Standards

Technical Standards

Nursing education requires that the accumulation of knowledge be accompanied by the acquisition of skills, professional attitudes, and behavior so that the graduate may assume specific role responsibilities in a safe and competent manner. LSUHSC - NO School of Nursing provides graduates with a broad and basic preparation for professional nursing practice.

The LSUHSC - NO School of Nursing complies with the Americans with Disabilities Act and has determined that certain technical standards must be met by prospective candidates and students. Reasonable accommodation will be made for otherwise qualified persons with disabilities. All individuals must be able to perform independently; therefore, an applicant to the program must possess and be able to demonstrate the skills, attributes, and qualities set forth below, without unreasonable dependence on technology or intermediaries.

Observational Ability

Observation necessitates the use of the sense of vision and other sensory modalities. The student must have visual acuity and perception to make accurate observations, both close at hand and at a distance. The student is expected to be able to observe the patient holistically to accurately assess the presence of any illness or an alteration of health.

To provide quality nursing care, the student is expected to possess functional use of the senses of vision, touch, hearing, taste, and smell. All data received by the senses must be integrated, analyzed, and synthesized in a consistent and accurate manner. Examples of this include, but are not limited to, the abilities to measure intake and output accurately; work with multiple tubes, drains, and monitoring equipment; visually assess patients and machines, including color recognition; make fine discriminations in sound and be able to hear alarms, emergency signals, patient requests, or cries for help; and assess by palpitation, auscultation, and percussion. In addition, the student is expected to possess the ability to perceive pain, pressure, temperature, position, equilibrium, and movement.

Communication

The student is expected to be able to effectively communicate and receive communication, both verbally, and non-verbally. This requires the ability to see, speak, hear, read, write, and effectively utilize the English language. A student must be able to relate to others regardless of social, emotional, cultural, and intellectual backgrounds. A student must elicit information, describe changes in mood, activity, and posture, and perceive nonverbal communications. A student must be able to communicate effectively, therapeutically, and sensitively with patients. The student must be able to communicate effectively and efficiently in oral and written form with all members of the health care team. Examples of this include, but are not limited to, the ability to explain treatment procedures, initiate health teaching, document and interpret nursing actions and patient responses, and maintain composure when discussing a serious situation.

Motor Function and Coordination

The student is expected to have the psychomotor skills necessary to perform or assist with procedures, treatments, administration of medications, and emergency interventions. The student is expected to be able to perform gross and fine motor movements required to provide holistic nursing care. The student is expected to maintain consciousness and equilibrium have the physical strength and stamina to perform satisfactorily in clinical nursing experiences and to have the functional use of the sense of touch, hearing, and vision. Examples of care that the student must be able to perform include, but are not limited to, turning, transferring, transporting, exercising the patients, administering CPR, administering medication, applying pressure to stop bleeding, suctioning of obstructed airways, and performing physical examinations, performing clean and sterile procedures, specimen collection, and venipuncture. All students must be able to sit, walk, stand, and maneuver in small spaces. Assessments may also require the student to bend, squat, reach, kneel, or balance. The student must be able to tolerate physically taxing workloads.

Behavioral and Social Attributes

The student is expected to have the emotional stability, maturity, and self-discipline to fully utilize his/her intellectual abilities, exercise sound judgment, complete assessment, and intervention activities, and develop sensitive interpersonal relationships with patients, families, and others responsible for health care. The student is expected to have the flexibility to function effectively under stress and to competently function in the face of uncertainties inherent in the clinical setting. Compassion, integrity, honesty, accountability, altruism, autonomy, and motivation are necessary personal qualities.

Intellectual-Conceptual Ability

The student must possess critical thinking sufficient for sound clinical judgment, develop problem-solving skills, and demonstrate the ability to establish care plans and priorities. The student must possess cognitive skills and learning abilities to acquire, assimilate, integrate, and apply information. This includes, but is not limited to, the ability to identify cause-effect relationships in clinical situations; apply the nursing process; read and comprehend health care information; learn materials presented in class and apply it to patient care; measure, calculate, analyze, and categorize; apply data based on conclusions arrived at through critical thinking; synthesize objective as well as subjective data; and make decisions that reflect consistent and thoughtful deliberation of the appropriate data.

Each student must continue to meet all of the TECHNICAL STANDARDS set forth above. A student may be denied permission to continue in the education program at the School of Nursing should the student fail at any time to demonstrate all of the required TECHNICAL STANDARDS

E-mail and Computer Literacy

The principal method of communication in the Health Science Center is e-mail. All students are expected to obtain an LSUHSC computer account upon admission to the School of Nursing and to check their LSUHSC e-mail frequently for school-related communications. Students are responsible for accessing information in a timely manner.

Students must be computer literate and be able to perform basic computer, software, editing, internet, and browsing skills, such as the following.

• Locating, opening and closing files
• Using a word processor to create, edit and save documents
• Cutting, copying, and pasting text from one document to another
• Toggling between two applications
• Uploading and downloading files
• Finding and using the Internet Explorer browser on our computer
• Configuring your browser to send e-mail
• Locating web sites when using a www address (URL)
• Searching the internet for specific topics

Compliance with American Disabilities Act Standard

It is the policy of the School of Nursing to adhere to standards of the Americans with Disabilities Act (Public Law #93-112, S504 as amended in 1997). Any student who will need special accommodations to complete a course, must submit written documentation outlining the accommodations required at least 5 days prior to the beginning of that course for each semester. Students meet with the Assistant Dean for Student Services or the Dean to process the documentation of disability, complete the petition for accommodation and file an individual education plan. This plan is reviewed each semester by the student and the Assistant Dean for Student Services or the Dean.

If the student has a problem after or during the semester, the student should see the Assistant Dean for Student Services or the Dean so that an accommodation may be submitted to faculty in a timely manner. See the Student Handbook for the procedures established to support this policy.

Compliance with HIPAA

All those in healthcare must now comply with the federal regulations of The Administration Simplification Subtitle of the Health Insurance Portability & Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA). This Act requires that individually identifiable patient information be disclosed on a need to know basis only. Care must be taken to minimize incidental disclosures & must disclose only minimal amounts of information necessary to accomplish the task. The minimum disclosure standard, however, does not apply to requests for information by a healthcare provider for treatment purposes. For example, if one must administer a medication, you will have full access to the medical record. This is covered by the patient’s consent for treatment.

In order to protect patient/client privacy, all personally identifying information must be removed from student papers, such as care plans & case studies. Information to be removed includes the individual’s name, initials, address, phone number, fax number, & social security number. Student papers may not be copied for careless circulation & handling. These written documents containing private health information must be either carefully stored or shredded to prevent the circulation of confidential patient information. Confidentiality & privacy also extends to oral communications which extend beyond the need to know for treatment &/or educational purposes.

Clinical agencies are also mandated to follow HIPAA regulations. Students will therefore be required to meet any & all of the clinical agency’s requirements as part of the clinical affiliation. HIPAA is a Federal law. Penalties for wrongful disclosure range from fines and/or imprisonment.

Policy on Student Evaluation of Courses

Students are expected to participate in evaluation of courses, faculty and clinical agencies. The School of Nursing has a computerized evaluation process that must be completed within a specified time period at the end of each semester. These evaluations are mandatory. Any student who fails to complete the evaluation process will receive an “Incomplete” grade until such time as the evaluation process is completed.