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Unit of study_
NURS5006: Illness Experience and Nursing Care
2025 unit information
This unit of study focuses on the ways in which individuals subjectively experience illness and care. The unit also introduces students to the qualitative research methodologies used to explore illness experience; a range of illness experiences are then examined. Attention is drawn to such factors as illness and the body, emotions arising in illness, issues of self-identity and social attitudes to illness and disability. With this knowledge about illness experience in mind, the nurse-patient relationship underpinned by the concept of patients as partners is then critically examined. Within a communication-based framework, students focus on ideas about therapeutic listening and use of self, as well as the concept of knowledge transfer as it is relevant to nurse-patient interactions. Students also engage with contemporary debates about the nature of nurse-patient interactions and relationships and explore the way these might vary in different health care settings, and with people from different social and cultural backgrounds, including indigenous people. These new skills are then applied during a professional experience placement with an emphasis on therapeutic and interprofessional communication.
Unit details and rules
Managing faculty or University school:
Medicine and Health
| Study level | Postgraduate |
|---|---|
| Academic unit | Nursing and Midwifery |
| Credit points | 6 |
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Prerequisites:
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NURS5081 |
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Corequisites:
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None |
| Prohibitions:
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None |
| Assumed knowledge:
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None |
At the completion of this unit, you should be able to:
- LO1. demonstrate a comprehensive understanding of the nature of human experience, reality construction, subjectivity and meaning making, particularly in relation to experiences of illness
- LO2. explore and articulate a coherent understanding of the range of human emotions and behaviours that can occur in response to illness across a range of contexts and diverse cultural groups
- LO3. develop and demonstrate in clinical practice, the ability to communicate within interpersonal relationships in health care and to think critically about how these relationships might impact upon on patient comfort, health outcomes and family experience
- LO4. develop and demonstrate in clinical practice, beginning skills in therapeutic listening to foster engagement, promote empathy and to respond appropriately to the communication needs of specific patient groups
- LO5. identify and critically analyse published qualitative research articles demonstrating a variety of methodological approaches
Unit availability
This section lists the session, attendance modes and locations the unit is available in. There is a unit outline for each of the unit availabilities, which gives you information about the unit including assessment details and a schedule of weekly activities.
The outline is published 2 weeks before the first day of teaching. You can look at previous outlines for a guide to the details of a unit.
| Session | MoA ? | Location | Outline ? |
|---|---|---|---|
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Semester 2 2025
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Normal day | Camperdown / Darlington, Sydney |
Outline unavailable
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Semester 2 2025
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Normal day | Westmead, Sydney |
Outline unavailable
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Modes of attendance (MoA)
This refers to the Mode of attendance (MoA) for the unit as it appears when you’re selecting your units in Sydney Student. Find more information about modes of attendance on our website.
