Course Outline
NUR312 Life Crisis
Course Coordinator:Kerry North (knorth@usc.edu.au) School:School of Health - Nursing
2026Session 4
Online |
Online | You can do this course without coming onto campus, unless your program has specified a mandatory onsite requirement. |
Please go to unisc.edu.au for up to date information on the
teaching sessions and campuses where this course is usually offered.
What is this course about?
Description
Over the life course individuals, families and communities experience challenges and crises, and health professionals are well placed to provide care, support and resources at this time. A case-based approach will be used to explore contemporary situations that may impact on health and wellbeing. Utilising reflective models, you will examine your caring role in these situations within a social justice framework.
How will this course be delivered?
| Activity | Hours | Beginning Week | Frequency |
| Online | |||
| Online – Online asynchronous learning and teaching materials and options for lecturer and peer to peer collaborations, and lecturer and peer zoom drop ins. | 5hrs | Week 1 | 8 times |
Course Topics
- Legal and ethical frameworks that guide the provision of care in crisis situations
- Domestic Violence
- Environmental disasters
- Forensic and custodial nursing
- Pandemic responses.
- Rural and remote health service challenges.
- Asylum Seekers and refugee health
- Occupational Violence and Resilliance
What level is this course?
300 Level (Graduate)
Demonstrating coherence and breadth or depth of knowledge and skills. Independent application of knowledge and skills in unfamiliar contexts. Meeting professional requirements and AQF descriptors for the degree. May require pre-requisites where discipline specific introductory or developing knowledge or skills is necessary. Normally undertaken in the third or fourth full-time study year of an undergraduate program.
What is the unit value of this course?
12 units
How does this course contribute to my learning?
| Course Learning Outcomes On successful completion of this course, you should be able to... | Graduate Qualities Mapping Completing these tasks successfully will contribute to you becoming... | Professional Standard Mapping * Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia | |
| 1 | Identify contemporary regional, national and global issues that may impact health and well being | Knowledgeable |
1.2, 1.2, 1.7, 2.3, 3.2, 3.7, 3.7, 4.1, 4.3 |
| 2 | Analyse the impact of contemporary health issues on individual, family or community health and well being | Sustainability-focussed |
1.1, 1.3, 2.2, 4.3, 4.4, 6.3 |
| 3 | Interpret and use evidence to inform innovative, responsive practice to situations of life crisis in diverse and complex healthcare settings | Engaged |
1.1, 1.4, 1.5, 1.7, 2.1, 2.2, 2.3, 2.4, 2.5, 2.9, 3.2, 3.6, 3.7, 4.1, 4.3, 4.4, 5, 5.2, 6.3, 6.4, 6.5, 7.2 |
| 4 | Critically self-appraise your caring role as a health professional through the use of reflective models and a social justice framework | Engaged |
1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 1.4, 1.5, 1.7, 2.1, 2.4, 2.5, 2.6, 3.1, 3.3, 3.3, 3.4, 3.5, 3.8, 4.3, 6.3, 7 |
| 5 | Apply principles and practices of academic writing and referencing. | Ethical |
1.2, 1.6 |
| 6 | Apply ethical use of intellectual property. | Ethical | |
* Competencies by Professional Body
| CODE | COMPETENCY |
| Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia | |
| 1.1 | The RN accesses, analyses, and uses the best available evidence, that includes research findings for safe quality practice |
| 1.2 | The midwife accesses, analyses, and uses the best available evidence, that includes research findings, for safe, quality midwifery practice |
| 1.3 | The midwife uses health assessment and health education to support birth and reproductive health, and minimise the potential for complications |
| 1.4 | The RN complies with legislation, common law, policies, guidelines and other standards or requirements relevant to the context of practice when making decisions |
| 1.5 | The RN uses ethical frameworks when making decisions |
| 1.6 | The midwife supports the development, implementation and evaluation of evidenced-based health initiatives and programs |
| 1.7 | The RN contributes to quality improvement and relevant research |
| 2.1 | The midwife supports the choices of the woman, with respect for families and communities in relation to maternity care |
| 2.2 | The midwife partners with women to strengthen women’s capabilities and confidence to care for themselves and their families |
| 2.3 | The RN recognises that people are the experts in the experience of their life |
| 2.4 | The RN provides support and directs people to resources to optimise health related decisions |
| 2.5 | The RN advocates on behalf of people in a manner that respects the person’s autonomy and legal capacity |
| 2.6 | The midwife practises in a way that respects that family and community underpin the health of Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander Peoples |
| 2.9 | The RN reports notifiable conduct of health professionals, health workers and others. |
| 3.1 | The midwife understands their scope of practice |
| 3.2 | The RN provides the information and education required to enhance people’s control over health |
| 3.3 | The midwife participates in own continuing professional development to maintain the required knowledge and skill base for safe and effective practice |
| 3.4 | The midwife contributes to a culture that supports learning, teaching, knowledge transfer and critical reflection |
| 3.5 | The RN seeks and responds to practice review and feedback |
| 3.6 | The midwife uses relevant processes to identify, document and manage complexity and risk |
| 3.7 | The midwife recognises and responds appropriately where safe and quality practice may be compromised |
| 3.8 | The midwife considers and responds in a timely manner to the health and wellbeing of self and others in relation to the capability for practice |
