CASE STUDY (WORD LIMIT = 1800 WORDS +/- 10%)
What do I need to do? This individual assessment is worth 35 marks and assists you achieve unit learning outcomes:
ULO 1: Identify common behavioural responses to illness, and physical and psychological disability within different community contexts;
ULO 3: Examine coping strategies adopted by the individual and families in response to illness; and
ULO 4: Analyse communication strategies employed by individuals, families and the interprofessional health care team to assist adaptive responses to illness.
This assessment builds on your annotated bibliography assessment and continues examining the same case study you were allocated earlier in semester. While you were watching the videos, you should have noticed that there were both positive interactions with the person and areas where health professionals could improve their actions to improve patient outcomes.
This assessment requires you to identify and evaluate your case study person’s behavioural and psychological responses to their illness and situation (i.e., the physical and social environment) including their deployed coping strategies. You will also need to identify and evaluate the communication strategies used by health professionals during that person’s experience. Lastly, the assessment asks you to formulate specific and explicit recommendations you would make to the health service to overcome the issues/problems/concerns you have identified. Detailed instructions are as follows:
• Your paper should have a title above a brief introduction paragraph where you introduce your topic, provide context to the issue, outline the main topics/ideas that your paper will discuss (e.g. “This paper first discusses…. then examines….”) so that your reader has a clear map to navigate your paper and knows what to expect.
• Next, give a very brief overview of the person in the case study. This should be no more than approximately 200 words. The idea is that the reader should get a sense of the main concerns in this person’s presentation but we do not need to know everything about them – only the main key concerns that you are going to talk about later in your paper. We are also aware that the case study videos contain missing information about the person so we are only interested in what information they do provide in their stories
(i.e., you do not need to mention things like “unknown age” if it is not known etc. Your marker is aware that information is missing).
• In the next section, you are required to identify and evaluate the case study person’s behavioural and psychological responses to their illness and situation (i.e., the physical and social environment) AND the coping strategies they deployed to manage stressors. You must use the research literature to explain why they experienced those particular responses and coping strategies. Different people respond very differently to the same illness and situation so you need to use the research literature to explain why the person in the video responded in the way they did and why they deployed those coping strategies to manage the stressors of the illness and their situation. For all content in this section, you must focus on the person’s psychological/behavioural characteristics as well as the physical and social environment rather than the person’s physical illness and pathophysiology as explanations for their responses and coping strategies.
How do I submit the assessment?
• In the next section, you are required to identify and evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of the communication strategies used by the health professionals (either as outlined by the case study person in the nursing video or strategies you have observed in the paramedicine students’ video). Determine which strategies appeared to improve the outcome for the person and ones that could have been done better. It is not necessarily that the communication was ‘wrong’, rather there are elements of the communication that would be very likely to have resulted in an even better outcome for the person if conducted differently. You will need to compare and contrast the communication strategies identified in the video to those you have read about in the research literature to determine which elements were most likely to affect patient outcomes, both positively and negatively. You must then apply the findings of this research to the case study scenario.
• Lastly, you are required to make specific and explicit recommendations to the health service to overcome the issues/problems/ concerns you have identified. What could the health service do differently next time to improve the experiences of future patients and enhance their health outcomes. Your suggestions must be able to be implemented by nurses or paramedics (relative to your degree enrolment). It is not appropriate to simply say nurses and paramedics should refer to other health professionals, such as psychologists and social workers. Your recommendations must be about aspects of patient care that are led by nurses or paramedics. It is preferable to have fewer recommendations that are discussed in detail rather than a list of numerous superficial ones. For example, it is not enough to simply write “Provide education to the ward nurses/paramedics”. You need to be specific, that is, you must explain what sort of education, as well as when it will be implemented, where, how, to who, and why. This section should not read like a care plan for your particular case study person. The idea is to make broader ward/hospital/health service suggestions and recommendations that nurses and paramedics (and other key stakeholders such as managers and policy makers) reading your paper could initiate to improve their service and/or prevent similar issues occurring to their patients in future. You will need to support your recommendations with research literature demonstrating that your ideas have merit and an evidence-base.
