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NMHS20680

Academic Year 2026/2027

Clinical Practice 2 (G) (NMHS20680)

Subject:
Nursing,Midwifery & Health Sys
College:
Health & Agricultural Sciences
School:
Nursing,Midwifery & Health Sys
Level:
2 (Intermediate)
Credits:
30
Module Coordinator:
Dr Sean Kearns
Trimester:
Spring
Mode of Delivery:
On Campus
Internship Module:
No
Module Type:
Professional/Work Placement Module
How will I be graded?
Pass/Fail (GPA Neutral)

Curricular information is subject to change.

This module introduces students to a specialist and/or surgical-medical care setting, enabling them to observe and, where appropriate, participate in patient care. The module aims to develop students' understanding of how care is care is planned, organised and delivered within the clinical environment. Under the close supervision of a registered nurse, students will have opportunities to observe and participate in patient care where appropriate. Students are expected to take a pro-active approach to developing their clinical skills, using the NCAD document as a guide and as evidence of clinical performance and competence.

The module may be linked to a range of clinical areas, including care of the older person, emergency department, intellectual disability services, outpatients department, maternity care, community care, mental health and psychiatry nursing, operating theatre, paediatric care* , ICU/HDU, public health nursing and medical-surgical nursing. The credit weighting reflects the student effort required to achieve the learning outcomes.

This module is an essential component of the clinical requirements for professional registration. All individual practice placements must be successfully completed and passed for the module to be awarded a pass grade. All practice placement placements must be passed, and all required clinical hours completed at the current stage, before progression to the next stage of the programme.

* Note
To address the ongoing challenges in accessing practice placements within Children’s Health Ireland (CHI), a hybrid specialist paediatric placement model will support the achievement of paediatric learning outcomes within the clinical module.
The hybrid specialist paediatric placement model will consist of:

-Four days of theoretical instruction delivered via a virtual learning platform, focusing on core paediatric concepts such as child development, family-centred care, safeguarding, acute and chronic illness in children, and paediatric clinical decision-making.

-One full day in the clinical skills laboratory, where students will engage in paediatric-specific skills training, including assessment of the child, medication safety, communication with children and families, and management of common paediatric scenarios.

-One week practice placement in CHI, providing supervised, hands-on experience in a specialist paediatric setting.

About this Module

Learning Outcomes:

Indicative Learning Outcomes:
On completion of this module students should be able to demonstrate the development of competence in the following domains of competence:
• Professional/ethical practice in relation to the care of the patient in a specialist or surgical-medical
care setting.
• Holistic approaches to care and integration of knowledge in a specialist or surgical-medical care
setting.
• Take responsibility for assessing, planning, organising, implementing and evaluating nursing care
of a patient / client.
• Interpersonal relationships with patients, family and other professionals
• Organisation and management of care in a specialist or medical-surgical setting

Indicative Module Content:

UNESCO highlights a set of key competencies that support individuals in their development and support society in achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). UCD has adapted these competencies and is combining them with others to form a general framework of learning competencies. This module will help you develop the competencies below to the levels specified. 
Learning Competency Additional Information Level

Collaboration

 The ability to learn from others; to understand and respect the needs, perspectives and actions of others (empathy); to understand, relate to and be sensitive to others (empathic leadership); to deal with conflicts in a group; and to facilitate collaborative and participatory problem solving. Advanced Beginner

Critical Thinking

 The ability to question norms, practices and opinions; to reflect on one’s own values, perceptions and actions. Advanced Beginner

Systems Thinking

 The ability to recognize and understand relationships; to analyse complex systems; to think of how systems are embedded within different domains and different scales; and to deal with uncertainty. Advanced Beginner

Strategic

 The ability to collectively develop and implement innovative actions that further sustainability at the local level and further afield. Not addressed

Integrated Problem Solving

 The overarching ability to apply different problem-solving frameworks to complex sustainability problems and develop viable, inclusive and equitable solution options that promote sustainable development, integrating the competencies in this list. Advanced Beginner

Self-awareness

 The ability to reflect on one’s own role in the local community and (global) society; to continually evaluate and further motivate one’s actions; and to deal with one’s feelings and desires. Advanced Beginner

