Intensive Care Core Skills Level 7

In intensive care, you need to make accurate assessments and difficult decisions on a daily basis. At City, we’ll help you hone the skills you use to care for patients.

This module is the first of two 15-credit modules. Intensive Care Core Skills is designed to boost your intensive care nursing knowledge, and Intensive Care Role Development explores haemodynamics in more depth. Together, they are worth 30 credits and recognised by employers.

By exploring assessment techniques and mechanical ventilation, you’ll develop core skills for treating intensive care patients. You’ll also examine the ethics underpinning intensive care, from admitting patients to withdrawing treatment. At the same time, we’ll discuss the impact on patients and their families and explore the best ways to support them.

Who is it for?

We’ve designed this course for registered nurses working in intensive care with 10-12 months of experience in this area. You’ll be motivated to progress in your career to the next nursing band.

Benefits

By the end of this module, you’ll have an in depth understanding of respiratory failure and mechanical ventilatory support. Your expertise in intensive care will be recognised by employers and help you take the next step in your nursing career.

Credits

This course is worth 15 credits toward eligible programmes.

We’ve developed this module alongside local NHS trusts to guarantee it meets their needs and you pass with the expertise employers expect. You’ll also learn how to teach your colleagues to work effectively. By the end of the module, you’ll be a confident leader and be able to make your own treatment suggestions.

For this module, you’ll cover:

• Holistic patient physical assessment including abdominal, neuro and cardiac
• Physiology of the respiratory and cardiovascular systems
• Respiratory failure including acute respiratory distress syndrome
• Mechanical ventilation including the rationale for choice, principles and physiological impact
• Care for patients who need advanced respiratory support
• Ethical considerations of intensive care
• Psychosocial needs and the impact of critical illness after discharge

By the end of the course, you’ll be able to:

• Evaluate the impact of intensive care
• Develop strategies that assist to maintain sensory balance
• Make decisions with ethics in mind
• Rationalise patient assessment findings and prioritise care interventions
• Evaluate patient data and holistic assessment
• Rationalise key interventions in patient care in line with practice recommendations
• Prioritise and evaluate goals associated with the intensive care patient continuum
• Reflect on your personal developmental needs and develop strategies to meet these
• Understand the importance of patient-centered, collaborative, compassionate care which is patient and family focused.

Teaching

For this module, you’ll listen to lectures, attend seminars and join group discussions. You’ll be taught by Anne Mcleod, an expert in the area with extensive experience working in intensive care.

Assessment

To pass the course, you’ll need to complete an assessment. This will include a 30-40 minute viva voce (oral exam) based on a patient with a respiratory or haemodynamic problem. You’ll then write a reflective report based on this and create an action plan.

In class, you’ll also complete informal assessments to test your knowledge. This might be a quiz or group discussion. We’ll give you feedback so you know what areas you need to work on.

Qualification

If you complete Intensive Care Core Skills and Intensive Care Role Development, you’ll achieve 30 credits at master’s level. This would be viewed as a specialist qualification in intensive care by employers.

If you take this as a stand-alone module, we’ll give you a transcript as evidence you’ve completed it. To achieve an award at this level, you’ll need to complete this module as part of our MSc or PGCert pathway.

Credits

This course is worth 15 credits toward eligible programmes.

To take this module, you need to be a registered nurse (with a BSc 2:2 or equivalent) and currently work in intensive care. You need to have completed your Step 1 competencies. We also expect you to have 10-12 months experience working in this area and support from your manager.

English requirements

You will need a good level of spoken and written English to enrol on this course.