• APA (6th ed.). format reference list
The assessment must be submitted individually by each student online as a Word or compatible document (NOT PDF or .pages) using the
Turnitin link and is due by 2359hrs (WST) on Monday 6th May 2019 (Week 11). DO NOT JUST LOOK AT THE TURNITIN % SCORE – THERE IS NO “SAFE” % SCORE. YOU MUST LOOK AT THE REPORT ITSELF. It is your responsibility to ensure you submit your drafts to Turnitin as early as possible before the due date so that you have enough time to act on the Turnitin feedback report. Drafts will be overwritten with only the last version submitted being eligible for marking. Late penalties apply to submissions after the due date as per the Unit Outline.
Please ensure your Turnitin submission title AND .doc/.docx document file name is in the following format: StudentID_StudentFamilyName_AssessmentTitle e.g., 12345678_Windsor_CS
It is your responsibility to ensure that you have uploaded the correct document (e.g., not a draft, the wrong file, or an unreadable/ corrupt file) to the correct submission portal before the due date and time. Please double check on Blackboard that you have correctly submitted a document to the submission portal rather than assume that everything went through ok. If you have any problems uploading your assessment (e.g., if Turnitin or Blackboard are not working on the due date) please email the Unit Coordinator with a copy of your final document for assessment as soon as possible before the due date and time. Also ensure you have received a Turnitin receipt via email – if you have not received a receipt then your submission has not gone through.
How does this assessment relate to and assist me achieve my profession’s national practice/capability standards?
Nursing Students
This assessment has been designed to assist you to continue developing your skills in relation to the following standards of the “Registered Nurse Standards for Practice” (NMBA, 2016):
“Standard 1: Thinks critically and analyses nursing practice. RNs use a variety of thinking strategies and the best available evidence in making decisions and providing safe, quality nursing practice within person-centred and evidence-based frameworks. The registered nurse accesses, analyses, and uses the best available evidence, that includes research findings, for safe, quality practice” (p. 3).
“Standard 5: Develops a plan for practice. RNs are responsible for the planning and communication of nursing practice. Agreed plans are developed in partnership. They are based on the RNs appraisal of comprehensive, relevant information, and evidence that is documented and communicated; uses assessment data and best available evidence to develop a plan; collaboratively constructs nursing practice plans until contingencies, options priorities, goals, actions, outcomes and timeframes are agreed with the relevant persons; plans and negotiates how practice will be evaluated and the time frame of engagement; coordinates resources effectively and efficiently for planned actions” (p. 4).
“Standard 7: Evaluates outcomes to inform nursing practice. RNs take responsibility for the evaluation of practice based on agreed priorities, goals, plans and outcomes and revises practice accordingly; evaluates and monitors progress towards the expected goals and outcomes” (p. 5). Paramedicine Students
This assessment has been designed to assist you to continue developing your skills in relation to the following domains in the “Professional Capabilities for Registered Paramedics” (PBA, 2018):
“Domain 1. Provide each patient/service user with an appropriate level of dignity and care; demonstrate understanding of the influence of socio-cultural factors on patient/service user attitudes and behaviour; assess each situation, determine the nature and severity of the problem and apply the required knowledge and experience to provide a response that is in the best interest of the patient/s; recognise and respond appropriately to unsafe or unprofessional practice; demonstrate understanding of the principles of patient/service user advocacy and their application to paramedicine practice”(p. 4).
“Domain 2. Professional communication and collaboration; communicate clearly, sensitively, and effectively with patient/service user and their family or carers” (p. 5)
“Domain 3. Makes informed and reasonable decisions; operate within a framework of making informed, evidence-based, reasonable and professional judgements about their practice, with acting in the best interests of their patients as their primary concern; apply critical and reflective thinking to resolve clinical challenges” (p. 6).
“Domain 5. Understands the key concepts of the bodies of knowledge which are specifically relevant to paramedicine practice; understand the principles and applications of scientific enquiry, including the evaluation of treatment efficacy and the research process; understand psychological and social factors that influence an individual in health and illness” (p. 9).
