Technical Standards for Admission
Fay W. Whitney School of Nursing
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- Purpose:
The Fay W. Whitney School of Nursing upholds requirements and standards set by the School, University, and Clinical Partners to ensure the safety of students, staff, faculty, patients, and community members. Therefore, all FWWSON students must meet essential eligibility requirements for participation in the nursing program with which they are enrolled. By accepting admission and enrolling in an academic program at the FWWSON, students certify that they have read this policy and will adhere to all technical standards for admission and progression in their academic program through graduation.
- Definitions:
POLICY STATEMENT
This policy reviews FWWSON’s expectations and procedure for the student’s participation in and ongoing adherence to required technical standards in the classroom, simulation, and all clinical settings. Nursing education requires the accumulation of scientific knowledge to be accompanied by the simultaneous acquisition of skills and professional attitudes and behaviors for students to be successful. All courses in the curriculum must be completed successfully and competently to build on the student’s previous knowledge. The FWWSON does not discriminate on the basis of disability. If an otherwise qualified student with a disability does not meet necessary technical standards, reasonable accommodation(s) will be considered. Specific essential abilities and/or technical standards have been identified by the School of Nursing in accordance with Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the 2008 Americans with Disabilities Act Amendment (ADAA). Students are responsible for seeking assistance at the University and making their needs known.
PROCESS/PROCEDURE
Technical Standards for Education and Practice
All undergraduate and graduate students admitted to the FWWSON must verify their ability to meet the Technical Standards for Education and Practice on initial admission to their academic program, with or without reasonable accommodation(s), and must continually adhere to these standards throughout their academic program until they graduate. In courses or programs without clinical components and/or having no direct client care, these Technical Standards may be modified by the program admission committee.
Technical standards considered essential by the FWWSON include the following (examples offered are not exhaustive of necessary requirements):
Observation/Communication
- Auditory, visual, and tactile ability sufficient to observe, monitor, assess, and respond to patient health needs in a variety of clinical settings
- Capacity to use data for demonstrations and oral presentations, and use visual images, sounds, and verbal and non-verbal communication to inform patient care
- Ability to record information accurately and clearly in oral and written form.
- Ability to utilize nonverbal and verbal skills to communicate effectively, efficiently, and sensitively with patients and colleagues
Physical/Motor
- Physical abilities sufficient to move throughout clinical settings, execute motor movements, and perform manually based diagnostic procedures (i.e., palpation, auscultation, percussion, etc.) required to provide general and emergency patient care
- Gross and fine motor abilities sufficient to provide therapeutic nursing interventions that are safe and effective and that maintain safety and security standards
- Sensory motor skills sufficient to meet the requirements specific to the specialty scope of practice
Intellectual—conceptual, integrative, and quantitative
- Critical thinking sufficient for clinical and academic judgment
- Sophisticated problem-solving skills, including calculation, reasoning, analysis, and synthesis; ability to learn through a variety of modalities, including classroom, simulation, and clinical settings, individual and team-based learning, preparation of oral and written reports, and use of technology to support academic work
- Ability to integrate and assimilate complex information from multiple sources in varying amounts, and multiple educational experiences in a timely fashion in order to formulate accurate diagnosis and management plans
- Ability to comprehend spatial relationships and three-dimensional relationships of structures
Behavioral/Social
- Interpersonal ability to interact appropriately, sensitively, and compassionately with individuals, families, and groups from a variety of social, emotional, cultural, and intellectual backgrounds
- Ability to adhere to the Fay W. Whitney School of Nursing Personal Conduct Policy in academic and clinical settings
- Ability to demonstrate appropriate judgment in decision-making, in order to maintain safety and security of patients and to behave appropriately with patients, staff, students, and supervisors
- Ability to function effectively under physically demanding workload, long hours, and in times of physical and mental stress; display flexibility and openness for changing environments
- Ability to engage in respectful, mature, and healthy client-provider relationships.
Reasonable Accommodations
An applicant and/or student who discloses a disability will be considered for admission, readmission, and/or continuation in a program if they are otherwise qualified so long as such accommodation does not significantly alter the essential requirements of the curriculum and the educational program, or significantly affect the safety of patient care or others. When an applicant or student discloses a disability, the provision of reasonable accommodations will be considered to assist the individual in meeting the required FWWSON Technical Standards for Education and Practice. An applicant whose response indicates they cannot meet one or more of the expectations will be reviewed further by the University Disability Support Services with applicant and faculty input, to determine if any reasonable accommodations are possible to facilitate successful completion of the nursing curriculum and preparation for the national registry examination (Website: http://www.uwyo.edu/udss/ ). Accommodations must be in accordance with those allowed by the National Council of State Boards of Nursing.
Persons interested in enrolling in a nursing program at the FWWSON are offered a realistic view of the vigorous demands of the School of Nursing’s theoretical and practicum curriculum while at the same time investigating reasonable accommodation. Whether or not the requested accommodation is reasonable will be determined on a case-by-case basis.
If a student is, at any time throughout their academic program in the FWWSON, unable to adhere to the technical standards required by their program the student is required to notify their faculty immediately and prior to attending their classroom, simulation, and/or clinical setting to avoid disruption and/or penalty related to progress in their program.
If you have any questions regarding the FWWSON Technical Standards for Education and Practice and/or your ability to meet them, please contact the FWWSON at 307-766-4312.
Approved; FSA 11/14/2022, Reviewed and edited 2/14/2024
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Last updated: 12/1/2025
