Teaching - Learning

Therapeutic interventions are the skills and techniques used by nurses to implement the plan of care developed in the nursing process. These skills and techniques help clients achieve the desired outcomes.

Culture refers to one’s values, beliefs, norms, and practices of these systems in one’s life. Cultural awareness or knowing about the similarities and differences among cultures helps to end prejudice and discrimination. Nurses must provide culturally competent care, appreciating the diversity and adapting care to fit the cultural context of the client

Standards of practice are formal statements by a profession related to quality of care and accountability of its practitioners. Evidence based practice is essential for quality nursing care.

Nurses routinely practice using the beliefs and values inherent in professional nursing. Ethical decision making is guided by the Nurse’s Code of Ethics, while the Nurse Practice Act and governing laws provide rules of conduct and regulations to guide the nurse legally.

Nursing process is a specific problem-solving method nurses use for decision-making. It is comprised of five (5) specific steps:

1. Assessment
2. Diagnosis
3. Planning
4. Implementation using therapeutic interventions
5. Evaluation

Critical thinking is a purposeful process that enables a nurse to interpret, clarify and analyze nursing problems, as well as generate multiple therapeutic solutions, evaluating the merits and shortcomings of each. In this process, one monitors and reflects on his/her own thinking and learning.

Therapeutic communication is an art in which nurses use interpersonal skills to help clients communicate their thoughts and feelings while displaying non-judgmental acceptance that promotes trust, an essential element to the therapeutic nurse-client relationship. Communication techniques, self-awareness and collaborative skills are essential components of therapeutic communication.

Caring is an art in which the nurse watches over, attends to, and provides for the needs of clients. Essential to caring is an attitude of respect, empathy, and nurturing. Client advocacy is acting in the best interest of the client. Nurses must advocate for clients who are unable to do so for themselves.

Leadership is a role and a process in which the nurse involves others in their plan for action. The leader must use the skills of facilitation, coordination, communication and mentoring to get others to work more effectively. Management regulates care and resources through planning, organizing, directing, delegating, coordinating, and controlling.

Graduates of the Practical Nursing, Associate Degree in Nursing, and Medical Assisting programs must have the essential skills and knowledge to function in a broad variety of healthcare settings and demonstrate a commitment to life-long learning.

Essential functions are those processes, procedures, or behaviors that nursing professionals must perform in the ordinary course of their duties. Essential job functions are non-academic qualities that employees must possess in order to be successful in the field. Students in the Practical Nursing, Associate Degree in Nursing, and Medical Assisting programs must carry out several essential functions in order to safeguard patients, fellow students, instructors, and the general public. These essential functions are also necessary in order for the student to successfully complete the Practical Nursing, Associate Degree in Nursing, or Medical Assisting program.

If a student or applicant has a disability and thinks that they may require a reasonable accommodation to meet these essential functions, then the student or applicant should refer to the process outlined in the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) policy in this Catalog.

Practical Nursing, Associate Degree in Nursing, and Medical Assisting students understand and acknowledge that these essential functions include, but are not limited to:

Critical Thinking

Students must demonstrate the ability to have clinical judgment to provide safe, quality patient care; and the ability to acquire, assimilate, integrate, and apply information, and problem solve.

Interpersonal

• Students must be able to recognize and accept responsibility for his or her own mistakes and behavior, without making excuses or blaming others.
• Students must demonstrate acceptance of differences of race and culture.
• Students must be able to engage in actions that support teamwork and respond to corrections and criticism without being quarrelsome or defensive.

Communication

• Students must be able to communicate fluently in English by written and oral and/or alternate means, including the ability to successfully receive and transmit information.
• Students must be able to read and follow instructions and ask for clarification, if necessary.

Sensory

• Students must be able to perform close and distance visual activities involving objects, persons, and paperwork as well as discriminate depth and color perception.
• Students must be able to perform a patient assessment through visualization, direct and indirect auscultation, and detection of odors, palpation, and percussion.
• Students must be able to discriminate between sharp/dull and hot/cold when using hands.
• Students must be able to respond and react immediately to auditory requests, instructions, monitor equipment, and perform auditory auscultation without auditory impediments.

Motor

Students must demonstrate dexterity and range of motion conducive to assisting patients and manipulating equipment without threatening harm or violating safety protocols.

Mobility

• Students must be able to engage in and sustain physical activity that may require sitting, standing, or walking for extended periods of time.
• Students must be able to lift and transfer patients up to six inches from a stooped position, then push or pull the patient up to three feet. In addition, students must be able to lift and transfer patients from a stooped to an upright position to accomplish bed-to-chair and chair-to-bed transfers.
• Students must be able to physically apply up to 10 pounds of pressure to bleeding sites or in performing CPR.
• Students must be able to physically perform up to a 12-hour clinical experience.

Behavioral

Students must be able to accurately perform duties in a stressful environment. This includes, but is not limited to, identifying and responding to emergency and non-routine situations.

Cognitive

Students must be able to use previous theory content/skills to enhance learning; comprehend written and verbal information; apply previous content/skills in new situations; and organize and synthesize facts and concepts.

Ethical

Students must uphold honesty and personal integrity in all campus/clinical activities and must be able to function as a patient advocate when planning and implementing nursing care.