Do I need a cover page / title page / declaration / contents page etc. for the case study?
Please do not include an assessment cover/title page, the assessment guide/instructions, plagiarism checklist, a table of contents, or the marking rubric. These pages adversely influence the Turnitin report.
How old can my references/ articles be and how many sources/references do I need?
At this level in your degree, you need to exercise your own judgement regarding whether a source is appropriate evidence for your claims. There is no publication date limit of references; however, if you choose to use an older source you will need to tell your reader why its findings are still valid and reliable in 2019 or your specific purpose in choosing to use an older source where newer literature/research exists. Make sure you are using article databases such as PsycINFO, MEDLINE, and Emcare (these are all clickable links and will take you to the library links for these resources) to source the most relevant literature.
The minimum number of references required for this assessment is 12 peer-reviewed journal published articles (preferably research studies) independently sourced by the student (not inclusive of the unit’s essential or recommended readings/resources i.e., anything in the unit’s Reading List – you may use these but they do not count towards this requirement). Using only the minimum number of references for this assessment would earn you in the “Needs Improvement” category of the rubric. You will need to find more peer-reviewed journal article references in order to earn a higher mark in this rubric criterion. As a guide for scoring well in this criterion, we would expect your reference list to contain upwards of 18 high-quality relevant peer-reviewed journal research study references sourced by you. We strongly advise against using internet sources as evidence for your claims in this assessment unless you explicitly provide a credibility evaluation of the source as part of your claim. The module/lecture slides are not acceptable as references for this assessment.
What’s included in the 1800word limit (+/-10%) and what is the penalty if I go over?
For this assessment, the word limit of 1800 words (+/- 10%) refers only the content and headings within the paper itself and NOT to the intext citations, reference list, or title of the paper. We will stop reading at 1980 words. Any content words you include after this point will not be read or included in marking. Your reference list will still be read and assessed. It is important that you use your words wisely.
In addition to Curtin’s standard Academic Integrity requirements, what are the specific Academic Integrity and APA referencing requirements for this assessment?
You must provide APA (6th ed.) citations and references for your content from other sources (including videos) whether it is paraphrased or quoted. You MUST give the page number (or paragraph number for an online source without identifiable page numbers) and enclose the text in quotation marks if you are directly quoting verbatim or copying from your source. This is a standard requirement of APA (6th ed.) format. You are not required to give the page/paragraph number when adequately paraphrasing from your source.
Verbatim quotes (but not paraphrased material) from videos must have a timestamp attached (it is the equivalent of the page/para number for quoted written material). Please see the APA’s blog for how to do this: blog.apastyle.org/timestamps-for-audiovisual-materials.
Markers will be carefully checking your source literature to ensure that you are accurately reflecting and paraphrasing/quoting from the source you are citing. It is very important that you do not fabricate or falsely attribute content or ideas to the literature you cite as this is one of the most serious breaches of Academic Integrity. Also, please be mindful of self-plagiarism as you cannot reuse work that you have previously submitted for assessment in this unit, in other units, and/or for other universities. Please also ensure that you do not ask for, accept, or use assessed work from other students who have previously completed the unit, as this is considered to be collusion and contract cheating and is also a serious breach of academic integrity. This assessment must be wholly completed and written by you – if we suspect that your assessment has been written by someone else, we reserve the right to ask you to explain and defend the work you have submitted as your own, in person.
You can only use references for articles, books, and other sources that you have personally accessed and read yourself. You cannot use a reference if you have not read the original source. If you want to use a reference for something referenced in another source you have not read then you need to secondary cite this as per the example here: www.apastyle.org/cite-another-source. Ensure you have the most recent Curtin guide to APA referencing. This is regularly updated and corrected: libguides.library.curtin.edu.au/referencing/APA. The APA has a free online tutorial to assist you: www.apastyle.org/learn/tutorials/basics-tutorial and a blog providing quick answers to most APA questions:
blog.apastyle.org
How do I format the case study?
