School: Nursing and Midwifery

This unit information may be updated and amended immediately prior to semester. To ensure you have the correct outline, please check it again at the beginning of semester.

  • Unit Title

    Complex Clinical Decision Making and Diagnostics
  • Unit Code

    NSP6106
  • Year

    2026
  • Enrolment Period

    1
  • Version

    1
  • Credit Points

    20
  • Full Year Unit

    N
  • Mode of Delivery

    Online
  • Unit Coordinator

    Dr Nilufeur MCKAY

Description

This unit is designed to equip nurse practitioner students with the essential skills of clinical decision making and identify the appropriate diagnostic testing based on a patient’s presentation. Building upon the students’ knowledge of pathophysiology, this unit will enable the development of skills and knowledge to interpret diagnostic tests and synthesise all available patient assessment data to confirm a final diagnosis. The content emphasises critical thinking, evidence-based practice and integration of comprehensive clinical knowledge. The 100 hours of supernumerary integrated professional practice (IPP) in a primary care setting enhances the student’s ability to engage with the unit content.

Prerequisite Rule

MNP6110 and MNP6112

Co-Requisite Rule

Students must study MNP6103 concurrently with NSP6106.

Equivalent Rule

NSP6104

Learning Outcomes

On completion of this unit students should be able to:

  1. Understand and apply the process of clinical decision making to a wide range of clinical presentations in primary care.
  2. Apply complex differential diagnosis frameworks to synthesise diagnostic data to generate a final diagnosis.
  3. Evaluate the effectiveness of various diagnostic tools and techniques used in clinical practice to determine the most appropriate method for patient assessment.
  4. Synthesise clinical information, research evidence, and patient history during professional practice to develop comprehensive health management plans.
  5. Evaluate the ethical and cultural dimensions of clinical decision-making, ensuring that care is patient-centred and culturally sensitive.

Unit Content

  1. Diagnostic tools and techniques, including advanced imaging, laboratory tests, and differential diagnosis methods for evaluating complex health conditions.
  2. Differential diagnosis frameworks and the process of diagnosis refinement.
  3. Use of evidence-based guidance to support diagnostic test selection.
  4. Legal and ethical requirements relating to diagnostic testing.
  5. Interpretation of various medical imaging, pathology, and physiology tests to confirm a diagnosis, monitor disease course, and guide therapeutic decision making.
  6. Diagnosing, treating and preventing disease and illness in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and Culturally and Linguistically Diverse patients.
  7. Reflective practice within the role of a nurse practitioner to improve professional and patient outcomes.

Additional Learning Experience Information

Students will complete 100 hours of Integrated Professional Practice (IPP) in a primary care location.

Assessment

GS2 GRADING SCHEMA 2 Used for Undifferentiated Pass/Fail units inc. practical units or work-integrated learning

Students please note: The marks and grades received by students on assessments may be subject to further moderation. All marks and grades are to be considered provisional until endorsed by the relevant School Progression Panel.

Due to the professional competency skill development associated with this Unit, student attendance/participation within listed in-class activities and/or online activities including discussion boards is compulsory. Students failing to meet participation standards as outlined in the unit information may be awarded an I Grade (Fail - incomplete). Students who are unable to meet this requirement for medical or other reasons must seek the approval of the unit coordinator.

ONLINE
TypeDescription
Portfolio ^NP Portfolio: Clinical placement requirements, reflections, diagnostic reasoning assessment and clinical log
Assignment ^Health history documentation
Performance ^Simulated clinical assessment
Practicum ^Objectives, self-assessment and clinical placement report.

^ Mandatory to Pass


Disability Standards for Education (Commonwealth 2005)

For the purposes of considering a request for Reasonable Adjustments under the Disability Standards for Education (Commonwealth 2005), inherent requirements for this subject are articulated in the Unit Description, Learning Outcomes and Assessment Requirements of this entry. The University is dedicated to provide support to those with special requirements. Further details on the support for students with disabilities or medical conditions can be found at the Access and Inclusion website.

Assessment

Students please note: The marks and grades received by students on assessments may be subject to further moderation. Informal vivas may be conducted as part of an assessment task, where staff require further information to confirm the learning outcomes have been met. All marks and grades are to be considered provisional until endorsed by the relevant School Progression Panel.

Academic Integrity

Integrity is a core value at Edith Cowan University, and it is expected that ECU students complete their assessment tasks honestly and with acknowledgement of other people's work as well as any generative artificial intelligence tools that may have been used. This means that assessment tasks must be completed individually (unless it is an authorised group assessment task) and any sources used must be referenced.

Breaches of academic integrity can include:

Plagiarism

Copying the words, ideas or creative works of other people or generative artificial intelligence tools, without referencing in accordance with stated University requirements. Students need to seek approval from the Unit Coordinator within the first week of study if they intend to use some of their previous work in an assessment task (self-plagiarism).

Unauthorised collaboration (collusion)

Working with other students and submitting the same or substantially similar work or portions of work when an individual submission was required. This includes students knowingly providing others with copies of their own work to use in the same or similar assessment task(s).

Contract cheating

Organising a friend, a family member, another student or an external person or organisation (e.g. through an online website) to complete or substantially edit or refine part or all of an assessment task(s) on their behalf.

Cheating in an exam

Using or having access to unauthorised materials in an exam or test.

Serious outcomes may be imposed if a student is found to have committed one of these breaches, up to and including expulsion from the University for repeated or serious acts.

ECU's policies and more information about academic integrity can be found on the student academic integrity website.

All commencing ECU students are required to complete the Academic Integrity Module.

Assessment Extension

In some circumstances, Students may apply to their Unit Coordinator to extend the due date of their Assessment Task(s) in accordance with ECU's Assessment, Examination and Moderation Procedures - for more information visit https://askus2.ecu.edu.au/s/article/000001386.

Special Consideration

Students may apply for Special Consideration in respect of a final unit grade, where their achievement was affected by Exceptional Circumstances as set out in the Assessment, Examination and Moderation Procedures - for more information visit https://askus2.ecu.edu.au/s/article/000003318.

NSP6106|1|1