Prerequisites for admission.

Admission to the degree programme is subject to the possession of a secondary school diploma or equivalent suitable qualification obtained abroad. Admission to this programmed access degree programme, according to law no. 264/99, is based on an entrance exam, consisting of a multiple choice test based on topics defined annually by a specific Ministerial Decree. Students admitted to the programme have the opportunity to access e-learning course units in Chemistry and Physics.

Skills associated with the function

The programme sets out to train professional nurses for working in different fields of health, with self-training skills, flexibility and the necessary capacity for research to adapt to nursing processes
The main functions of the nurse are the prevention of disease, care of the sick and the disabled of all ages, and health care education. Nursing graduates participate in the identification of the health needs of individuals and the community, identify the nursing needs of individuals and the community and define the relative objectives; they plan, manage and assess nursing services; they guarantee the correct application of diagnoses and prescribed treatments; they act both alone and with other healthcare and social workers, using support staff where required.

Function in a work context

The programme sets out to train professional nurses for working in different fields of health, with self-training skills, flexibility and the necessary capacity for research to adapt to nursing processes
Nursing graduates are health professionals with the responsibilities laid down in the Ministry of Health Decree no. 744 of 14 September 1994 and amendments; they are responsible for all general nursing care activities. The nursing care activities are based on prevention, cure, palliative care and rehabilitation, covering all technical, interpersonal and educational aspects.

Educational goals

The programme sets out to achieve the following learning outcomes:
Health promotion and maintenance
- manage prevention and care activities for patients, families and the community;
- collaborating with other professionals, plan and implement information and education programmes to control individual and group risk factors;
- educate people to a healthy lifestyle and to modifying risky lifestyles.
Organisation and continuity of care
- define the priorities of the interventions according to care needs, organisational needs and the optimal use of the available resources;
- collaborating with other professionals, design and manage nursing care for a group of patients (including night-time care);
- assign and supervise care activities performed by support staff;
- manage paper-based and computer-based information systems supporting the care activities;
- document the nursing care delivered in compliance with ethical and legal principles;
- give patients and their families thorough information on their health status, as it relates to their position as nurses;
- together with the nursing team, manage patients’ transfer or discharge;
- guarantee continuous care through work shifts;
- use professional integration tools (meetings, team meetings, case study discussions, clinical audits);
- work efficiently in a team;
- develop professional relations, working with other health professionals aware of the specific character of each role within the healthcare team;
- supervise support staff and/or students;
- effectively use verbal, non-verbal and written communication to convey nursing-related evaluations and decisions to the team members.
Safety and risk control when admitting patients
- ensure an effective physical and psycho-social environment for the safety of the patients;
- adopt protection measures against physical, chemical and biological risks in the work place;
- adopt precautions for manual handling of loads;
- take standard preventive measures against the risk of infection in hospitals and community settings.
Care provision/Mental health
- manage relationships with patients, their families and other caregivers;
- together with other colleagues, assess and manage patients’ discomfort and behaviour, such as mental confusion, disorientation, and restlessness;
- together with the team, support patients and their families during terminal phases of disease and grief;
- together with other colleagues, contribute to managing situations of mental distress.
Clinical nursing for patients with acute and chronic health problems (maternal-child/adult/elderly)
- provide nursing care to patients (children, adults and the elderly) with priority health issues including: acute and chronic respiratory problems, cardiovascular, metabolic and rheumatological, acute and chronic kidney, acute and chronic gastrointestinal, liver, neurological, oncological, infectious, orthopaedic and traumatological, obstetric-gynaecological, haematological problems;
- verify and manage nursing care for patients with chronic problems and disabilities;
- manage perioperative nursing care;
- promote and support patients' residual abilities to adapt to the limitations and alterations caused by their disease and the modification to their life styles;
- identify patients' nursing care needs and their reactions to the disease, the treatments, institutionalisation, modifications to their everyday activities and their quality of life;
- monitor the clinical and psycho-social situation of patients, identifying signs and symptoms of deterioration in advance;
- ensure the care required to manage acute and/or critical situations;
- identify and prevent factors triggering relapses in chronic patients.
Application and management of diagnosis and treatment
- ensure the safe administration of treatment/s and monitor their effectiveness;
- take decisions based on the patients' conditions, vital parameters, medical reports and laboratory data;
- together with colleagues, manage diagnostic paths ensuring appropriate patient preparation and subsequent monitoring;
- integrate nursing care into multidisciplinary care paths.
Patient education and community intervention methods
- establish informal care networks to support patients and families in long-term care projects;
- design educational projects together with patients and their families to develop self-care skills;
- support patients in learning to manage their own problems/treatments/devices;
- educate caregivers to manage the problems of the assisted patients.
Clinical method
- use the nursing care process to support patients and their families;
- verify nursing care needs using ascertainment techniques and instruments;
- draft a nursing plan matching the development of the patients' problems;
- forecast the development of nursing care needs of patients;
- assess the results of the care delivered and adapt the nursing plan according to the observed developments.
Effectiveness tests
- research effectiveness tests in scientific literature based on the issues emerging from clinical practice;
- critically analyse the scientific literature;
- use the best evidence in practice, according to the values, beliefs and preferences of the patients, the available resources and the clinical opinion.
Self-learning
- verify personal learning needs, discussing them with the tutor/mentor;
- design a self-learning plan for vocational learning activities;
- seek feedback from and discuss with the supervisor concerning clinical learning contexts;
- draft a personal plan of elective learning activities (courses and vocational activities);
- produce a personal portfolio.
Nursing procedures
- implement the nursing procedures defined in the degree programme standards.
Curriculum:
Year 1 – aiming to provide basic biomedical, hygiene and preventive knowledge and the fundamentals of the professional discipline, as requirements for managing the first internship experience, offering guidance to students in their referred professional fields and aiming to acquire basic care skills.
Year 2 – aiming to study physio-pathological, pharmacological, clinical and care knowledge to tackle the most common health problems in medical and surgical fields, with preventive and curative care during the acute phase of the disease and educational and psycho-social support during the chronic phase. Learning activities develop methodological competences to understand scientific and nursing research, also supporting the production of the dissertation. Internships offer practical experience of different contexts, in which students are able to experiment the acquired knowledge and techniques.
Year 3 - specialist studies aiming to acquire knowledge and methodologies for professional practice, team-working skills and the ability to work in a complex organisation. The relevance of the internship performed increases, and students are able to experiment the gradual assumption of autonomy and responsibility with the supervision of experts.
The credits allocated to the internship experiences increase gradually from year 1 to 3.

