The Morton College Nursing Program has a responsibility to maintain high professional standards.
The faculty reserves the right to determine whether the student has the personal, scholastic, and professional qualifications necessary to meet these expectations.
Morton College Department of Nursing educates the graduate of our program to sit for RN Licensure and to competently practice nursing in all health care settings.
The education of a nurse requires assimilation of knowledge, acquisition of skills and development of judgment through client care experiences in preparation for independent practice, semi-autonomous practice, and/or making appropriate decisions required in practice.
The practice of nursing emphasizes collaboration among physicians, nurses, allied health care professionals and the client.
The curriculum leading to the RN requires students to engage in diverse, complex experiences essential to the acquisition and practice of essential nursing skills and functions. Unique combinations of cognitive, affective, psychomotor, physical, and social abilities are required to satisfactorily perform these functions.
In addition to being essential to the successful completion of the requirements of the RN these functions are necessary to ensure the health and safety of clients, fellow students, faculty, and other healthcare providers.
The essential abilities necessary to acquire and demonstrate competence in a discipline as complex as nursing and needed for successful admission and continuance in the Morton College Nursing Program include, but are not limited to, the following abilities:
MOTOR CAPABILITY
- Move from room to room and maneuver in small spaces.
- Squat, crawl, bend/stoop, reach above shoulder level, use standing balance, and climb stairs.
- Lift and carry up to 50 lbs., and exert up to 100 lbs. force or push/pull.
- Use hands repetitively; use manual dexterity; sufficient fine motor function.
- Must be able to walk and stand for extended periods of time.
- Perform CPR.
- Travel to and from academic and clinical sites.
PROBLEM SOLVING ABILITY
- Function effectively under stress.
- Respond appropriately to emergencies.
- Adhere to infection control procedures.
- Demonstrate problem-solving skills in patient care. (Measure, calculate, reason, prioritize, and synthesize data.)
- Use sound judgment and safety precautions.
- Address problems or questions to the appropriate persons at the appropriate time.
- Organize and prioritize job tasks.
SENSORY CAPABILITY
- Coordinate verbal and manual instruction.
- Auditory ability sufficient to hear verbal communication from clients and members of the health team; includes ability to respond to emergency signals.
- Discern soft sounds, such as those associated with taking a blood pressure.
- Visual acuity to acquire information from documents such as charts.
- Comfortable working in close physical proximity to patient.
BEHAVIORAL SKILLS AND PROFESSIONALISM
- Follow policies and procedures required by academic and clinical settings.
- Adheres to Morton College and Nursing Program Student Handbook Academic Honesty Policy (per College Catalog).
- Adheres to Morton College and Nursing Program Student Handbook Code of Conduct (per College Catalog).
- Abides by the guidelines set forth in the Health Information Portability and Accountability Act (i.e., the national privacy act).
COMMUNICATION ABILITY
- Communicate effectively in English with patients, families, and other health care providers, both verbally and in writing.
- Effectively adapt communication for intended audience.
- Interact; establish rapport with individuals, families, and groups from a variety of social, emotional, cultural and intellectual backgrounds.
- Assume the role of a health care team member.
- Function effectively under supervision.
- Sufficient command of the English language in order to read and retrieve information from lectures, textbooks, as well as understand medical terminology.
- Skills include computer literacy.