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Practical Nurse Practice and Employment Expectations

To successfully progress through the Practical Nursing curriculum and function as a practicing licensed practical nurse upon graduation, you must be able to perform certain physical and mental activities

The following is based largely upon the Functional Ability Categories and Representative Activities/Attributes as provided in Appendix A by the National Council of State Boards of Nursing Inc. Critical Thinking Ability: The candidate’s ability must be sufficient for clinical judgment, including sufficient intellectual functioning and emotional stability to plan and implement care for clients, and critical thinking to identify cause-effect relationships, plan/control activities for others, synthesize knowledge and skills, and sequence information.

Analytical Thinking Ability: The candidate’s ability must be sufficient to transfer knowledge from one situation to another, process information, evaluate outcomes, problem solve, prioritize tasks, and use long- and short-term memory.

Interpersonal Skills: The candidate’s skills must be sufficient to interact with individuals, families and groups from a variety of social, emotional, cultural and intellectual backgrounds; negotiate interpersonal conflict; respect differences in clients; and establish rapport with clients and co-workers.

Emotional Stability: The candidate must be able to establish therapeutic boundaries, provide clients with emotional support, adapt to changing environment/stress, deal with the unexpected (e.g., client going bad, crisis), focus attention on task, monitor own emotions, perform multiple responsibilities concurrently and handle strong emotions (e.g., grief).

Gross Motor Skills: The candidate must be able to move within confined spaces, sit and/or stand and maintain balance, and reach above shoulders (e.g., IV poles) and reach below waist (e.g., plug electrical appliances into wall outlets).

Manual Dexterity: The candidate must have the ability to handle small objects, pick up objects, grasp small objects (e.g., IV tubing, pencil), record information (e.g., pen, pencil, keyboard, typing), pinch, pick (e.g., manipulating a syringe), twist (e.g., turn objects/knobs), squeeze (e.g., eye dropper) and perceive texture.

Physical Endurance: The candidate must have the ability to remain at a client’s side during surgical or therapeutic procedure, sustain repetitive movements (e.g., CPR) and maintain physical tolerance (e.g., work entire shift).

Physical Strength/Mobility: The candidate must have the ability to push and pull 25 pounds (e.g., position clients), support 25 pounds of weight (e.g., ambulate client), lift 25 pounds (e.g., pick up a child, transfer client), move light objects weighing up to 10 pounds (e.g., IV poles), move heavy objects weighing from 11 to 50 pounds and carry up to 25 pounds frequently, but occasionally may exceed these limits. The candidate should have enough motor functions to be able to execute movements required to provide general care and treatment to patients in all healthcare settings. It is required that a candidate possess the motor skills necessary for assessment and therapeutic procedures such as palpation, percussion, auscultation, and other diagnostic maneuvers and procedures. Such actions require coordination of both gross and fine muscular movements, equilibrium and functional uses of the senses of touch, vision and hearing. The candidate must be able to perform basic life support (including CPR), transfer and position patients, and position and reposition self around patients. The candidate must also be able to operate equipment typically found in the healthcare environment (e.g., IV pump, cardiac monitor, electric and manual blood pressure equipment, electric beds).

Sensory/Observation: The candidate must be able to acquire information presented through demonstration and experience in the basic and nursing sciences. He/she must be able to observe and appreciate non-verbal communication when performing nursing assessment and intervention or administering medication. The candidate must be capable of perceiving the signs of disease and infection and images of the body surfaces, palpable changes in various organs and tissues, and auditory information (e.g., patient’s voice, heart tones, bowel and lung sounds).

Reading Ability: The candidate must be able to read and understand written documents (e.g., policies, protocols).

Cognitive Ability: The candidate must be able to measure, calculate, reason, analyze, integrate and synthesize

information. The candidate must be able to quickly read and comprehend extensive written materials. He/she must also be able to evaluate and apply information and engage in critical thinking in the classroom, lab and clinical setting. The candidate must be able to read and understand columns of writing (flow sheet, charts), digital displays, graphic printouts (e.g., EKG), graphs (e.g., vital sign sheets) and measurement marks (e.g., measurement tapes, scales, etc.); calibrate equipment; convert numbers to and/or from the metric system; tell time, measure time (e.g., count duration of contractions, etc.), count rates (e.g., drips/minute, pulse); use measuring tools (e.g., thermometer); add, subtract, multiply and/or divide whole numbers, compute fractions (e.g., medication dosages); use a calculator; write numbers in records; and perform algebraic equations to calculate medication dosages.

Communication: The candidate must have the ability to communicate effectively and sensitively with other students, faculty, staff, patients, family and other professionals. He/she must be able to express ideas and feelings clearly and demonstrate a willingness and ability to give and receive feedback. The candidate must be able to convey or exchange information at a level allowing development of a health history, identify problems presented, explain alternative solutions and give directions during treatment and post-treatment. The candidate must be able to effectively communicate in English on oral, written and electronic forms, and to retrieve information from literature, computerized databases and lectures. He/she must be able to process and communicate information on the patient’s status with accuracy in a timely manner to members of the healthcare team. The appropriate communication may also rely on the candidate’s ability to make a correct judgment, seeking supervision and consultation in a timely manner.

Professional Conduct: The candidate must possess the ability to reason morally and practice nursing in an ethical manner. The candidate must be willing to learn and abide by professional standards of practice. He/she must possess attributes that include compassion, empathy, altruism, integrity, honesty, responsibility and tolerance. The candidate must be able to engage in patient care delivery in all settings and be able to deliver care to all patient populations, including but not limited to children, adolescents, adults, individuals with disabilities, medically compromised patients and vulnerable adults.