Your paper should be in formal academic written English and have a title above your first paragraph – the title should reflect the content of your paper and not just be “NURS3001 Assignment” or “Case Study” etc. We recommend using APA 6th ed. headings to assist your reader navigate your paper – your headings should reflect your paper’s content and not just be the rubric or assessment instruction headings. There is also a template called “Sample APA Formatted Paper” to show you how to format your submission.
Where can I get some ideas in how to write more critically, concisely, and effectively and improve my academic writing skills?
While the instructions in the CHAS booklet are only applicable for first year units, it does contain some useful general writing guidelines for assessments. However, academic writing and formatting requirements that are specific to this assessment are:
• 11 or 12 point readable font (e.g., Calibri, Times New Roman, Arial etc.) and left-justified;
• 1.5 line spacing throughout (including the reference list);
• Page numbers and your name in the top right-hand side document header;
• Full sentences (no dot points);
• Contractions (where two words are shortened into one e.g., doesn’t, wouldn’t, couldn’t etc.) should not be used in formal academic writing;
• Numbers under 10 should be in written format (e.g., ‘five’); numbers over 10 should be in numeric format (e.g., ‘20’).
• All numbers (no matter how big) at the very beginning of a sentence should be in written format (e.g., “Thirty-five participants completed a questionnaire.”);
• E.g. and i.e. should only be used when in parentheses (AKA brackets). When outside parentheses use “For example,” for e.g. and “that is” for i.e.;
• The word prove or its variants (such as proven, proves, or proved etc.) should not appear in your writing. Research hypotheses are only supported or not supported within defined terms of reference. Use “demonstrates/d” or “shows/n” or similar instead;
• Always try and paraphrase from your source rather than quote as it demonstrates that you have understood the material;
• Do not ask questions in your assessments – you need to be answering them for your reader;
• First person (i.e. “I”, “we” etc.) should not be used for this assessment;
• Australian spelling rather than US spelling (e.g., “behaviour” rather than “behavior”) should be used;
• Acronyms, initialisms, and abbreviations must be given in full the first time you use them;
• Do not use the word “suffer/sufferer” as this is discriminatory language. Use versions of “experiencing” or “living with”. Put the person before the diagnosis/illness (e.g. “person living with schizophrenia” rather than “schizophrenic”); • Careful proofreading of your paper and run a spelling and grammar check before submission.
We have put together a document for you with some writing hints and tips called “Writing Tips for Advanced Students”. It is available in the Assessments folder in Blackboard. We strongly recommend reading it – it is the standard of writing by which you will be assessed.
Curtin University also has some very good FREE online eLearning programs (particularly those on critical thinking/writing and sentence structure) to help you with your academic writing skills: studyskills.curtin.edu.au
Manchester University’s Academic Phrasebank has some excellent ideas about how to phrase your ideas: phrasebank.manchester.ac.uk
NURS3001 Case Study Rubric and Feedback Guide For each assessment criterion, category score ranges corresponding to different standards of performance are stated below. For each category, examples of standards of performance MAY include but are not limited to:
Content and task fulfilment Unacceptable = 0-0.75 Needs Improvement = 1-1.25 Satisfactory = 1.5-2.25 Proficient = 2.5-2.75 Exceptional = 3
1 Very brief overview of case study person
Does not successfully summarise the case study
person’s presentation and their
main concerns – ignores key relevant information
Provides a superficial summary of the case study person’s
presentation and their main concerns – often misses key relevant information
Provides an adequate summary of the case study person’s
presentation and their main
concerns – sometimes misses key important relevant information
Provides a clear summary of the case study person’s
presentation and their main
concerns
Provides a clear, rich, and succinct summary of the case
study person’s presentation and their main concerns
Unacceptable = 0-2.5 Needs Improvement = 2.75-4.75 Satisfactory = 5-7.25 Proficient = 7.5-9 Exceptional = 9.25-10
2 Examination of case study person’s behavioural and psychological responses to their illness and situation (i.e., the physical and social environment) and the coping strategies deployed to manage stressors
Explains very few of the major behavioural and psychological
responses and coping strategies present in the case study with little effective comparison to
the relevant research literature and unit concepts. Information
presented does not appear to link with the case study or explain the person’s responses
Explains few of the major behavioural and psychological
responses and coping strategies present in the case study by
superficially comparing these to the relevant research literature
and unit concepts. Information presented superficially links
with the case study but does not explain the person’s
responses
Explains some of the major behavioural and psychological
responses and coping strategies present in the case study by comparing these to the
relevant research literature and unit concepts. Information
presented generally links with the case study but may not
adequately explain the person’s
responses
Explains most of the major behavioural and psychological
responses and coping strategies present in the case study by
analysing, applying, comparing, and contrasting these to the
relevant research literature and unit concepts. Information
presented links with the case study and demonstrates why the case study person
responded in such a way to their illness and situation
Explains all of the major behavioural and psychological
responses and coping strategies present in the case study by
critically analysing, applying, comparing, and contrasting
these to the relevant research literature and unit concepts.
