TECHNICAL STANDARDS
All potential and enrolled students in the Division of Nursing and Health Sciences must meet intellectual, physical, and social competencies required to provide safe client care.
Source: Southern Council on Collegiate Education for Nursing (1993) and National Council of State Boards of Nursing, Inc.: Guidelines for Using Results of Functional Abilities Studies and Other Resources (1999).
| Issues | Standard | Examples of Activities |
|---|---|---|
| Critical Thinking Ability | Critical-thinking ability sufficient for clinical judgment | Transfer knowledge from one situation to another. Process information, evaluate outcomes, problem solve and prioritize. Use long and short term memory, identify cause-effect relationships. Plan activities for others. Synthesize knowledge and skills. Sequence information. |
| Interpersonal Skills | Interpersonal abilities sufficient to interact with individuals, families, and groups from a variety of social, emotional, cultural and intellectual backgrounds | Negotiate interpersonal conflict. Respect cultural diversity in clients. Establish rapport with clients and coworkers. |
| Communication Ability | Communication abilities sufficient for interaction with others in verbal and written form. | Explain health conditions, diagnostic and treatment procedures and initiate health teaching. Interpret and document client responses to health status. Convey information through written and oral reports. |
| Mobility | Physical abilities sufficient to move from room to room and maneuver in small spaces and maintain physical tolerance for repetitive movements and demands of the work shift. | Move within confined spaces. Sit or stand and maintain balance. Reach above shoulders and below waist. Twist, bend, stoop, climb on stool or stairs, and move quickly in response to potential emergencies. Push, pull, lift or support 25 pounds. Use upper body strength. Squeeze with hands and fingers |
| Motor Skills | Gross and fine motor skills sufficient to provide safe, effective nursing care. | Grasp small objects with hands. Manipulate small objects with fingers. Write with a pen. Type on a computer keyboard. Calibrate and use equipment; position clients. |
| Hearing Ability | Auditory ability sufficient to monitor and assess health needs. | Hear normal and faint voices. Hear faint body sounds such as blood pressure, heart beat, etc. Hear in situations when not able to read lips. Hear auditory alarms such as monitors, fire alarms, and call bells. |
| Visual Skills | Visual ability sufficient for observation and assessment necessary in nursing care. | Visualize objects from 20 inches to 20 feet away. Use depth perception and peripheral vision. Distinguish colors and color intensity. Read and understand written documents. |
| Tactile Ability | Tactile ability sufficient for physical assessment | Feel vibrations to detect pulses, etc. Detect temperature. Feel differences in sizes and shapes and detect surface characteristics. |
| Emotional Stability | Emotional stability sufficient to tolerate rapidly changing conditions and environmental stress. | Establish therapeutic interpersonal boundaries. Provide clients with emotional support. Adapt to changing environment and stress. Deal with the unexpected. Focus attention on task. Perform multiple tasks concurrently. Handle strong emotions. |