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

    Mental Health Disorders
  • Unit Code

    NSC6104
  • Year

    2025
  • Enrolment Period

    1
  • Version

    2
  • Credit Points

    20
  • Full Year Unit

    N
  • Mode of Delivery

    On Campus
  • Unit Coordinator

    Dr Jennifer HAMILTON

Description

In this unit students will develop knowledge, skills and practice for evidence based nursing care within a legal ethical framework, for mental health promotion and for the care of clients with an acute or chronic mental illness from diverse cultural backgrounds, in a variety of health care settings within an inter-professional team environment.

Prerequisite Rule

Students must complete NPP6106

Equivalent Rule

Unit was previously coded {NPP6103}

Learning Outcomes

On completion of this unit students should be able to:

  1. Analyse the concepts of mental health, mental health promotion and mental illness.
  2. Evaluate mental health care resources for care delivery in community and in-patient settings.
  3. Examine the prevalence of mental health disorders in Australia and critique strategies for therapeutic client relationships that actively involve clients and families in their treatment and care.
  4. Examine mental health legislation and ethical issues, and how they translate into clinical practice.
  5. Determine the aetiology, clinical manifestations, assessment and nursing care of common mental health disorders.
  6. Describe and evaluate psychopharmacology and therapeutic interventions used in mental health care

Unit Content

  1. Historical foundation and social context.
  2. Culturally appropriate care.
  3. Anxiety disorders.
  4. Psychotic disorders.
  5. Affective Disorders.
  6. Alcohol and other drug misuse.
  7. Personality disorders.
  8. Legal and ethical issues.
  9. Older adult mental health.

Learning Experience

Students will attend on campus classes as well as engage in learning activities through ECU's LMS

JoondalupMount LawleySouth West (Bunbury)
Semester 113 x 1 hour lectureNot OfferedNot Offered
Semester 113 x 2 hour tutorialNot OfferedNot Offered

For more information see the Semester Timetable

Assessment

GS1 GRADING SCHEMA 1 Used for standard coursework units

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.

ON CAMPUS
TypeDescriptionValue
TestShort answer exam20%
AssignmentOral presentation40%
AssignmentCase studies and related questions40%

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.

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