Unit rationale, description and aim
Older adults are increasingly presenting to complex healthcare environments with age‑related conditions and multiple comorbidities that require specialised nursing care. Gerontological nurses play a central role across the care continuum, including admission, assessment, rehabilitation, discharge planning, and long‑term management in acute, residential, community, and transitional care settings. To deliver effective care, they must understand the physical, cognitive, and psychosocial changes associated with ageing and apply advanced technical, cognitive, and behavioural skills to develop appropriate care plans for older adults with complex needs.
Older patients commonly experience comorbidities, frailty, polypharmacy, and are at heightened risk of deterioration, functional decline, and adverse events such as falls, delirium, infections, and medication‑related complications. Gerontological nurses therefore require strong critical thinking and clinical decision‑making skills to identify subtle changes in health, cognition, and function, escalate concerns promptly, and implement timely interventions.
This unit examines key gerontological conditions, age‑related care complexities, and advances in nursing care for older adults. Topics include functional assessment, cognitive changes, frailty, polypharmacy, mobility, nutrition, emotional and cultural support, chronic disease management, and rehabilitation. The aim is to support students to evaluate complex gerontological care and integrate evidence‑based practice to promote safe, high‑quality, people‑centred care that enhances health, independence, and wellbeing.
Campus offering
No unit offerings are currently available for this unit.Learning outcomes
To successfully complete this unit you will be able to demonstrate you have achieved the learning outcomes (LO) detailed in the below table.
Each outcome is informed by a number of graduate capabilities (GC) to ensure your work in this, and every unit, is part of a larger goal of graduating from ACU with the attributes of insight, empathy, imagination and impact.
Explore the graduate capabilities.
Critically apply advanced knowledge of bioscience ...
Learning Outcome 01
Critically reflect on the role and scope of the sp...
Learning Outcome 02
Analyse the physical, psychosocial, and cultural i...
Learning Outcome 03
Analyse evidence-based approaches to preventative,...
Learning Outcome 04
Apply advanced clinical reasoning to design, justi...
Learning Outcome 05
Content
Topics will include:
- Professional Identity in Advanced Gerontological Nursing Practice
- Definition and clinical relevance of professional identity
- Role and scope of the specialist gerontological nurse
- Clinical decision making and accountability
- Professional standards and frameworks
- Family centred care and culturally responsive care
- Foundations of Healthy Ageing & Psychosocial Dimensions
- Understanding the ageing process: biological, psychological and social perspectives
- Attitudes and perspectives on aging
- WHO ‘Active Ageing Framework': 6 domains – social, economic, civic, cultural, spiritual and physical
- Determinants of ageing and implications for nursing practice
- Psychosocial theories of ageing
- Successful ageing - Promotion of activity & active participation in society
- Cultural and generational considerations in ageing
- Physiological and Physical Changes
- Major system changes
- Neurological, sensory and integumentary alterations
- Cardiovascular and respiratory alterations
- Gastrointestinal, renal and urological alterations
- Endocrine, immune and haematological alternations
- Impact on function and independence
- Age Related Health Conditions
- Common geriatric syndromes: frailty, falls, malnutrition, infection, pressure injuries, polypharmacy
- Common geriatric conditions: cardiovascular disease, arthritis, diabetes, COPD, cancer, osteoporosis, kidney disease
- Trauma and injury prevention
- Patterns of trauma in older adults
- Environmental safety and assistive technologies
- Role of multidisciplinary teams in injury prevention
- Cognitive and Mental Health
- Dementia, Delirium and Depression: epidemiology, risk factors, and assessment
- Screening tools and early intervention strategies
- Ethical considerations: restrictive practice and consent
- Communication strategies for cognitive impairment
- Risk Assessment of Older Persons and Quality of Life
- Comprehensive risk assessment for older persons
- Falls prevention, mobility and pressure injury management
- Nutrition and infection prevention assessment and management
- Quality of life assessment tools and interventions
- People -centred care
- Strategies for promoting dignity, autonomy and independence
- Pharmacology and Pain Management
- Physiological changes affecting pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics
- Polypharmacy and medication safety
- Psychotropic medications in older adults
- Pain management
- Complex Care, Transitions, and Wellbeing
- Comorbidity and complex care planning
- AN-ACC funding model and its impact on care delivery
- Assessment and management of aggression and threatened rights
- Loss, grief, and transition between care settings
- Intimacy and sexuality in ageing
- Effects of ageism on sexual health and wellbeing
- Inclusive care for LGBTI older persons
- Continence and Health Promotion
- Types of incontinence and risk factors
- Impacts on physical and psychosocial wellbeing
- Integrating health promotion and active ageing principles into practice
Assessment strategy and rationale
To pass the unit, students must demonstrate achievement of every unit learning outcome and obtain a minimum mark of 50% in graded units.
The assessment strategy is designed to scaffold learning and progressively build students’ advanced knowledge and application of clinical and evidence-based practice with a focus on the care of complex gerontological patients and their families.
Through the undertaking of two assessment tasks, students will critically reflect their role as a specialist gerontological nurse in improving patient outcomes, apply advanced bioscientific knowledge of complex health conditions and demonstrate clinical reasoning while applying holistic care principle. The second assessment task requires students to independently produce original work that integrates advanced bioscience knowledge, evidence-based practice, and patient-centred clinical decision-making. Both assessment tasks promote analytical thinking, reflection, and evaluation of people-centred care.
Overview of assessments
Assessment Task 1: Digital Presentation The stud...
Assessment Task 1: Digital Presentation
The student will critically reflect on their role as a specialist gerontological nurse in improving patient outcomes across diverse healthcare settings, demonstrating the ability to critically apply advanced bioscience knowledge and evaluate evidence-based practice to inform clinical decision-making.
30%
Assessment Task 2: Written Assignment Enables st...
Assessment Task 2: Written Assignment
Enables students to critically apply advanced knowledge and clinical reasoning through analysis and evaluation of the evidence-based, people-centred care provided to a complex gerontological case study patient with a variation in health status, with critical reflection on their role as a specialist gerontological nurse.
70%
Learning and teaching strategy and rationale
The aim of the unit is to equip specialist gerontological nurses with advanced bioscience knowledge, clinical reasoning, and evidence-based skills needed to deliver person-centred care in to complex gerontological patients. By exploring the evolving role of the specialist nurse and the physical, psychosocial, and cultural impacts of illness and aging, the unit prepares learners to make informed clinical decisions and optimise patient outcomes.
This unit is offered in online mode and uses an active and collaborative learning approach to support students to analyse and critically evaluate approaches to providing evidence-based, people-centred nursing care to complex gerontological patients. Students will engage in readings, reflections and online discussions and will have opportunities to collaborate with peers in an online environment. E-Learning and links to electronic readings will be provided to guide students’ reading and extend other aspects of online learning. Online learning in this unit will be supported by the provision of opportunities for students to attend online webinar sessions that allow synchronous exchange of information and facilitate responses to queries generated by students in relation to unit content.
The learning and teaching strategy used in this unit allows flexibility for students balancing study with professional commitments while ensuring they have expert academic guidance support to ensure meaningful engagement and progression. This approach fosters integration of theory and practice, preparing students to deliver safe, evidence-informed care as medical nursing specialists.