Nursing Program Technical Standards and Reasonable Accommodations
The Nursing Program has established the following technical standards to identify the essential abilities and competencies necessary for successful participation in its educational program and the safe provision of patient care.
Students must be able to meet these essential standards, with or without reasonable accommodations, consistent with applicable law. The College is committed to providing qualified students with disabilities equal access to its educational programs in accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, and the Minnesota Human Rights Act.
Students with disabilities may satisfy these standards through the use of reasonable accommodations, assistive technology, adaptive equipment, or alternative methods of performing essential tasks. The College will consider requests for reasonable accommodations on an individualized basis through its established disability accommodation process, in consultation with the Nursing Program as appropriate.
The College is not required to waive essential academic or clinical requirements, fundamentally alter the nature of the Nursing Program, or compromise patient safety. Any determination that a student cannot satisfy an essential technical standard, with or without reasonable accommodations, will be based on an individualized assessment of the student’s abilities and the requirements of the program rather than assumptions about disability or medical condition.
Students seeking accommodations are encouraged to contact the College’s disability services office to discuss available accommodations and the process for requesting them.
The technical standards include, but are not limited to, the following abilities:
Standard: The student must be able to perform the essential physical and motor functions required for safe and effective nursing care, with or without reasonable accommodations.
Example of Necessary Activity: The student must be able to navigate clinical environments, perform required patient assessments and nursing interventions, participate in emergency procedures, and safely assist with patient positioning and transfers using appropriate equipment and assistance. Students must be able to meet the essential demands of assigned clinical experiences while maintaining patient safety.
Standard: The student must be able to obtain, interpret, and respond appropriately to information necessary for patient assessment and nursing care, with or without reasonable accommodations.
Example of Necessary Activity: The student must be able to obtain and interpret relevant clinical information, including observations of patient appearance, behavior, vital signs, physical examination findings, and verbal and nonverbal communications. Students may use appropriate assistive technology, adaptive equipment, or alternative methods to obtain clinical information accurately and in a timely manner.
Standard: The student must be able to communicate effectively, accurately, sensitively, and in a timely manner with patients, families, faculty, staff, students, and other healthcare professionals, with or without reasonable accommodations.
Example of Necessary Activity: The student must be able to obtain patient histories, document clinical findings, communicate changes in patient condition, provide understandable instructions, participate in clinical discussions, and seek supervision or assistance when appropriate. Students must demonstrate sufficient proficiency in English to meet the communication requirements of the Nursing Program and ensure patient safety, using appropriate communication methods and reasonable accommodations.
Standard: The student must be able to measure, calculate, reason, prioritize, analyze, integrate, synthesize information and act with integrity and judgment. The student must have the ability to sustain attention and memory to maintain patient safety.
Example of Necessary Activity: The student must be able to read and comprehend extensive written materials. The student must also be able to evaluate and apply information and engage in critical thinking in the classroom, lab, simulation, and clinical setting within the time constraints unique to each clinical setting. The student must be able to calculate medication dosages, understand laboratory values, read and understand physician orders.
Standard: The student must demonstrate the professional conduct, judgment, adaptability, and interpersonal skills necessary to provide safe and effective nursing care, including in stressful or rapidly changing clinical situations, with or without reasonable accommodations.
Example of Necessary Activity: The student must be able to respond appropriately to challenging clinical situations, maintain professional relationships, communicate respectfully, accept and incorporate constructive feedback, recognize when assistance or supervision is necessary, and fulfill essential patient-care responsibilities. Students must demonstrate behavior consistent with professional nursing standards, patient safety, and the ethical responsibilities of the profession.
Standard: The student must possess the ability to practice nursing in an ethical manner.
Example of Necessary Activity: The student must be willing to learn and abide by professional standards of practice. They must possess attributes that include compassion, empathy, altruism, integrity, honesty, responsibility and tolerance. The student must be able to engage in patient care delivery in all settings and be able to deliver care to all populations including but not limited to children, adolescents, adults, individuals with disabilities, medically compromise patients, and vulnerable adults.
The St. Olaf College Department of Nursing is committed to equal access for all persons in its program and abides by applicable statutes and regulations relating to the equality of opportunity. If you have questions or concerns about your ability to meet the technical standards with or without accommodations, or if you would like to arrange reasonable accommodations, please contact Disability and Access (DAC) https://wp.stolaf.edu/dac.
*Adapted from the University of Minnesota School of Nursing Technical Standards and Saginaw Valley State University Department of Nursing
LAST REVIEWED: aPRIL 2026