Nursing Technical Standards

The 勛圖窪蹋 School of Health Sciences Nursing Program

Revised Technical Standards and Functions for Nursing Students

Effective: October 1, 2013
Review: May 2015
Revised August 2020

The 勛圖窪蹋 Nursing Program has a responsibility to educate competent nurses to care for their patients (persons, families and/or communities) with critical judgment, broadly based knowledge, and well-honed technical skills. The Nursing Program has academic as well as technical standards that must be met by students in order to successfully progress in and graduate from its programs.

Nursing is a discipline that requires a range of psychomotor and psychosocial skills. 勛圖窪蹋s Nursing Program ensures that access to its facilities, programs and services is available to all students, including students with disabilities, as defined by the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA), 42 U.S.C. 禮禮 12101-12212 (2013) (amended 2008) and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, 29 U.S.C. 禮 701 et seq. (Rehabilitation Act). 勛圖窪蹋s Nursing Program provides reasonable accommodations to students on a nondiscriminatory basis consistent with legal requirements of the ADA and the Rehabilitation Act. A reasonable accommodation is a modification or adjustment to an instructional activity, equipment, facility, program or service that enables a qualified student with a disability to have an equal opportunity to fulfill the requirements necessary for graduation from the nursing program. To be eligible for an accommodation(s), a student must have a documented disability of (a) a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities of such individual; (b) a record of such impairment; or, (c) be regarded as having such a condition (Marks & Ailey, 2014). Reasonable accommodations will be made for students with disabilities, provided the accommodation does not fundamentally alter essential academic requirements pursued by the student or any directly related licensing requirement. Student requests for reasonable accommodations will be considered on a case by case basis in consultation with the Learning Access Program (LAP), 勛圖窪蹋 University's disability support services office.

Nursing majors at 勛圖窪蹋 should be able to perform the following skills and behaviors:

General Abilities:

The student is expected to possess functional use of the senses of vision, touch, hearing, and smell so that data received by the senses may be integrated, analyzed, and synthesized in a consistent and accurate manner. A student must also possess the ability to perceive pain, pressure, temperature, position, vibration, and movement that are important to the student's ability to gather significant information needed to effectively evaluate patients. A student must be able to measure, calculate, reason, comprehend, analyze, integrate and synthesize materials in the context of nursing education and practice. A student must be able to quickly read and comprehend sensitive written material, engage in critical thinking, clinical reasoning and evaluate and apply information in both the classroom and clinical settings. A student must be able to respond promptly to urgent situations that may occur during clinical training activities and must not hinder the ability of other members of the health care team to provide prompt treatment and care to patients.

Technical Standards:

The following description/examples of technical standards are intended to inform prospective and enrolled students of the standards required to complete the nursing science curriculum.

  1. These technical standards illustrate the performance abilities and characteristics that are necessary to successfully complete the requirements of 勛圖窪蹋s Nursing Program. The standards are not requirements of admission into the programs and the examples are not all-inclusive.
  2. Individuals interested in applying for admission to the programs should review these standards to develop a better understanding of the skills, abilities and behavioral characteristics required to successfully complete the programs. Key areas for technical standards in nursing include having abilities and skills in the areas of: (1) acquiring fundamental knowledge; (2) developing communication skills; (3) interpreting data; (4) integrating knowledge to establish clinical judgment; and, (5) incorporating appropriate professional attitudes and behaviors into nursing practice capabilities.
  3. Examples of the key areas for technical standards in nursing (acquiring fundamental knowledge, developing communication skills, interpreting data, integrating knowledge to establish clinical judgment, and incorporating appropriate professional attitudes and behaviors into nursing practice capabilities) include the following (adapted from Marks & Bailey, 2014):

To acquire fundamental knowledge, students have the ability to:

  • Learn in classroom and other educational settings
  • Find sources of knowledge and acquire the knowledge
  • Be a life-long learner
  • Use and apply novel and adaptive thinking

To develop communication skills, students have the ability to:

  • Communicate sensitive and effective interactions with patients (persons, families and/or communities)
  • Communicate for effective interaction with the health care team (patients, their supports, other professional and non-professional team members
  • Make sense of information gathered from communication
  • 勛圖窪蹋 social intelligence

In the interpretation of data, students have the ability to:

  • Observe patient conditions and responses to health and illness
  • Assess and monitor health needs
  • 勛圖窪蹋 computational thinking
  • Manage cognitive loads

To integrate knowledge to establish clinical judgment, students have the ability to:

  • Critically think, problem-solve and make decisions needed to care for persons, families and/or communities across the health continuum and within (or managing or improving) their environments and/or in one or more environments of care
  • Intellectualize, conceptualize, and achieve the Essentials of Baccalaureate, Masters, and Doctor of Nursing Practice education (American Association of Colleges of Nursing [AACN], Essentials, 2020)
  • 勛圖窪蹋 information literacy
  • Collaborate across disciplines

To incorporate appropriate professional attitudes and behaviors into nursing practice students have the ability to:

  • Demonstrate: concern for others, integrity, ethical conduct, accountability, interest and motivation
  • Acquire interpersonal skills for professional interactions with a diverse population of individuals, families and communities
  • Acquire interpersonal skills for professional interactions with members of the health care team including patients, their supports, other health care professionals and team members
  • Acquire the skills necessary to promote change for necessary quality health care
  • Acquire cross-cultural competency
  • Collaborate virtually

Skills that nursing majors may use also include the following.

Motor Function

Sufficient motor function, neuromuscular strength and coordination to effectively perform client care activities. Examples include, but are not limited to:

  • Transfer, turn, lift clients
  • Push, pull, lift and support 25 lbs.
  • Manipulate life support devices
  • Use diagnostic instruments for physical assessments
  • Achieve and maintain Basic Life Support (BLS) certification to perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR)
  • 勛圖窪蹋 pressure to stop bleeding
  • Manipulate diagnostic and life support devices
  • Measure and administer medications by all routes
  • Maintain balance, reach above shoulders, reach below waist, stoop and squat

Gross and Fine Motor Coordination

To provide safe and effective nursing care. Examples include, but are not limited to:

  • Move about in limited patient care environments
  • Perform a variety of treatments and procedures
  • Calibrate and use equipment
  • Write with a pen/pencil and use keyboard and/or mouse
  • Sit, stand, move within classrooms, labs, acute nursing units, operating rooms, emergency rooms, community settings, and long-term care facilities for as long as required.

References

American Association of Colleges of Nursing, (2020). AACN Essentials.

Davidson, P. M., Rushton, C. H., Dotzenrod, J., Godack, C. A., MA, Baker, D., Nolan, M. N. (2016). Just and realistic expectations for persons with disabilities practicing nursing. AMA Journal of Ethics, 18(10), 1034-40.

Marks, B. & Ailey, S. A. (2014). White Paper on Inclusion of Students with Disabilities in Nursing Educational Programs. California Committee on Employment of People with Disabilities (CCEPD), Sacramento, CA.