Communication skills

Nursing graduates must demonstrate the following skills:
- use appropriate (verbal, non-verbal and written) communication skills with people of all ages and their families and/or other healthcare professionals;
- use appropriate communication methods in the interdisciplinary team;
- use teaching and learning principles for specific information and education interventions targeting single users, families, groups and other professionals (support staff, nursing students, nurses);
- support and encourage patients towards healthy choices, strengthening coping skills, self-esteem and increasing the available resources;
- manage conflicts deriving from different positions;
- facilitate care coordination to achieve agreed health care results;
- collaborate with the care team to apply and develop protocols and guidelines.
Learning educational methods and activities and teaching tools to develop the learning outcomes:
- lectures,
- problem based learning,
- viewing and critical analysis of films, simulations, reading of narrations, reading and listening to testimonials,
- exercises and simulations in the clinical laboratory,
- discussion of personal experiences and case studies concerning paradigmatic relations in small groups,
- Internships supervised by tutors in different contexts and the progressive undertaking of autonomy and responsibility,
- briefing sessions with the tutor to prepare for the internship and debriefing sessions to reflect on and process the learning experience.
Assessment tools for verifying the achieved results:
- written and oral exams, case studies,
- objective structured clinical examinations,
- feedback on the internship using portfolios, structured evaluation sheets and clinical reports.

Making Judgements

Nursing graduates must demonstrate the ability to make judgements using the following skills:
- decision-making concerning care issues;
- deciding on priorities for groups of patients;
- deciding on the tasks to be allocated to support staff;
- deliver customised nursing care according to the similarities and differences of the patients in terms of values, ethnic background and socio-cultural practices;
- decide on the appropriate care activities considering the regulatory, legal, ethical, social, economic and organisational aspects;
- critically assess the outcome of care decisions on the basis of patient outcomes and care standards;
- take on responsibility and respond for their own professional actions in line with the profile, code of conduct and ethical and legal standards;
- make decisions based on a scientific approach to problem-solving;
- analyse any organisational problems and propose solutions;
- take decisions in situations marked by differences in position (conflicts or dilemmas).
Learning educational methods and activities and teaching tools to develop the learning outcomes:
- lectures,
- problem based learning,
- viewing of videos and demonstrations of images,
- exercises and simulations in the clinical laboratory,
- discussion of cases and self-managed case in sub-groups,
- drafting of customised nursing care plans,
- Internships supervised by tutors in different contexts and the progressive undertaking of autonomy and responsibility,
- briefing sessions with the tutor to prepare for the internship and debriefing sessions to reflect on and process the learning experience.
Assessment tools for verifying the achieved results:
- written and oral exams, case studies, project work,
- objective structured clinical examinations,
- feedback on the internship using portfolios, structured evaluation sheets and clinical reports.

