Advanced Clinical Practice

This practice-based module enables you to develop the skills and knowledge needed to take a comprehensive patient history and complete a thorough physical and psychosocial assessment. It will enhance your assessment skills and your ability to accurately describe the patient/client's history and examination findings, using appropriate terminology. You will learn how to report deviations from normal in a succinct manner to colleagues within the multidisciplinary team.

Note: If you only wish to take this as a standalone module (rather than as part of a long award such as an MSc), then you can apply to be a postgraduate associate student. Contact the Programme Administrator on aphls@brookes.ac.uk / 01865 48 8157 for further details and a link to the online application portal.

This module will seek to enable clinical practitioners to interrogate and understand the complex factors underpinning decision-making in the context of health and social care. The module will underpin themes running through the advanced clinical pathways in significantly more detail. The aim, to embed critical thinking in clinical decision-making and the adoption of a systematic and empowered approach. Targeted at experienced nurses, midwives and AHPs already working at or towards an advanced level of practice.

In this practice-related module students will have the opportunity to study the development of advanced clinical practice through an understanding of its history and influences on contemporary care contexts. We will explore definitions of advanced clinical practice, the four pillars, philosophy and ethics in relation to advanced practice and the concepts that surround the role. The nature of knowledge in advanced clinical practice and decision making in relationship to patient experience and outcomes will be explored. We will examine the political and legal aspects of advanced clinical practice and reflect on issues such as gender, power and control. Advanced practice as art/science, professional identity, collaborative practice and major theories will be explored and critical thinking will be applied to how these develop.

This module primarily aims to prepare advanced health and social care practitioners for practice-based research. This module therefore enables you to explore the variety of research methods that are used in health service and practice research. We will examine both primary and secondary research approaches including qualitative and quantitative methods, clinical audit and service evaluation. You will be expected to identify a practice or professional dilemma consistent with your programme of study that may be investigated using one of these means and take this forward should you continue to the dissertation module. The module aims to equip you with the understanding and skills to take forward a realistic, small-scale research project of your own using one of the methods studied.

This module enables you to design and conduct a small research project that is relevant to your professional practice and central to the learning outcomes of the master's programme. It is an opportunity to explore the professional practice dilemma identified in Applied Research Methods and to seek a viable solution. To complete the module, you will collect primary data, undertake secondary data analysis, and conduct a clinical audit or service evaluation. Students are allocated a supervisor for the duration of the module and receive individual research supervision.