Nursing Technical Function Standards Policy
December 18, 2022 2022-12-20 21:21Nursing Technical Function Standards Policy
Nursing Technical Function Standards
Clear academic and nursing technical function standards assure that decisions concerning entrance for all students are based upon nondiscriminatory criteria. Federal law requires the provision of reasonable accommodations to persons with disabilities who possess “the academic and technical [nonacademic] standards” for admission or participation in the Nursing program and courses.
Having clearly spelled out academic and nursing technical function standards assures the absence of discrimination against qualified persons with disabilities who could have succeeded with reasonable accommodations. Having these standards available also assists potential applicants with or without disabilities to assess their ability to succeed in the Programs and the Nursing profession.
Technical Standards for admission are all nonacademic criteria that are essential to participate in the Nursing Program. These technical standards include personal and professional attributes, skills, knowledge, physical, medical, safety, and other requirements that an individual must meet in order to be eligible for admission to and retention in the Nursing Program.
General Abilities
The student is expected to possess functional use of the senses of vision, touch, hearing, and smell so the information can 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 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.
Motor Abilities & Physical Strength
The student should have sufficient Physical strength/abilities and mobility sufficient to perform full range of patient care activities including moving from room to room and maneuvering in small spaces, full range of motion to twist/bend, stoop/squat, reach above shoulders, and below the waist.
Required Activities
1. Physical strength and mobility sufficient to perform a full range of required patient care activities including assisting with ambulation of clients, administering CPR, assisting with turning and lifting patients, and providing care in confined spaces such as a treatment room or operating suite.
2. Move around in work areas and treatment areas
Manual Dexterity
The student should be able to demonstrate fine motor skills sufficient for providing safe nursing care.
Required Activities
1. Motor skills sufficient to handle small equipment (e.g., an insulin syringe), and perform patient care skills, including medication administration by all routes, tracheotomy suctioning, urinary catheter insertion
Perceptual/Sensory Ability
The student must have Sensory/perceptual ability to monitor and assess clients. The student must be able to observe the patient accurately, at a distance and close at hand, and observe non-verbal communications when performing nursing assessments and interventions or administering medications.
Required Activities
1. Hearing sufficient to hear alarms, assess heart, bowel, and lung sounds, and respond to patient statements.
2. Visual acuity to read calibrations on 1 cc syringe, read and document on the computer, and assess for color.
3. Tactile ability to feel pulses, temperature, texture, moisture, and masses.
4. Olfactory ability to detect smoke or noxious odor
Behavioral / Interpersonal / Psychosocial
The student should have the ability to interact with colleagues, staff and patients with honesty, civility, integrity, and nondiscrimination. The student should have the capacity for development of mature, sensitive, and effective therapeutic relationships. The student should have interpersonal abilities sufficient for interaction with individuals, families, and groups from various social, developmental, cultural, physical, and intellectual backgrounds.
Required Activities
1. Establish rapport with patients, clients, and colleagues.
2. Work in a professional manner with diverse teams and work groups.
3. Psychosocial skills sufficient to remain calm in an emergency.
4. Behavioral skills sufficient to demonstrate the exercise of ethical, good judgment and timely completion of all responsibility’s attendant to the diagnosis and care of clients.
5. Adapt rapidly to environmental changes and multiple tasks demands and Maintain professionalism in stressful and demanding situations.
Communication
The student must have the ability to communicate effectively and sensitively with other students, faculty, staff, patients, family and other professionals.
Required Activities
1. The student must be able to express his or her ideas and feelings clearly and demonstrate a willingness and ability to give and receive feedback
2. The student must be able to convey or exchange information at a proficiency level to obtain a health history, identify problems presented, explain alternative solutions, and give directions during treatment and post-treatment.
3. The student must be able to effectively communicate in English through verbal, written and electronic formats with the ability to retrieve information from various sources of literature and computerized data bases.
4. The student must be able to communicate verbally in English in classroom presentations, seminars, simulation, practicum sites, practicum conferences, and on-line formats.
5. The student must be able to process and communicate information on the patient’s status with accuracy in a timely manner to members of the health care team.
6. The appropriate communication may also rely on the student’s ability to make a correct judgment seeking supervision and consultation in a timely manner.
Create and Maintain Safe environments
The student should have the ability to accurately identify patients. The student must have the ability to administer medications safely and accurately. The student must have ability to operate equipment safely in the clinical area. The student must ability to recognize and minimize hazards that could increase healthcare associated infections.
Required Activities
1. Prioritizes tasks to ensure patient safety and maintaining standards of care.
2. Maintains adequate concentration and attention in patient care settings. Seeks assistance when clinical situation requires a higher level or expertise/experience.
3. Responds to monitor alarms, emergency signals, call bells from patients, and orders in a rapid and effective manner
Professional Conduct
The student must possess the ability to reason morally and practice nursing in an ethical manner. The student must be willing to learn and abide by professional standards of practice. They must possess attributes that include compassion, empathy, altruism, integrity, honesty, responsibility, and tolerance.
Required Activities
1. Engage in patient care delivery in all settings and be able to deliver care to all patient populations including but not limited to children, adolescents, adults, individuals with disabilities, medically compromised patients, and vulnerable adults.
Punctuality / work habits
The student ability to complete classroom and clinical assignments and meet applicable deadlines. The student ability to adhere to classroom and clinical schedules
Required Activities
1. Attends all class and clinical sessions punctually.
2. Reads, understands, and adheres to all policies related to classroom and clinical experiences. Contacts assigned instructor or preceptor in advance of any absence or late arrival.
Cognitive/ Conceptual/ Quantitative Abilities
The student must be able to measure, calculate, reason, prioritize, analyze, integrate, synthesize information and act with integrity and judgment (ability to manage impulsivity). The student must have the ability to sustain attention and memory to maintain patient safety. The student must have the ability to solve problems involving measurement, calculation, reasoning, analysis, synthesis, gather data, to develop a plan of action, The student must have the ability to perceive signs of an emergent situation and respond appropriately
Required Activities
1. Calculates appropriate medication dosage given specific patient parameters.
2. Analyzes and synthesize data and develop an appropriate plan of care.
3. Collect data, prioritize needs, and anticipate human reactions in the clinical setting.
4. Comprehend spatial relationships adequately to properly administer injections, start intravenous lines or assess wounds of varying depths and types.
5. Recognize an emergency and respond effectively to safeguard the patient and other caregivers.
6. Transfer knowledge from one situation to another.
Other Related Policies
Policies that are related to the current policy.
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