Technical Standards for BSN Students
In preparation for professional nursing roles, nursing students are expected to demonstrate the ability to meet a professional nursing career’s demands. Certain functional abilities are essential for the delivery of safe, effective nursing care. An applicant to the Bachelor of Science in Nursing program must meet the following technical standards and maintain satisfactory demonstration of these standards for progression throughout the program. Students unable to meet these technical standards will not be able to complete the program. Students shall sign a form when starting the nursing program, signifying their abilities to meet the technical standards. Students will be required to notify faculty of any change in their ability to meet technical standards. The technical standards include but are not necessarily limited to the following:
General Ability:
The student is expected to possess functional use of the senses of vision, touch, hearing, and smell so that data received by the senses is integrated, analyzed, and synthesized consistently and accurately. The student is expected to possess the ability to perceive pain, pressure, temperature, position, vibration, and movement to evaluate patients effectively. A student must be able to respond promptly to urgent situations.
Observational Ability:
The student must have the ability to make accurate visual observations and interpret them in the context of clinical/laboratory activities and patient care experiences. The student must be able to document these observations accurately.
Communication Ability:
The student must communicate effectively verbally and non-verbally to obtain information and explain that information to others. Each student must have the ability to read, write, comprehend, and speak the English language to facilitate communication with patients, family members, and other healthcare team members. The student must document and maintain accurate records, present information professionally, and provide patient instruction to care for patients and their families effectively.
Motor Ability:
The student must be able to perform gross and fine motor movements with sufficient coordination needed to provide complete physical assessments and provide safe, effective care for patients. The student is expected to have the psychomotor skills necessary to perform or assist with procedures, treatments, administration of medications, and emergency interventions, including CPR if necessary. The student must have sufficient levels of neuromuscular control and eye-to-hand coordination as well as possess the physical and mental stamina to meet the demands associated with extended periods of sitting, standing, moving, and physical exertion required for safe patient care. Students must be able to bend, squat, reach, kneel, or balance. Clinical settings may require that students have the ability to carry and lift loads from the floor to shoulder height and overhead. The student must be able to occasionally lift 50 pounds, frequently lift 25 pounds, and constantly lift 10 pounds. The student is expected to be able to maintain consciousness and equilibrium and have the physical strength and stamina to perform satisfactorily in clinical settings.
Intellectual Conceptual Ability:
The student must have the ability to develop problem-solving skills essential to professional nursing practice. Problem-solving skills include the ability to measure, calculate reason, analyze, synthesize objective and subjective data, and make decisions in a timely manner that reflects thoughtful deliberation and sound clinical judgment. The student must demonstrate the application of these skills and possess the ability to incorporate new information from peers, instructors, and the nursing and healthcare literature to formulate sound judgment to establish care plans and priorities in patient care activities.
Behavioral and Social Attributes:
The student is expected to have the emotional stability required to exercise sound judgment and complete assessment and intervention activities. Compassion, integrity, motivation, and concern for others are personal attributes required of those in the nursing program. The student must fully utilize intellectual capacities that facilitate prompt completion of all responsibilities in the classroom and clinical settings, develop mature, sensitive, and effective relationships with patients and other members of the health care team. The ability to establish rapport and maintain interpersonal relationships with individuals, families, and groups from various social, emotional, cultural, and intellectual backgrounds is critical for practice as a nurse. Each student must be able to adapt to changing environments; display flexibility, accept and integrate constructive criticism given in the classroom and clinical settings; and effectively collaborate in the clinical setting with other healthcare team members.
Ability to Manage Stressful Situations:
The student must be able to adapt to and function effectively in stressful situations encountered in both the classroom and clinical settings, including emergencies. Students will encounter multiple stressors while in the nursing program. These stressors may be (but are not limited to) personal, patient care/family, faculty/peer, and/or program-related.
Compliance with all School of Nursing and Clinical Agency requirements that include but are not limited to the following:
- Background Checks – Criminal and Abuse
- Drug Testing
- Evidence of up-to-date Immunizations
- Health Care Insurance Coverage – current coverage required throughout the nursing program
- American Heart Association HeartCode BLS Course – current