Learning skills

Nursing graduates must demonstrate the following skills:
- the ability to study independently;
- the ability to cope with doubts and uncertainties deriving from studies and practical work;
- the ability to question and reflect on care activities, posing pertinent questions in appropriate situations and to the appropriate people;
- the ability to continuously seek self-learning opportunities;
- demonstrate their self-assessment skills and identify their own learning and development needs;
- cooperative learning skills and the ability to share knowledge with the working team;
- demonstrate autonomy in searching for the information required to solve problems or uncertainties in their professional practice, critically selecting the evidence found in scientific literature.
Learning educational methods and activities and teaching tools to develop the learning outcomes:
- problem based learning,
- construction of cognitive maps;
- critical assessment of international nursing literature in Italian or English,
- use of self-learning plans to increase students' responsibility in planning their own learning and self-assessments;
- internship with experiences supervised by tutors in different contexts
- briefing sessions with the tutor to prepare for the internship and debriefing sessions to reflect on and process the learning experience.
Assessment tools for verifying the achieved results:
- reports on research and project work,
- active participation in briefing and debriefing sessions,
- feedback on the internship using portfolios, structured evaluation sheets and clinical reports.

Knowledge and understanding

Generic Area
Nursing graduates must know and understand:
- biomedical sciences to understand the physiological and pathological processes of health and illness in patients of different ages;
- psychological, social and humanistic sciences to understand normal and pathological interpersonal dynamics and personal defence and adaptation mechanisms relating to situations of mental and social stress and physical suffering;
- theories of learning and change to understand the educational processes of patients and the community;
- general and clinical nursing sciences to understand the fields of nursing intervention, clinical method, intervention techniques and the available evidence underlying decision-making;
- ethical, legal and social sciences to understand the organisational complexities of the health system, the importance and utility of acting in compliance with laws and directives and the respect of values and ethical dilemmas; they shall also understand professional autonomy, as well as the areas of interaction and interdependence with other workers in the team;
- hygiene and preventive sciences for understanding the health determinants, risk factors, individual and collective prevention strategies to promote the safety of healthcare workers and users;
- computer studies and languages, with a particular focus on the English language to understand scientific literature, both on paper and on-line.
Learning educational methods and activities and teaching tools to develop the learning outcomes:
- lectures,
- guided reading,
- problem based learning,
- workshops on methodologies of paper and electronic bibliographic research;
- use and construction of cognitive maps,
- viewing of videos and demonstrations of images, tables and graphs.
Assessment tools for verifying the achieved results:
- written and oral exams,
- three-step oral exams.

Applying knowledge and understanding

Generic Area
Nursing graduates must demonstrate the following skills:
- use a corpus of theoretical knowledge deriving from nursing sciences, biological behavioural and social sciences and other disciplines to recognise the needs of patients of different ages;
- integrate theoretical and practical nursing knowledge with biological, psychological, social and humanistic sciences to care for individuals of all ages, groups and the community;
- use theoretical models and role models to facilitate growth, development and adaptation in promoting, maintaining and recovering health among the population;
- interpret and apply the results of clinical research to nursing care and link research to the theoretical development of nursing care;
- carry out a full and systematic assessment of the care needs of individuals, their families and the community;
- analyse and carefully interpret the gathered data;
- plan nursing care activities in cooperation with users and the interdisciplinary care team;
- deliver safe, effective and evidence-based nursing care by integrating knowledge, skills and attitudes;
- assess the progress of care in cooperation with the interdisciplinary team.
- facilitate the development of a safe environment for patients, ensuring constant nursing surveillance.
Learning educational methods and activities and teaching tools to develop the learning outcomes:
- lectures,
- problem based learning,
- viewing of videos and demonstrations of images, tables and graphs.
- exercises and simulations in the clinical laboratory,
- discussion of cases and self-managed case in sub-groups,
- drafting of customised nursing care plans,
- Internships supervised by tutors in different contexts and the progressive undertaking of autonomy and responsibility,
- briefing sessions with the tutor to prepare for the internship and debriefing sessions to reflect on and process the learning experience.
Assessment tools for verifying the achieved results:
- written and oral exams, case studies, project work,
- objective structured clinical examinations,
- feedback on the internship using portfolios, structured evaluation sheets and clinical reports.