| 4.1 | The midwife works in partnership to determine factors that affect, or potentially affect, the health and wellbeing of women, communities and populations |
| 4.3 | The RN works in partnership to determine factors that affect, or potentially affect, the health and well being of people and populations to determine priorities for action and/or for referral |
| 4.4 | The RN assesses the resources available to inform planning |
| 5 | Standard 5: Develops a plan for midwifery practice |
| 5.2 | The RN collaboratively constructs nursing practice plans until contingencies, options priorities, goals, actions, outcomes and timeframes are agreed with the relevant persons |
| 6.3 | The midwife is responsible for consultation and referral and/ or escalation in situations that are outside the individual’s scope of practice |
| 6.4 | The midwife provides and accepts effective and timely direction, allocation, delegation, teaching and supervision |
| 6.5 | The RN practises in accordance with relevant nursing and health guidelines, standards, regulations and legislation |
| 7 | Standard 7: Evaluates outcomes to improve midwifery practice |
| 7.2 | The midwife revises plan and actions based on evidence and what is learned from evaluation |
Am I eligible to enrol in this course?
Refer to the UniSC Glossary of terms for definitions of “pre-requisites, co-requisites and anti-requisites”.
Pre-requisites
NUR117 or NUR141 or HLT132 and enrolled in Program SC391, SC392 or SC393
Co-requisites
Not applicable
Anti-requisites
Not applicable
Specific assumed prior knowledge and skills (where applicable)
Not applicable
Microcredential Information
Not applicable
How am I going to be assessed?
Grading Scale
Standard Grading (GRD)
| High Distinction (HD), Distinction (DN), Credit (CR), Pass (PS), Fail (FL). |
Details of early feedback on progress
You are encouraged to request feedback on the development of your assessment tasks in the online meetings scheduled 4 times per week (details of these meetings are outlined in the announcement on the course Canvas). This feedback will be provided in the online meetings from week 2 until the course completion.
Assessment tasks
| Delivery mode | Task No. | Assessment Product | Individual or Group | Weighting % | What is the duration / length? | When should I submit? | Where should I submit it? |
| All | 1a | Quiz/zes | Individual | 25% | 90 minutes |
Week 3 | Online Test (Quiz) |
| All | 1b | Quiz/zes | Individual | 25% | 90 minutes |
Week 6 | Online Test (Quiz) |
| All | 2 | Written Piece | Individual | 50% | 2500 words |
Week 8 | Online Assignment Submission with plagiarism check |
| All - Assessment Task 1a:Online quiz | |||||||||||||
| Goal: | The goal of this task to provide you with an opportunity to demonstrate your knowledge, understanding, and application of theoretical information obtained in this course to contemporary situations that may impact on health and wellbeing. |
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| Product: | Quiz/zes | ||||||||||||
| Authorship Statement: | |||||||||||||
| Format: | In each quiz, you will be required to complete 25 multiple choice questions and short answer responses related to the case study provided. The case study is based upon course readings and the interactive lectures in weeks 1, 2 & 3. You will have 90 minutes to complete this task. These quizzes are summative and count towards your final grade |
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| Criteria: |
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| Generic Skills: | Communication, Problem solving, Information literacy |
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| All - Assessment Task 1b:Online quiz | |||||||||||||
| Goal: | The goal of this task to provide you with an opportunity to demonstrate your knowledge, understanding, and application of theoretical information obtained in this course to contemporary situations that may impact on health and wellbeing. |
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| Product: | Quiz/zes | ||||||||||||
| Authorship Statement: | |||||||||||||
| Format: | In each quiz, you will be required to complete 25 multiple choice questions and short answer responses related to the case study provided. The case study is based upon course readings and the interactive lectures in weeks 4, 5 & 6. You will have 90 minutes to complete this task. These quizzes are summative and count towards your final grade. |
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| Criteria: |
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| Generic Skills: | Communication, Problem solving, Information literacy |
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| All - Assessment Task 2:Written assignment | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Goal: | The goal of this task is to identify and analyse the life crisis documented in the case study. You will identify the impacts of this life crisis, describe how the health system and RNs or RMs should respond to the life crisis, and critique your readiness to respond to the life crisis and support vulnerable people. |
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| Product: | Written Piece | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Authorship Statement: | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Format: | Written piece |
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| Criteria: |
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| Generic Skills: | Communication, Problem solving, Organisation, Applying technologies, Information literacy |
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Directed study hours
A 12-unit course will have total of 150 learning hours which will include directed study hours (including online if required), self-directed learning and completion of assessable tasks. Student workload is calculated at 12.5 learning hours per one unit.
