Bioscientific Basis for Prescribing (NURS90167)

Graduate courseworkPoints: 12.5Dual-Delivery (Parkville)

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Overview

Availability
Semester 2 - Dual-Delivery
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This is a core subject in the Specialist Certificate in Registered Nurse Prescribing which will outline the core bioscientific concepts to support safe and effective prescribing. Students will develop foundational knowledge in pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics and therapeutics to underpin their prescribing decisions. To support students to analyse the effects of commonly used medications, students will also revise core biochemical, physiological and pathophysiological concepts. This knowledge will be applied to understand the action of medications used to manage national health priority problems such as; pain, mood disorders, cardiac, respiratory, and metabolic conditions and infection.

Intended learning outcomes

On completion of this subject, students should be able to:

  • Apply knowledge of biochemistry, physiology, and pathophysiology to explain disease across the lifespan.
  • Explain the core concepts of pharmacology: pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics.
  • Explain the impact of disease states and age on pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics.
  • Apply the core concepts of pharmacology to explain the effects of medications used to treat acute pain, mood disorders, infection, and cardiac, respiratory, and metabolic conditions.

Generic skills

  • the capacity for information seeking, retrieval and evaluation
  • critical thinking and analytical skills
  • an openness to new ideas
  • the ability to communicate scientific knowledge through oral, written and web-based media
  • professional leadership skills

Last updated: 4 March 2025