MSc Advanced Clinical Practice

Within this module the content covered will be:

• The role of the ACP within healthcare
• Underpinning legislation, political drivers and healthcare agenda
• Ethical and legal principles relating to the role
• The development of the autonomous practitioner
• Scope of practice and limitations
• Managing complexity, risk and uncertainty within practice

Module content will include:

• History taking and holistic assessment of physical and mental health,
• Advanced communication skills,
• Pathophysiology,
• Physical examination,
• Interpretation of routine diagnostic investigations
• Clinical decision making incorporating therapeutic interventions.
• Safe, high quality and evidence based patient-centred care
• Typical and complex patient presentations
• Clinical judgement, risk and referrals
• Differential diagnosis 
• Therapeutic and person-centred approaches

Within this module you will cover:

• Qualitative and quantitative methodologies
• Critical appraisal of literature and searching the evidence
• sources of evidence including technological sources (i.e. social media) 
• Interpretation of the data 
• Good practice research - ethics and governance
• Research dissemination
• Research in practice
• Identifying gaps in practice evidence
• outcomes of research for organisational and healthcare change 

Within this module, you will cover:

• Multiprofessional teamworking and leadership perspectives
• Role modelling within your organisation
• Evaluating own and others' practice and responding to feedback
• Organisational cultures around risk, patient safety and escalating concerns within a healthcare organisation
• Techniques to evaluate the quality and effectiveness of service delivery and the response to feedback
• Approaches to service improvement, innovation and change within the health sector
• Consultancy and sharing best practice as a leader to enhance quality of clinical practice
• Sustainability and projections for future development in healthcare
• National and local policy and political drivers affecting the health sector

Within this module the learner will focus on the following areas of knowledge development:

• The self as both a learner and an educator
• Personal development and increasing your own self-directed learning,
• teaching and learning theories
• A focus on the individual as a learner and effective clinical supervision
• Recognising learning needs, providing feedback, peer- review and supporting individual learning
• Organisational culture towards education and learning
• Collaborative and interprofessional learning and effective teamwork
• Methods of support - Coaching

This module encompasses elements of all four of the pillars in advanced clinical practice including the following:

1. Research: Critical Appraisal - Synthesis - Evidence Base - Dissemination
2. Leadership: Service-redesign
3. Education: Organisational culture of learning
4. Clinical: Scope of practice

Within this module the learner is supported to consider the following:

• Consideration of an identified area of change within own scope of practice
• How to conduct a robust and methodological systematic review of the literature
• Analysis of the evidence and the development of critical discussion
• Appropriate recommendations that can be drawn from the data analysis
• Disseminations methods and options

The module is delivered through tutorial support as you are guided and supported throughout your apprenticeship journey on the programme and in particular within the immediately preceding core module (7209NAPPG Advanced Practice Inquiry) to progress towards this achievement of assessment opportunity. The module consists of two assessments:

1. Open book examination 
2. Presentation of practice (consisting of two elements; Oral presentation assessment and submission of a clinical practice change report)

This module is allocated 1 face to face session for an introduction and overview and to provide guidance on the preparation for the module assessment.  The allocation of additional 'online' delivery hours enables the learner to be facilitated to undertake a series of activities either through directed online learning, engagement with literature and resources and allocated assessment preparation time.

Aimed at healthcare professionals, this module allows you to prescribe, safely, appropriately and cost-effectively as independent and/or supplementary prescribers, in accordance with both legal and the professional requirements of relevant professional bodies (NMC, HPC, RPSGB). It:

• gives you knowledge to address the specialist educational needs of nurses, pharmacists and allied health professionals working within specialist areas and with specific client groups
• prepares you to exercise advanced clinical reasoning, critical thinking and creative problem solving with regard to the unique challenges associated with medicines management among infants, children and young people, the elderly and other specific client groups

*Please Note: Students who wish to undertake V300 Independent and Supplementary Non-Medical Prescribing (NMP), as part of the PgDip Specialist Community Practitioner Children's Nursing programme, must have at least one year post registration experience. Students wishing to undertake this module must also be deemed competent by, and obtain permission and support from their employer. All students who wish to undertake V300 Non-Medical Prescribing will have to complete an additional 'North West Non-Medical Prescribing Application form' which will be approved by the prescribing programme team prior to commencement on the NMP programme.

This module centres on the major physiological systems, building on prior knowledge and expertise. It will go on to inform greater understanding of the causes and management of common childhood illnesses and their diagnosis. It aims to provide an educational package meeting the needs of nurses and other allied professions required to act autonomously within a variety of ambulatory settings, improving the skills and knowledge of those who are the first point of contact for children, young people and their families.

