Technical Standards

Admission and Retention Requirements: Safety and Technical Skills
Candidates seeking enrollment into the Nursing Programs at Farmingdale State must meet the safety and technical skills in the following areas:  observation-communication, motor, intellectual-conceptual, and behavioral-social attributes.

Observation-Communication:  The student must possess the ability to communicate effectively and read, write and use the English language.  In addition, the student must have the functional use of the senses of vision, touch, hearing, and smell which are essential in assessing patients, gathering data, and maintaining their safety.  Examples of observation-communication include but are not limited to:

• Listening to heart and breath sounds
• Responding to alarms
• Visualizing early signs of distress/complications, e.g. changes in skin color; assessing surgical wounds
• Detecting the presence of a foul odor or drainage
• Feeling pulses
• Effectively obtain a patient’s history
• Accurately interpret data from medical records
• Document pertinent observations
• Interact effectively with members of the health care team

Sensory/Motor: The student is required to perform gross and fine motor movements, maintain consciousness and equilibrium, and possess the physical strength and stamina which are necessary to provide safe nursing care.  Examples of sensory/motor skills include but are not limited to:

• Transferring patients
• Perform skills requiring dexterity (insertion of tubes, medication injections, instilling injections, inserting suppositories, tracheostomy care)
• Responding rapidly to emergency situations (cardiac arrest, respiratory arrest, falls)
• Protect and remove patients from an area in the event of a fire or disaster

Intellectual-conceptual:  The student must possess the ability to problem solve, establish a plan of care, set priorities, calculate, measure, analyze and synthesize objective as well as subjective data.  These critical skills are demanded of nurses in today’s complex health care settings. Examples of intellectual-conceptual skills include but are not limited to:

• Calculate medication dosages, IV flow rates
• Measure intake and output
• Develop teaching plans for individual patients

Behavioral-social attributes:  The student must possess emotional stability and flexibility, which will enable him/her to develop the ability to function effectively in stressful situations.  This includes the ability to adapt to changing environments, exercise sound judgment, complete assessment and intervention activities and develop sensitive interpersonal relationships with patients, families and others responsible for health care.

Examples of these behavioral and social attributes include but are not limited to:

• Ability to express empathy
• Ability to think and act rationally during a crisis
• Demonstrate appropriate behavior towards staff, peers and patients according to societal norms
• Maintaining confidentiality
• Accepting constructive criticism