Information presented clearly links with the case study and
clearly demonstrates why the
case study person responded in
such a way to their illness and situation
3 Evaluation of the health professionals’ communication strategies
Does not successfully identify of the health professionals’
communication strategies and their role in the patients‘
behavioural and psychological responses to their illness and situation with little effective comparison to the relevant
research literature and unit
concepts. Does not effectively identify health professional
communication strategies or
effectively link these with the case study
Limited identification of the health professionals’
communication strategies and their role in the patients‘
behavioural and psychological
responses to their illness and situation by superficially
comparing these to the
relevant research literature and
unit concepts. Identifies health
professional communication strategies but may not
effectively link these with the case study
Some identification of the health professionals’
communication strategies and their role in the patients‘
behavioural and psychological responses to their illness and
situation by comparing these to
the relevant research literature
and unit concepts. Identifies health professional
communication strategies
present in the case study
Evaluation of the health professionals’ communication
strategies and their role in the patients‘ behavioural and
psychological responses to
their illness and situation by
analysing, applying, comparing, and contrasting these to the
relevant research literature and
unit concepts. Identifies health professional communication strategies that impeded and
enhanced patient outcomes in the case study
Comprehensive evaluation of the health professionals’
communication strategies and their role in the patients‘
behavioural and psychological responses to their illness and
situation by critically analysing, applying, comparing, and
contrasting these to the
relevant research literature and
unit concepts. Clearly identifies health professional
communication strategies that
impeded and enhanced patient outcomes in the case study
Unacceptable = 0-1.5 Needs Improvement = 1.75-2.75 Satisfactory = 3-4.25 Proficient = 4.5-5.5 Exceptional =5.75-6
4 Specific and explicit recommendations for health services to improve future patients’ experiences and enhance patient outcomes
No clear outline and rationale for recommendations made to improve future patients’
experiences and enhance
patient outcomes. Suggestions and recommendations are
unlikely to be evidence-based
are poorly integrated with the case study (e.g. too
generalised). May largely outsource the
recommendations to other
health care professionals where
this could have been achieved by nurses/paramedics
Some outline of but little rationale for recommendations made to improve future
patients’ experiences and
enhance patient outcomes.
Suggestions and recommendations may not be evidence-based and are likely
not well integrated with the case study (e.g. too
generalised). May discuss the nurse’s/paramedic’s role but may outsource much of the
recommendations to other
health care professionals where
this could have been achieved by nurses/paramedics
Some outline of and rationale for general recommendations made to improve future
patients’ experiences and
enhance patient outcomes.
Suggestions and recommendations are
evidence-based but are likely
not well integrated with the case study (e.g. too
generalised). Discusses the
nurse’s/paramedic’s role in implementing the
recommendations but may
outsource tasks to other health care professionals where these
could have been achieved by nurses/paramedics
Outlines and provides rationale for specific and explicit
recommendations made to improve future patients’
experiences and enhance
patient outcomes. Suggestions and recommendations are evidence-based and are
detailed and described in
relation to the case study.
Discusses the nurse’s/paramedic’s role in
implementing and leading the recommendations
Detailed outline of and rationale for specific and
explicit recommendations made to improve future
patients’ experiences and
enhance patient outcomes.
