Annie Taylor Dee School of Nursing Essential Requirements

Comparing: Judging the readily observable functional, structural or compositional characteristics (whether similar to or divergent from obvious standards) of data, people or things.

Copying: Transcribing, entering or posting data.

Computing: Performing arithmetic operations and reporting on and/or carrying out a prescribed action in relation to them.

Compiling: Gathering, collating or classifying information about data, people or things. Reporting and/or carrying out a prescribed action in relation to the evaluation is frequently involved.

Analyzing: After examining and evaluating data, being able to present alternative actions in relation to the evaluation is frequently involved.

Coordinating: Able to determine time, place and sequence of operations or action to be taken on the basis or analysis of data. May include prioritizing multiple responsibilities and/or accomplishing them simultaneously.

Judgment: Recognize potentially hazardous materials, equipment and situations and proceed safely in order to minimize risk of injury to patients, self and nearby individuals.

Synthesizing: To combine or integrate data to discover facts and/or develop knowledge or creative concepts and/or interpretations.

Negotiating: Exchanging ideas, information and opinions with others to formulate policies and programs and/or jointly arrive at decided conclusions, solutions or solve disputes.

Adaptability: Able to be flexible and creative and adapt to professional and technical change; able to manage the use of time and to systematize actions in order to complete professional and technical tasks within realistic constraints; able to provide professional and technical services while experiencing the stresses of task-related uncertainty (e.g. ambiguous directions, ambivalent preceptor), emergent demands (e.g. “stat” test orders) and a distracting environment (e.g. high-noise levels, crowding, complex visual stimuli).

Near acuity: Clarity of vision at 20 inches or less with or without correction.

Far acuity: Clarity of vision at 20 feet or more with or without correction.

Depth perception: Ability to see depth and breadth. Three-dimensional vision.

Color vision: Ability to identify and distinguish colors.

Field of vision: Ability to see area from right to left or up and down while fixed on one point.

Fingering: Picking, pinching or otherwise working primarily with fingers rather than with the whole hand or arm as in handling.

Feeling: Perceiving attributes of objects, such as size, shape, temperature or texture, by touching with skin, particularly that of fingertips.

Hearing: Perceiving the nature of sounds. Used to make fine discriminations in sounds, such as when making fine adjustments on running engines.

Talking: Expressing or exchanging ideas by means of the spoken word. Talking is important for those activities in which nursing students must impact oral information to clients or to the public, and in those activities in which they convey detailed or important spoken instructions to other workers accurately, loudly or quickly.

Hearing: Perceiving the nature of sounds. Used for those activities that require ability to receive detailed information through oral communications and to make fine discriminations in sounds.

Communicating: Talking with and/or listening and/or signaling people to convey or exchange information, including giving/receiving assignments and/or directions.

Instructing: Teaching subject matter to others or training others through explanation, demonstration and supervised practice or making recommendations on the basis of technical nursing specific knowledge.

Interpersonal: Skills/behaviors dealing with individuals with a range of moods and behaviors in a tactful, congenial, personal manner so as not to alienate or antagonize them.

Confidentiality: The nursing student “promotes, advocates for, and strives to protect the health, safety, and rights of the patient” (ANA Code of Ethics, 2010). This includes keeping information gathered in practice or clinical learning environments, including individual patient information, clinical facilities and fellow student information, undisclosed in personal and professional writings, social media and general gossiping.

Standing

Walking

Sitting

Climbing: Body agility is emphasized. Occasionally required to ascend or descend something such as a ladder using feet and legs and/or hands and arms.

Balancing: Maintaining body equilibrium to prevent falling when performing feats of agility such as assisting with transferring patients.

Stooping: Bending body downward and forward. This factor is important if it occurs to a considerable degree and requires full use of the lower extremities and back muscles.

Kneeling, crouching and crawling: Often needed when assisting patients with dressing, bathing or other personal cares. (Kneeling: Bending legs at knees to come to rest on knee or knees. Crouching: Bending downward and forward by bending legs and spine. Crawling: Moving about on hands and knees or hands and feet.)

Reaching: Extending hand(s) and arm(s) in any direction.

Handling: Seizing, holding, grasping, turning or otherwise working with hand or hands.

Control of others: Seizing, holding, controlling and/or otherwise subduing violent, assaultive or physically threatening persons to defend oneself or prevent injury. This is an occasional necessity in the clinical area. Body strength and agility of all four limbs is necessary.

Able to lift, transfer and move up to 50 pounds independently.

Able to lift and move 51 to 100 pounds with assistance of another or mechanical lifting and moving devices.

Mechanical ability: Able to safely and accurately operate mechanical or powered medical equipment and moving and transferring equipment.

Exposure to extreme weather: Students are expected to travel to the assigned clinical site which may involve exposure to hot, cold, wet, humid or windy conditions caused by the weather.

Extreme heat and/or cold, non-weather-related: Occasionally in the clinical setting the temperature of the care environment may be adjusted for patient treatment, and students would be expected to follow facility policy for appropriate dress and behavior if assigned to these areas.

Wet and/or humid: Contact with water or other liquids or exposure to non-weather-related humid conditions is a frequent occurrence.

Atmospheric conditions: Exposure to conditions such as noxious odors, including patient care products and/or body odors, some dust, powders or mists, may be common.

Hazards: There are instances where students are exposed to situations with a definite risk of bodily injury, such as proximity to moving mechanical parts, electrical current, radiation and chemicals.

Confined/restricted working environment: Nursing student clinical work is usually performed in small patient care bed areas, patient bathrooms and small utility rooms. Medication rooms are small and may be locked. Some patient care units or nursing facilities are closed or locked to provide safety and security for clients or fellow workers.

Noise: Able to function in a noisy, distracting environment with many different auditory stimuli. Stimuli include intercom sounds interspersed with machines beeping, phones ringing, patient call light system alarms, individuals with varying assignments communicating with each other and technology at a central desk and at the patient bedside; patients in their rooms with noisy equipment, television or radio on and visitors talking; patient families and visitors requesting information and services; patients in the halls walking or moving from diagnostic tests or therapies.