Introduction to Minor Illness and Urgent Care

Overview

This module is designed for nurses working in emergency departments, walk in centres and primary care settings who are developing their role towards emergency nurse practitioner, or autonomous practice who will see, treat, refer and discharge patients with minor illness.

The module will develop your knowledge and skills in order to start to facilitate a safe holistic patient assessment. You will learn to apply your knowledge of anatomy and physiology in conjunction with physical assessment to each body system. You will use more advanced communication techniques, evidence based knowledge and critical thinking in order to identify patient needs. You will identify presenting complaints and synthesise findings from physical examination and assessment and relate these to underlying pathophysiology. You will use history taking and clinical findings in order to aid with differential diagnosis.

Additionally, you will reflect on prior professional experience to aid with decision making.

The aim of this course is to act as an introduction to the management of patients with minor health problems or recognise more major health issues that need referral on to other health care professionals. This course aims to develop proficiency in the skills of assessment through history taking and clinical examination. It provides the experienced clinician with advanced knowledge, communication skills and safe clinical examination skills to equip them to make more confident evidence based patient care decisions.

Course content

During this module, you'll learn:

1. Anatomy and physiology review
2. History taking and documentation
3. Physical assessment skills- inspection, auscultation, percussion and palpation
4. Systems covered- Respiratory, Cardiovascular (optional) ,Abdomen, Neurology and Ear nose and Throat
5. Recognition of abnormalities within these systems as well as common health problems with skin, eyes, and children
6. Advanced communication and decision making
7. Role of the multidisciplinary team.

Teaching

Learning and teaching will have a problem orientated focus through guided study and case scenarios in order to develop and reinforce lifelong learning perspectives for clinical skills. This will be done through guided on line learning supported by narrated presentations and online demonstration videos for the student to access at any time. Students will attend study days to access face to face clinical assessment skill demonstrations and supervision from teachers.  Students will then be given the opportunity to develop these learnt assessment skills in their own practice setting but application of skills will not be assessed

Study days will give the opportunity for development, application and reflection of clinical examination skills to aid with diagnosis and plan care/ referral.

Assessment

Assessment will be 100% OSCE based on all the clinical examination skills learnt as well as history taking and a written paper based on anatomy, physiology and clinical scenarios.

Entry requirements

Current employment and support to practice in an appropriate health care setting. The student should be able to give details of an allocated clinically experienced (in that field) supervisor who will support their clinical practice.

To apply for this course, please go to our CPD health practitioner page and complete an application form.

Fees and funding

The fees* below refer to the 2019/20 academic year unless otherwise stated.

Per credit: £60
15 credits: £900

*Course fees are subject to annual inflation.

There are several funding options available:

• receiving course fees via CPPD contracts between NHS trusts and Middlesex University
• paying your own fees
• sponsorship by your employer (but not under a CPPD contract).

For more information for any of these options, including fee rates for self-funding/employer-sponsored students, please visit our dedicated funding page.

How to apply

Download an application form by following the link from our CPD health webpage.