Suggestions and recommendations are
evidence-based and are
comprehensively detailed and
described in relation to specific
lessons learned from the case study itself. Focusses on,
prioritises, and emphasises the nurse’s/paramedic’s role in
implementing and leading the recommendations
Unacceptable = 0 Needs Improvement = 0.25-0.75 Satisfactory = 1-1.5 Proficient = 1.75 Exceptional = 2
5 Evidence of adequate reading and research to justify and defend ideas and claims
• Minimum of 12 peer-reviewed journal published articles independently sourced by student (i.e., not inclusive of the unit’s essential or recommended readings/resources or anything in the unit’s Reading List – they are allowed to be used but do not count towards this requirement)
• Do not include the lecture/workshop slides/notes as references
Paper does not include the minimum number of references
Uses the minimum number of references and little else. If
other resources are used they
likely include mainly textbook, the unit readings, and/or
internet sources to support
ideas presented (particularly
where peer-reviewed journal research would have been available to support claims)
Uses the minimum number of references. Also uses some peer-reviewed journal
literature sourced by the
students to support ideas
presented but may also rely on
textbook, the unit readings, and/or internet sources to support ideas presented
(particularly where peerreviewed journal research
would have been available to support claims)
In addition to including the minimum number of
references, also uses a wide range of relevant academic
literature (most of which is peer-reviewed journal
literature) sourced by the students to support ideas
presented
In addition to including the minimum number of
references, also uses a wide
and diverse range of relevant
academic literature (most of
which is high-quality peer-
reviewed research study
journal literature) sourced by
the students to support ideas
presented
Formal academic writing style, structure, referencing, and presentation Unacceptable = 0 Needs Improvement = 0.25-0.75 Satisfactory = 1-1.5 Proficient = 1.75 Exceptional = 2
6 APA (6th ed.) end-text and intext format and accurate acknowledgement of sources, paraphrases, and direct quotes
(including from videos) throughout
Three or more fundamental errors in applying APA (6th ed.) format AND/OR contains academic integrity breaches
Two fundamental errors in applying APA (6th ed.) format
One fundamental error in applying APA (6th ed.) format
Minor typographical-type errors in APA (6th ed.) format
No errors or no more than 3 minor typographical-type errors in APA (6th ed.) format
Unacceptable = 0-0.25 Needs Improvement
= 0.5-0.75 Satisfactory = 1-1.5 Proficient = 1.75 Exceptional = 2
7 Formatting, paragraphing, fluency, and style of formal academic English writing
(1.5 line spacing throughout including reference list; 11/12pt Arial/Calibri/Times New Roman font; left-justified; page numbers on the document; no cover/title page/contents page; numbers in APA 6th ed. format; APA 6th ed. format headings if used; written in third person; no use of contractions; acronyms, initialisms, and abbreviations given in full the first time used; Australian English spelling; does not use questions; does not use the word ‘prove’ or its variants; does not use the word ‘suffer/sufferer’)
Major errors in formatting, spelling, logical progression,
and/or grammar to the extent
that the meaning of the words
is unclear. Language is unclear and difficult to read/
understand throughout the
paper. Content does not flow smoothly and logically
Significant formatting, spelling, logical progression, and/or
grammatical errors that distract the reader and may obscure the meaning of the words.
Language is unclear making the paper difficult to read/
understand. Content generally
does not flow smoothly and logically
Some formatting, spelling, logical progression, and/or grammatical errors that
sometimes distract the reader.
Language is unclear in places;
however, meaning is generally
not lost
Minor occasional formatting, spelling, logical progression, and/or grammatical errors.
Clear and effective formal academic language used
throughout paper. Content flows smoothly and logically
Free or almost free from formatting, spelling, logical progression, and/or
grammatical errors. Clear,
succinct, and effective formal academic language used
throughout the paper. Content flows smoothly and logically
Sub-scores: Content and task fulfilment out of 31
Writing style, structure, referencing, and presentation out of 4
TOTAL out of 35
Feedback to students will be returned under normal circumstances within “15 working days and no later than 20 working days” (Assessment and Student Progression Policy and Procedures, 2018, p. 16).

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