Professional/Short course Chronic and Acute Care Management of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD)

Entry year
2025/26
Course code
UZWSVS203
Application
University
Level
Professional/Short Course
School
School of Health and Social Wellbeing
Campus
Glenside
Duration
Six consecutive weeks
Delivery
Online and face-to-face
Course Director
Kate Ford

20 credit level 6 or level 7 module

Introduction

You may be able to study these modules at Level 6 (BSc level) or Level 7 (Masters level) depending on your academic circumstances. Please contact the CPD Team or the Module Leader for advice if you are unsure which level would be best for you.

This 20 credit module, Chronic and Acute Care Management of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), is available at level 6 (UZWSVS-20-3) and level 7 (UZWSVT-20-M).

On successful completion of the module, you will be able to:

At level 6 (undergraduate level)

  • Apply detailed knowledge and understanding of the physiology and patho-physiology of COPD.
  • Examine the assessment, care and management of complications and therapies for COPD, in relation to psychological, physiological and social aspects of COPD.
  • Critically explore and debate ethico-legal issues which impact on COPD and promote the value of evidence based practice in an acute and/or primary care setting.
  • Evaluate the role of the multidisciplinary team within the COPD setting within primary and/or acute care settings.
  • Explore the context of leadership in relation to service improvement in COPD.
  • Critically analyse how evidence based practice influences the diagnosis, treatment and impact of COPD on service users, carers and their families.
  • Demonstrate an understanding and appreciation of pharmacological and nutritional needs in the management of COPD.
  • Critically examine the assessment, diagnosis, treatment and management of exacerbations of COPD, in both primary and secondary care.

At level 7 (Masters level)

  • Apply detailed knowledge and understanding of the physiology and patho-physiology of COPD.
  • Critically examine the assessment, care, and management of complications  and therapies for COPD, in relation to psychological, physiological and social aspects of COPD.
  • Critically explore and debate ethico-legal issues which impact on COPD, and promote the value of evidence based practice in an acute and/or primary care setting.
  • Present an in-depth exploration of leadership in relation to service improvement in COPD.
  • Critically analyse how evidence based practice influences the diagnosis, treatment and impact of COPD on service users, carers and their families.
  • Demonstrate in-depth knowledge and understanding of pharmacological and nutritional needs in the management of COPD.
  • Critically examine the assessment, diagnosis, treatment and management of exacerbations of COPD, in both primary and secondary care.

Entry requirements

You must be a registered practitioner who works with people with COPD in the community and in hospital.

Careers / Further study

The level 6 module can contribute towards:

  • BSc(Hons) Specialist Practice (District Nursing)
  • BSc(Hons) Health and Social Care
  • MSc Specialist Practice (District Nursing)
  • MSc Advanced Practice
  • Professional Development Award

The level 7 module can contribute towards:

  • MSc Specialist Practice (District Nursing)
  • MSc Advanced Practice
  • Professional Development Awards

Structure

Content

The module syllabus typically covers:

Introduction to COPD

  • Introduction to respiratory anatomy and physiology
  • Pathophysiology of COPD
  • Epidemiology
  • Clinical guidelines

Assessing, diagnosing and monitoring COPD

  • *Respiratory physical examination and history taking
  • Arterial blood gas analysis
  • *Diagnosing COPD

*The Diagnosing COPD and Physical Examination and History Taking sessions are brief overviews of these processes and do not provide accredited skills or assure competency in practice on completion of this module (i.e. spirometry and lung function tests).

If you would like to do an accredited course, please consider one of the following courses through the Association for Respiratory Technology and Physiology.

For the physical examination and history taking course, UWE Bristol runs a Physical Assessment and Clinical Reasoning module.

Management of COPD part I

  • Pharmacological treatment for COPD
  • Respiratory failure and ventilation methods
  • Oxygen therapy

Management of COPD part II

  • Pulmonary rehabilitation
  • Optimising nutrition
  • End of life care

Long term management

  • Self-management and personalised care planning
  • Integrated care pathways and care transition
  • Admission avoidance

Learning and Teaching

Scheduled learning includes online lectures, online seminars and face-to-face workshops.   

Independent learning includes hours engaged with essential reading especially activities online, case study preparation and presentation, assignment preparation and completion.

Study time

The actual contact time is 48 hours and this is complemented by self-directive learning and online learning resources.

Assessment

You will be asked to present a 15-minute case study presentation of a patient with COPD. You will be expected to demonstrate knowledge of the pathophysiological principles of COPD and relate to your chosen treatment intervention. You will be expected to identify a problem list and selecting an intervention to target this. The focus of this presentation should be on the management of the patientÂ’s condition and the evidence base underpinning treatment selection. It could be someone you have managed in practice, or if you do not work directly with patients with COPD, you could be given a case study. This will be followed by 10-minute examiner questioning time. The presentation will be pre-recorded with live questioning.

For those studying at level 7, the presentation will be supported by:
A 1,000 word assignment critically exploring the evidence-base. You will be asked to submit the essay a week ahead of presentation, which will allow examiners exploration within the questioning time.

Features

Study facilities

The College of Health, Science and Society has an excellent reputation for the quality of its teaching and the facilities it provides.

Take a personalised virtual tour of the Health Professions facilities and experience what a typical day could look like here for you.

Prices and dates

Supplementary fee information

Please visit our full fee information to see the price brackets for our modules.

Dates

Please click on the Apply Now button to view dates.

How to apply

Please click on the Apply Now button to apply for your CPD module, which you can take as a stand-alone course or as part of an undergraduate or postgraduate (Masters level) programme.

Please note: Priority will be given to applications received through our funded educational contracts. Places on this module will be limited for applications received outside of this funding. Please check with your employer as a funded contract place may still be available to support your learning.

Extra information

If the course you are applying for is fully online or blended learning, please note that you are expected to provide your own headsets/microphones.

For further information