Nurses, allied health professionals and pharmacists working in primary, secondary or tertiary care settings increasingly need to expand their clinical assessment abilities to improve patient care and meet policy and service demands. This includes utilising knowledge and skills that have traditionally been viewed as belonging to the medical domain.

This module will prepare students to undertake a proficient clinical assessment of adults to complement and enhance their existing practice.  This will include taking an in-depth comprehensive history, conducting an appropriate physical examination and use of clinical reasoning skills to formulate and refine relevant differential diagnoses.  Demonstration and supervised practice for physical examination of the head, neck, ears, nose, throat, eyes, lymphatic, respiratory, peripheral vascular, cardiovascular, gastrointestinal, musculoskeletal and neurological systems will be provided with an emphasis on clinical indications that warrant further assessment and / or appropriate onward referral.

The module will also introduce mental health assessment in recognition of the importance of using a holistic approach. Crumbie’s (2006) problem solving model will be used as the underpinning theoretical framework to support the assessment and clinical decision making process. 

Strategies to ensure the delivery of safe practice and identification of future learning needs also form a key part of this module.

This is a core module within the MSc/PgDip Advanced Clinical Practice (Adult) and MSc Advanced Clinical Practice (Adult) Apprenticeship and MSc/PgDip Advanced Clinical Practice (Mental Health) and MSc Advanced Clinical Practice (Mental Health) Apprenticeship courses offered by the School of Health and Social Care.

It is also available on a stand-alone single module basis.

Applicants for this module must be able to demonstrate all of the pre-requisites below.

This module has four occurrences as follows.  Please choose the appropriate occurrence or contact the module leader if you are unsure.

Available as a standalone module: Yes

Attendance (Please note, this is subject to change for future intakes)

Dates: For attendance information, please see the top of this page and click on ‘attendance dates’. Please note, if the module is full or closed for the intake(s) this academic year, dates may not appear. 

Venue: LSBU Southwark Campus

Typical intake(s): Semester 1 and Semester 2

Entry requirements

• Academic:
• Evidence of a minimum of 90 undergraduate degree level health-care related credits
• Professional:
• Current registration as a Health Care Professional with the Nursing & Midwifery Council, Health and Care Professions Council or The General Pharmaceutical Council, or accredited with the British Society of Echocardiography or the European Association of Cardiovascular Imaging.      
• A minimum of 3 years’ post-registration experience on entry to the module
• Practice: 
• Employed* for a minimum of 30 hours per week in one relevant clinical environment, with access to appropriate clinical support and supervision for the development of knowledge and skills to an advanced level.  *This excludes students who are working in a locum or agency basis.
• Applicants must also be able to demonstrate employer support for all of the following (even where individuals are self-funding):
• Support for development of the applicant to an advanced level within the workplace while on the module, to enable evolution of the scope of practice and responsibilities
• Willingness to release the student to enable them to dedicate the equivalent of 3 hours per week throughout the module (in addition to attendance at the university) as protected learning time to enable the student to work in a 'supernumerary capacity' to focus on their clinical/professional development evidenced by completion of the Practice Based Learning record.
• Able to support the student to organise for a Doctor/qualified Advanced Practitioner to act as their designated "Practice Facilitator" to initially supervise and support the applicants overall clinical development and facilitate completion of specified practice-based learning activities. Sign off for specific aspects of learning is required (this responsibility can be shared with other senior experienced clinical colleagues however nomination of an overall Practice Facilitator is required).
• Provision of day-to-day supervision and support by an experienced clinical team to enable the development of the knowledge, skills, behaviours, competence and confidence commensurate with this level of practice

Career benefits

Health care practitioners with advanced clinical assessment skills are currently in short supply as health care policy and work force predictions advocate the need for competent clinicians with “the right skills, in the right place, at the right time”. Successful completion of this module will therefore result in a student who can demonstrate knowledge and skills that are currently in high demand with existing and emerging markets in health care.

Assessment

• Element 1 - Coursework
• Element 2 - OSCE

Both elements of assessment must be passed to pass this module.  

Assessment/submission date: 

• Please see attendance.

Learning outcomes

Knowledge and Understanding:   

• Critically apply a systematic understanding of a range of perspectives and theories regarding holistic patient assessment that value diversity, and inform therapeutic communication, consultation skills and the process of history taking, with underpinning rationale for its components
• Underpin advanced level clinical practice through a comprehensive understanding of the assessment process for physical examination of the head, neck, ear, eye, nose, throat, respiratory system, gastrointestinal system, musculoskeletal system, neurological system, cardiovascular and peripheral vascular systems, and evaluation of mental health status and what constitutes normal or abnormal and common differential diagnosis within each system

Intellectual skills:

• Utilise skilled application of problem-solving theory and clinical reasoning skills through analysis, interpretation and synthesis of information gained from the patient history, presenting signs and symptoms, physical examination findings, preliminary investigations and evidence-based resources to inform high level decision making and formulate and refine appropriate differential diagnoses. 

Practical Skills:

• Proficiently elicit comprehensive and/or problem-focused, structured holistic histories from patients, presenting with a wide range of health problems, using high-level therapeutic communication and consultation skills 
• Demonstrate expertise in performing comprehensive and/or problem-focused, systematic physical examinations
• Accurately record, synthesise and interpret patients’ health statuses using appropriate terminology and formats

Transferable skills:

• Critically evaluate high quality evidence based electronic resources to inform clinical practice in familiar and unfamiliar circumstances
• Critically evaluate and recognise own limitations of practice to enable the practitioner to initiate an appropriate referral when a problem exceeds their scope of practice and/or expertise