Comprehensive Health Assessment of the Paediatric Patient in Rural Healthcare

Overview

If you’re a new or established nursing or midwifery professional with a passion for paediatrics and looking for a flexible online course to advance or refresh your assessment skill set, Comprehensive Health Assessment of the Paediatric Patient gives you the confidence to evaluate infants and young children, make evidence-based clinical decisions and prioritise care and management.

You’ll gain technical skills such as care planning, assessment and monitoring, documentation and detection of deterioration in paediatric patients. You’ll also learn transferrable skills in teamwork, leadership, communication and situational awareness so you can provide collaborative and effective nursing care to paediatric patients.

Course content

Delivered via self-paced, online learning so it easily fits in with your work and life commitments, you’ll be supported via Zoom drop-in sessions, email correspondence and online forums with your educator.

Skills and knowledge attained

After completing this microcredential, learners will be able to:

• conduct comprehensive health assessment of infants and young children in diverse contexts
• integrate assessment and diagnostic findings to make informed clinical decisions
• prioritise care and management and complete appropriate documentation
• evaluate risk and appropriately respond to the deteriorating paediatric patient
• adapt non-technical skills such as leadership, communication, teamwork, and situational awareness to provide effective collaborative nursing care.

Subjects/Modules

• Children are not little adults! - Differences and ages and stages of development
• Paediatric History Taking
• ABCDE Assessment of the Child (Primary Survey)
• Neurologic and Pain Assessment
• Cardiovascular Assessment and Circulatory Assessment
• Respiratory Assessment
• Gastrointestinal and Abdominal Assessments
• Renal Assessment and Considerations
• Family and Social Considerations
• Musculoskeletal Assessment
• Rashes and Non-Accidental Injury
• Bring it all together – Identification of risk and recognition of the sick child and development of non-technical skills

Assessment

Written Case review – Graded (A-F), 1500 words (20 hours preparation)

Write up of case review referring to patient data and using evidence-based resources to support discussion.

For health professionals currently caring for paediatric patients:

• Primary and secondary assessment of a paediatric patient with either respiratory, cardiovascular, or neurological dysfunction.

For health professionals not currently caring for paediatric patients:

• A case study will be provided with appropriate patient data and students will discuss primary and secondary assessment of this type of patient.

Extra requirements

1. Broadband internet access and an active email address that can be accessed at home during study periods.
2. Students must have basic computer literacy skills (e.g. Word or other word processing software).

Further information

E: executive_professional_education@latrobe.edu.au

T: 1300 135 045

Registration

¹ Australian Research Council, 2019, Excellence in Research for Australia (ERA) Outcomes 2018
² Quacquarelli Symonds (QS), 2023, QS World University Rankings by Subject 2023: Nursing
³ This microcredential is one of three 5 credit point health assessment microcredentials. Completing all three microcredentials will provide you with advanced standing towards the Health Assessment subject in La Trobe’s Graduate Diploma of Rural Nursing Practice or Graduate Certificate of Rural Nursing Practice, subject to meeting all other entry requirements.