Normative

 The ability to understand and reflect on the norms and values that underlie one’s actions; and to negotiate values, principles, goals, and targets, in a context of conflicts of interest and trade-offs, uncertain knowledge and contradictions. Advanced Beginner

Anticipatory

 The ability to understand and evaluate multiple scenarios for the future – possible, probable and desirable; to create one’s own visions for the future; to apply the precautionary principle; to assess the consequences of actions; and to deal with risks and changes. Advanced Beginner

Digital Literacy and Judgement

 The ability to access, evaluate, create and communicate information in digital environments; to engage critically, ethically and responsibly with digital technologies and digital information; to understand their opportunities, limitations, risks and impact on individual’s digital identities; and to exercise informed judgement in digital participation and decision-making. Advanced Beginner

AI Literacy & Agency

 The ability to understand, critically evaluate and responsibly engage with artificial intelligence; to recognise how AI systems are shaped by human values; to assess their ethical, social and environmental implications; and to exercise human judgement, agency and accountability in AI-related contexts. Advanced Beginner

Wellbeing

 Wellbeing is having the resources and skills to meet life's challenges, including attributes such as personal development skills, resilience, stress management, strengths, lifestyle skills, nutrition, physical activity, sleep, alcohol/substance use, academic skills, time management, goal setting, interpersonal skills, group work, communication. Advanced Beginner

The United Nations identified seventeen Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as core to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and UCD contributes in general to SDG 4 Quality Education. Further SDGs explored within this module if relevant are listed below. A scale of 1 - 5 indicates the extent to which the SDG is covered.


 

Student Effort Hours:
Student Effort Type Hours
Practical

7
Field Trip/External Visits

715
Online Learning

28
Total

750

Approaches to Teaching and Learning:
Key teaching and learning approaches used in the module may include: active/task-based learning; peer/multidisciplinary team learning, reflective learning; learning during the assessment, planning, implementation and evaluation of nursing care for patients and case-based learning.

The hybrid specialist paediatric placement model will consist of:

-Four days of theoretical instruction delivered via a virtual learning platform, focusing on core paediatric concepts such as child development, family-centred care, safeguarding, acute and chronic illness in children, and paediatric clinical decision-making.

-One full day in the clinical skills laboratory, where students will engage in paediatric-specific skills training, including assessment of the child, medication safety, communication with children and families, and management of common paediatric scenarios.

-One week practice placement in CHI, providing supervised, hands-on experience in a specialist paediatric setting.

Requirements, Exclusions and Recommendations
Learning Requirements:

The module is part of the essential clinical requirements for professional registration. The student must pass all individual clinical placements within the module before a pass grade can be awarded for the module. All clinical placement modules must be passed and all of the clinical time completed for the preceding stage before the student can progress to the next stage of the programme. For this module Students must have successfully completed all Stage 1 clinical modules before undertaking Stage 2 Clinical Modules


Module Requisites and Incompatibles
Pre-requisite:
NMHS10450 - Clinical Practice 1 (G)


 

Assessment Strategy
Description Timing Component Scale Must Pass Component % of Final Grade Component repeat (in-module) Offered
Portfolio: Successful completion of the National Competency Assessment Document (NCAD), online learning activities via Brightspace and paediatric clinical skills day (hybrid paediatric practice placement).
Week 1, Week 2, Week 3, Week 4, Week 5, Week 6, Week 7, Week 8, Week 9, Week 10, Week 11, Week 12 Pass/Fail Grade Scale No
100
 No

As part of UCD's student support, under the Additional Consideration policy, extensions may be available for the following assessments in the module: Assignment (including essay/poster), Portfolio, Reflective Assignment, Report(s), and Individual Project.


Carry forward of passed components
No
 

Resit In Terminal Exam
Summer No
Please see Student Jargon Buster for more information about remediation types and timing. 

Feedback Strategy/Strategies

• Feedback individually to students, on an activity or draft prior to summative assessment
• Feedback individually to students, post-assessment
• Self-assessment activities

How will my Feedback be Delivered?

Feedback on clinical performance during the placement will be given to the student by the Preceptor, Co-preceptor, Clinical Nurse Manager/Facilitator and Clinical Placement Coordinator and personal tutor (at student/clinical site request).

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