What resources do I need to undertake this course?
Please note: Course information, including specific information of recommended readings, learning activities, resources, weekly readings, etc. are available on the course Canvas site– Please log in as soon as possible.
Prescribed text(s) or course reader
Specific requirements
Not applicable
How are risks managed in this course?
Health and safety risks for this course have been assessed as low. It is your responsibility to review course material, search online, discuss with lecturers and peers and understand the health and safety risks associated with your specific course of study and to familiarise yourself with the University’s general health and safety principles by reviewing the online induction training for students, and following the instructions of the University staff.
What administrative information is relevant to this course?
Assessment: Academic Integrity
Academic integrity is the ethical standard of university participation. It ensures that students graduate as a result of proving they are competent in their discipline. This is integral in maintaining the value of academic qualifications. Each industry has expectations and standards of the skills and knowledge within that discipline and these are reflected in assessment.
Academic integrity means that you do not engage in any activity that is considered to be academic fraud; including plagiarism, collusion or outsourcing any part of any assessment item to any other person. You are expected to be honest and ethical by completing all work yourself and indicating in your work which ideas and information were developed by you and which were taken from others. You cannot provide your assessment work to others. You are also expected to provide evidence of wide and critical reading, usually by using appropriate academic references.
In order to minimise incidents of academic fraud, this course may require that some of its assessment tasks, when submitted to Canvas, are electronically checked through Turnitin. This software allows for text comparisons to be made between your submitted assessment item and all other work to which Turnitin has access.
Assessment: Additional Requirements
Eligibility for Supplementary Assessment Your eligibility for supplementary assessment in a course is dependent of the following conditions applying: The final mark is in the percentage range 47% to 49.4% The course is graded using the Standard Grading scale You have not failed an assessment task in the course due to academic misconductAssessment: Submission penalties
Late submission of assessment tasks may be penalised at the following maximum rate: - 5% (of the assessment task's identified value) per day for the first two days from the date identified as the due date for the assessment task. - 10% (of the assessment task's identified value) for the third day - 20% (of the assessment task's identified value) for the fourth day and subsequent days up to and including seven days from the date identified as the due date for the assessment task. - A result of zero is awarded for an assessment task submitted after seven days from the date identified as the due date for the assessment task. Weekdays and weekends are included in the calculation of days late. To request an extension you must contact your course coordinator to negotiate an outcome.Links to relevant University policy and procedures
For more information on Academic Learning & Teaching categories including:
- Assessment: Courses and Coursework Programs
- Review of Assessment and Final Grades
- Supplementary Assessment
- Central Examinations
- Deferred Examinations
- Student Conduct
- Students with a Disability
For more information, visit https://www.usc.edu.au/explore/policies-and-procedures#academic-learning-and-teaching
Student Charter
UniSC is committed to excellence in teaching, research and engagement in an environment that is inclusive, inspiring, safe and respectful. The Student Charter sets out what students can expect from the University, and what in turn is expected of students, to achieve these outcomes.
General Enquiries
- In person:
- UniSC Sunshine Coast - Student Central, Ground Floor, Building C, 90 Sippy Downs Drive, Sippy Downs
- UniSC Moreton Bay - Service Centre, Ground Floor, Foundation Building, Gympie Road, Petrie
- UniSC SouthBank - Student Central, Building A4 (SW1), 52 Merivale Street, South Brisbane
- UniSC Gympie - Student Central, 71 Cartwright Road, Gympie
- UniSC Fraser Coast - Student Central, Student Central, Building A, 161 Old Maryborough Rd, Hervey Bay
- UniSC Caboolture - Student Central, Level 1 Building J, Cnr Manley and Tallon Street, Caboolture
- Tel:+61 7 5430 2890
- Email:studentcentral@usc.edu.au