
Practice Assessors will review the student’s practice on a regular basis and raise any concerns with the student and their Academic Assessor at an early stage.
Students will have the opportunity to receive feedback on a sample of their complex care plan.
Module aims
- This module prepares nurses for a specialised role in providing high-quality, person-centred care in a community or home-based setting, with a focus on improving health outcomes and the well-being of individuals, families and communities.
- To enable district nursing and community children¿s nursing specialist practice students to develop evidence-based practice and achieve competency in all the NMC Standards of Proficiency for Specialist Practitioners.
- To enable the learner to develop comprehensive knowledge and understanding of health assessment from a interprofessional and interagency perspectives across health and social care domains.
Learning outcomes
| Attributes Developed | ||
| 001 | Demonstrate competence in safely applying theoretical assessment frameworks and utilisation of a wide array of assessment methods to acquire a concise and holistic patient history and examination across diverse populations. | KPT |
| 002 | Distinguish between assessment findings categorised as normal and deviations of normal for the individual. | KCPT |
| 003 | Demonstrate advanced professional communication skills working in collaboration with patients and members of the inter-disciplinary team to deliver safe, person-centred care. | CPT |
| 004 | Lead, manage and deliver high quality client/patient care autonomously that is person-centred, anti discriminatory, culturally competent and inclusive using clinical decision-making skills recognising ethical and legal parameters. | KCPT |
| 005 | Critically analyse factors that influence caseload management and individualised care planning recognising issues of mental capacity, challenging situations and individual vulnerabilities. | KPT |
| 006 | Critically evaluate safeguarding practice and service delivery within context of partnership working and students own legal and professional accountability. | KCPT |
Attributes Developed
C - Cognitive/analytical
K - Subject knowledge
T - Transferable skills
P - Professional/Practical skills
Methods of Teaching / Learning
The learning and teaching strategy is designed to:
- Apply current theoretical and methodological approaches to develop a sound knowledge base within their field of professional practice.
- Utilise simulated learning opportunities within a supportive environment to develop assessment and communication skills.
- Prepare students to be enquiring and empower them with an ongoing curiosity regarding research and innovations that will inform their specialist practice.
- Equip students with the skills that build on their existing professional experience to support their development as leaders within their field.
The learning and teaching methods include:
Lectures, and workshops.
Simulation learning for health assessment components.
Online – learning materials/ discussion board.
Classroom discussions.
External speakers with speciality knowledge from practice.
Observation, participation and demonstration of skills in practice with opportunities to experience interagency working and for professional reflection on action.
Indicated Lecture Hours (which may also include seminars, tutorials, workshops and other contact time) are approximate and may include in-class tests where one or more of these are an assessment on the module. In-class tests are scheduled/organised separately to taught content and will be published on to student personal timetables, where they apply to taken modules, as soon as they are finalised by central administration. This will usually be after the initial publication of the teaching timetable for the relevant semester.
Reading list
https://readinglists.surrey.ac.uk
Upon accessing the reading list, please search for the module using the module code: NURM200
Other information
The School of Health Sciences is committed to developing graduates with strengths in Employability, Digital Capabilities, Global and Cultural Capabilities, Sustainability, and Resourcefulness and Resilience. This module is designed to allow students to develop knowledge, skills, and capabilities in the following areas:
Digital capabilities: this module will use digital tools and technology through online teaching and include use of digital technology within healthcare. Their practice assessment document (PAD) will use a web-based provider.
Employability: Students are registered healthcare professionals and will be developing skills and knowledge that can be applied to their role and will enhance their future employability. Students will develop a critically inquiring attitude and professional curiosity regarding their SPQ role and network with other professionals.
Resourcefulness and Resilience: Students are guided to develop the ability to reflect, evaluate, adapt, and respond flexibly to events throughout the module and in the practice environment. This pillar is fundamental to the development of effective and safe health professionals.
Sustainability: Students will be developing management and leadership skills within the limited resources of the NHS and current issues of sustainability in healthcare will be debated.
Programmes this module appears in
| Programme | Semester | Classification | Qualifying conditions |
|---|---|---|---|
| Primary and Community Care SPQ District Nursing PGDip(YEAR LONG) | Year-long | Core | A weighted aggregate mark of 50% is required to pass the module |
| Primary and Community Care SPQ Community Children's Nursing PGDip(YEAR LONG) | Year-long | Core | A weighted aggregate mark of 50% is required to pass the module |
| Primary and Community Care SPQ District Nursing with integrated prescribing (V300) PGDip(YEAR LONG) | Year-long | Core | Each unit of assessment must be passed at 50% to pass the module |
| Primary and Community Care SPQ Community Children's Nursing with integrated prescribing (V300) PGDip(YEAR LONG) | Year-long | Core | Each unit of assessment must be passed at 50% to pass the module |
Please note that the information detailed within this record is accurate at the time of publishing and may be subject to change. This record contains information for the most up to date version of the programme / module for the 2025/6 academic year.