Within this module the leaner will be supported to consider the following in relation to their own area of specialist practice:

• Enhancing clinical practice within their own sphere of influence
• Enhancing and driving quality
• promoting and sharing best practice 
• Developing practice within the context of health needs of the population
• Effective communication and working in partnership

Within this module you will cover the following:

• Emergency care - context and setting
• Trauma management - how this differs in in and out of hospital settings
• Policies and drivers for trauma response - reflections on national incidents - JESOP
• Contemporary management and innovation in emergency care
• Managing emergency presentations
• Systems based presentations including, bleeding, head injury, cardiovascular collapse, drowning and hypothermia, overdose and reduced consciousness
• Mental Health assessment
• Metabolic emergencies

This module will allow students to

• Explore the applied pathophysiology of commonly presenting mental health conditions, respiratory, cardiovascular, gastrointestinal, renal and urological, neurological, haematological and immunological diseases.
• Understand how genetic and environmental factors affect physiological mechanisms that lead to disease
• Develop understanding of how therapeutic interventions can change underlying pathophysiology and reduce the impact of disease 

The module will cover:

• Appropriate assessment of the presenting complaint
• Common, acute surgical presentations covering general surgery, cardiothoracic and vascular, colorectal, urological, gynaecology, ENT and plastic surgery
• Diagnostic investigations pertinent to acute medical presentations
• Analysis of policies and guidance relating to surgical preparation of the patient
• Post operative management and complications

The module will cover:

• Appropriate assessment of the patient with an acute medical presentation
• Common acute medical presentations
• Diagnostic investigations pertinent to acute medical presentations
• Developing clinical reasoning skills for defensible decision making in acute medicine
• Analysis of policies and guidance related to acute medicine

The module will cover:

• Key areas of public health focus as set out in the NHS Long Term Plan (2019); Prevention, Smoking, Obesity and Type 2 Diabetes, Diet and Alcohol, Antimicrobial Resistance and Vaccinations, Cancer, Mental Health, Air Pollution, Children and Maternity Care and Gambling.

• Approaches to health education, health promotion and public health

• Empowering people to manage their health

• Social marketing and communication.

• Political and ethical issues relating to health education, health promotion, and public health

• Barriers and challenges related to improving the health of the public

Module content will cover:

• An overview of urgent care services including general practice, 111, walk-in-centres and urgent care centres
• Prioritising healthcare need through advanced assessment and triage
• Recognising red flags in patient presentations across the lifespan 
• Common and rarer presentations in urgent care across the lifespan and the associated therapeutic1.11 interventions
• Clinical decision making in urgent care
• Scope of practice, professional boundaries and competence

Within this module you will explore:

• Presentation of the deteriorating patient
• Early warning systems and red flags
• Interpretation of signs and symptoms related to the deteriorating patient across a range of systems
• Compensatory mechanisms and how they mask presentations
• Barriers to recognition of deterioration
• Factors that influence incidents relating to deterioration including human, communication, education and training, organisational, equipment and resources. 
• Why processes fail and national patient safety incidents
• Escalating concerns 
• Organisational responses - MET teams and outreach
• Management and escalation in an out of hospital setting

This module will help you to develop your knowledge and skills so that you are able to provide high quality care that is based on sound clinical judgement and robust evidence. It will cover areas including:

• The evolution of cardiovascular care and the role of evidence
• Advanced anatomy and physiology of the heart and circulation
• Physical assessment of the cardiac patient
• Haemodynamic assessment and intervention
• Single and 12 lead ECG interpretation
• Introduction to biochemistry and haematology
• Cardiac pharmacology and patient concordance
• Care of the patient post cardiac intervention
• Managing patients with complex heart failure in the acute setting
• Advanced life support
• Promoting healthy behaviour change through cardiac rehabilitation and secondary prevention
• Supporting patients from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic backgrounds to navigate the healthcare systems
• Caring for patients who are nearing the end of life and supporting grieving families

Within this module, the student will develop an understanding of the following:

• common mental health conditions
• precursors to psychosis including anxiety and depression
• acute mental health presentations
• Prescribing and intervention management
• early and therapeutic intervention 
• applied across the lifespan

This module is suitable for students wishing to develop an understanding of common mental health conditions and psychosis as an acute presentation. 

This module will help you to develop a critical understanding of psychosocial suicide prevention approaches. You will be able to critically appraise and reflect on the application of these approaches in practice.

Outline syllabus:

• Evidence base for psychosocial suicide prevention
• Legal, ethical, professional aspects of psychosocial suicide prevention
• Philosophy of risk management
• Understanding of the influence of risk factors
• Risk formulation
• Safety planning
• Effective person centred care: collaboration/engagement, care, compassion and hope