AU3S030 - Care and Management of the Acute and Critically Ill Adult 01 Sep 2022 - 31 Aug 2028 | Version 3

Associated Module Information

Module Code: AU3S030
Module Title: Care and Management of the Acute and Critically Ill Adult
Faculty: Faculty of Life Sciences and Education
Faculty Group: Community and Professional Practice Nursing
Faculty Sub Group: Professional Nursing Practice
Module Leader: Meirion Williams
Module Team: Bridie Jones, Cheryl Phillips, Christopher Nash, Pamela Davies
First Intended Intake: DEC 2015 Final Year of Intake:
Date Closed:
Credit Value: 20 Credit Level: 6
Language: English
Percentage of Module Taught in Welsh: 0
Equivalent Module:
HECOS codes: 100290 - nursing
HECOS Code Weighting: 100

Document Version Information

Version 3
Valid From 01 Sep 2022
Valid To 31 Aug 2028

Module Aims

To enable the student to critically examine the complex care issues in relation to the acutely and critically ill adult and to analyse the context of that care.


Content Summary

The effectiveness of care implementation across a range of patient presentations will be analysed with consideration given to the processes of assessment, monitoring and intervention. Planning, delivering and evaluating care from presenting data will be discussed along with the interpretation of the complete clinical picture, recognising the impact of multiple confounding factors. Consideration will be given to patients who require level 1, 2 and 3 care and protocols, clinical judgement, and other factors that influence care delivery will be evaluated as will the impact of acute and critical care on the family, health care professionals and significant others.

Learning and Teaching Methods

Activity Type Hours
Lecture 18
Seminar 8
Tutorial 8
Demonstration 6
Practical classes and workshops 28
Directed Study 4
Independent Study 110
Formative Assessment - Scheduled 6
Formative Assessment - Independent 4
Groupwork 8
Total Hours Selected 200

Learning Outcomes

# Learning Outcome
LO1 Critically analyse the issues that impact upon delivery of care of the acutely or critically ill adult and appraise the effectiveness of any care delivered.
LO2 Critically evaluate the efficacy and effectiveness of care delivery and care management in respect of the acutely or critically ill adult through a pathway of care for a specific client group.

Module Requisites

Code Title Requisite Type
MOD004134 Legal and Professional Issues in Caring for the Acute and Critically Ill co-requisite
MOD000086 Applied Physiology of the Acute and Critically Ill Adult co-requisite
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Assessment Criteria

Assessment Category Assessment Type Description Duration Word Count Weight (%) Best of? Pass Mark
Asynchronous Assessment Portfolio 1 Clinical Portfolio 0 3000 50 No 40
Synchronous Onsite Practical Assessment OSCE 2 The student will be examined on their assessment and clinical decision making skills and on their ability to appropriately manage the simulated scenario. 25 N/A 30 No 40
Synchronous Onsite Practical Assessment OSCE 1 The student will be examined on their assessment and clinical decision making skills and on their ability to appropriately manage the simulated scenario. 10 N/A 20 No 40

Assessment Matrix

Assessment Type Learning Outcomes
LO1 LO2
Portfolio 1 ✘ ✔
OSCE 2 ✘ ✔
OSCE 1 ✔ ✘

Reading List

Dutton, H. and Finch, J. (2018). Acute and critical care nursing at a glance. Chichester: John Wiley and Sons.

Douglas, G., Nicol, F. and Robertson, C. (ed.) (2013) Macleod’s Clinical Examination. 13 ed. London: Elsevier.

Brown, S., Kumar, D. and James, C. (2019) JRCALC Clinical Guidelines 2019. Bridgewater: Class Professional Publishing.

Caroline, N et al. (2016). United Kingdom Edition – Nancy Caroline’s Emergency Care in the Streets. 7thed (place of publish unidentified): JONES & BARTLETT LEARNING

Clarke, D. and Malecki-Ketehell. (2016) Nursing the Acutely Ill Adult. Second edition. Palgrave, London.

Cedeño VLJ & Bartumeu, MB et al. (2021) Severe patient with Covid-19: Management in the intensive care unit. Our knowledge publishing. London.

Creed, F. and Spiers, C. (2020). Care of the acutely ill adult. 2nd ed. Oxford University press.

Bickley, L.S., Szilagyi, P.G. and Bates, B. (2013) Bates’ guide to physical examination and history taking. Philadelphia: Williams and Wilkins.

Adam, S., Osborne, S. & Welch, J., (2017). Critical Care Nursing : Science and Practice. 3rd ed. Oxford: Oxford Press

Hickey, J., (2019). The Clinical Practice of Neurological and Neurosurgical Nursing. 7th ed. Philadelphia: Wolters Kluwer.

Holbery, N. and Newcombe, P. (2016). Emergency Nursing at a Glance. John Wiley & Sons, Incorporated, New York.

Howatson-Jones, L., Stanley, M. & Roberts, S. (2015) Patient Assessment and Care Planning in Nursing (2ndEd) Learning matters. SAGE Publications Ltd.

Jevon, P. (2013) ABCDE: The assessment of the critically ill patient. British Journal of Cardiac Nursing

Jevon, P. and Ewens, B. (2012). Monitoring the Critically Ill Patient, John Wiley & Sons, Incorporated, Hoboken.

Mallett, J., Albarran, J. and Richardson, A. (2013) Critical Care Manual Clinical Procedures and Competencies. West Sussex: John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

McGee, S. (2017). Evidence-Based Physical Diagnosis, 4th Edn. Elsevier. Saintt Louis.

Nursing & Midwifery Council (NMC) (2018). The Code: Professional standards of practice and behaviour for nurses, midwives and nursing associates - The Nursing and Midwifery Council.

Nutbeam, T. and Boylan, M. (2019) ABC of Prehospital Emergency Medicine. East of England Ambulance Service NHS Trust.

Royal College of Physicians London. (2017). National Early Warning Score (NEWS) 2. [online] Available at:

Smith, D. and Bowden, T. (2017). Using the ABCDE approach to assess the deteriorating patient. Nursing Standard, 32(14), pp.51-63.

Soltan, M. and Kim, M. (2016). The ABCDE approach explained. BMJ, p.i4512.

Tait, D. & White, S. (2016) Critical care nursing: Case studies in Clinical Decision making: Using a humanized and person centred approach. SAGE Publications Ltd.

Thim, T., Niels, H., Grove, E.L., Claus, V.R. and Lofgren, B. (2012) ‘Initial assessment and treatment with the Airway, Breathing, Circulation, Disability, Exposure (ABCDE) approach’, International Journal of General Medicine, 5, pp. 117-121.

White S. and Tait D. (2018) Critical Care Decision Making using a humanized case-study approach. SAGE Publications Ltd.

Willis, S. and Dalrymple, R. (2020). Fundamentals of Paramedic Practice: A Systems Approach. 2nd ed. Chichester: John Wiley & Sons.

Woodrow, P. (2018) Intensive Care Nursing: A Framework for Practice. Milton: Taylor & Francis Group.