ADN Instructional Practices

Background Check

Based on national guidelines from the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) and clinical facility policies, nursing students must have clear background checks to participate in clinical courses. The background check will be performed upon admission. If the background check is not clear, the student will be responsible for obtaining documents showing rehabilitation and /or having the record corrected. The Director of the ADN Program is responsible for determining if clinical placement is appropriate through consultation with the Human Resource Department at the clinical site. Student information will be held in strictest confidence. See the Director of the ADN Program with questions concerning this procedure.

The Board of Registered Nursing requires the applicant for licensure as a registered nurse to disclose prior misdemeanor and felony convictions. The applicant must explain the circumstances of the conviction and provide documentation of rehabilitation. The Board considers the nature and severity of the offense, subsequent acts, recency of acts or crimes, compliance with court sanctions and evidence of rehabilitation in determining eligibility for licensure. Questions concerning this requirement may be directed to the Director of the ADN Program.

Clinical Agencies - Concractual Agreements

Citrus College Health Sciences Department has contractual agreements with various agencies for clinical experience. Each agency has practices and requirements that must be followed by the Health Sciences Department, faculty, and students. Students, at a minimum, are required to pass a criminal background check and a physical exam, obtain immunizations, titers, have a current CPR card, and liability insurance. Be advised, clinical facilities may have policies requiring additional criminal background checks, immunization and random drug testing. Student nurses are subject to these policies in order to participate in any clinical setting and must bear any costs for compliance of said policies in addition to the Citrus College ADN program requirements.

Ethical Conduct

The Citrus College ADN Program faculty follows the Guide of Schools of Professional Nursing on Ethical Practices as revised in March 1986 (EDP-I-14). The professional role of nursing demands proper ethical conduct; this includes the educational phase of their professional lives. Proper and ethical behavior includes, but is not limited to, honesty in all areas. Breaches of ethical conduct will not be tolerated in any area; these include, but are not limited to, cheating, plagiarism, and breaches of confidentiality. If a breach of ethical conduct occurs, disciplinary action will result. Any disciplinary action is dependent on the severity of the infraction, but may include dismissal from the program.

Attendance

Classroom and clinical attendance are interrelated and necessary to the learning process of the nursing program. It is expected that all classroom and clinical assignments and activities will be completed as scheduled. Specific attendance policies are found in the ADN Student Handbook and nursing course syllabi, as well as listed below:

Clinical Absences - Students are required to make up clinical absences.
Transportation - Students are responsible for their own transportation to and from class and clinical facilities.
Clinical Rotations - Students are required to attend varying hours of clinical work per week. Clinical sites vary and may include the college skills lab as well as hospitals in multiple Southern California areas. Students must be available to attend all possible clinical shifts, each week, Monday through Sunday. The college will give the students as much warning as possible regarding clinical schedules.

Citrus College Attendance Policy  (from the Citrus College Student Handbook)

• Students are expected to attend their classes regularly.
• Failure to attend the first class session may result in the student being dropped. Failure to attend class jeopardizes not only a student’s grade, but hinders the learning potential of the other students who were unable to gain access to the class due to enrollment limitations.
• The class instructor has the right to terminate a student’s enrollment when a student is absent for more than one hour for each unit of class credit.
  

Grading

The theory component and the clinical component of nursing are interdependent. Both must be passed to progress to the next semester. The theory component grading scale for all courses in the Health Sciences Department is as follows:

93 - 100% = A
84 - 92% = B
75 - 83% = C
65 - 74% = D
64% or less = F

Each semester the student will be notified of the total possible points in each course and a percentage scale of the grading. Grades are based on actual points earned.
The clinical laboratory component is based on pass/fail criteria. Refer to the Student Handbook, Clinical Guidelines for specific policies.

Students are responsible for all theory and clinical objectives. These objectives will be addressed by classroom lecture, skills lab, clinical experience, and/or independent study.

Any student involved with professional dishonesty in theory or clinical may be given an automatic failure grade or non-credit for the course; in addition, he/she may be dropped from the nursing program. Permission to remain in the program and/or repeat the course will be granted on an individual basis. (For more information please refer to the Citrus College ADN Student Handbook, Policy Re: Professional Honesty and the current Citrus College Student Handbook, Student Discipline: Prescribed Conduct.)

Re-Entry/Withdrawal/Non-Progression

Non-Progression - Faculty determine non-progression status of a student nurse not meeting required academic or clinical performance or ethical standards of the Citrus College/ADN Program. Depending on the nature of the dismissal, the student may not be readmitted to the program.

Re-entry - Students may repeat one nursing course one time only. Placement in a course for repetition purposes is based on the nursing program’s policy on entry/re-entry and as space permits. If the student meets the requirements to re-enter the program at a later date, intention to re-enter must be made in writing in accordance with the terms of the reentry plan determined at the Exit/Re-entry Interview.

Once accepted, students who attend less than two weeks (or not at all) of a nursing course will NOT be considered re-entry students and must reapply and compete for acceptance into the Nursing Program.

Withdrawal - If a student drops a nursing course during the semester and re-enters based on the reentry plan, that re-entry will count as the one allowable repeated nursing course. No additional repeats will be allowed. (Refer to the Citrus College catalog for policy on withdrawal from a class.)

Transfer from another program - If a student has earned a non-progression grade in another RN program, the Citrus College nursing class shall be counted as a repeated class. No additional repeats will be allowed.

Exit/re-entry interview - student receiving an incomplete, grade below a “C” in a theory course or a clinical failure will not progress. Any such student must make an appointment with the Director of Health Sciences or designee, for an Exit/Re-entry Interview for the purpose of an academic review and establishment of a reentry plan. The Citrus College ADN Exit/Re-entry Interview must be completed upon withdrawal or failure and the review/reentry plan must be signed by the Director of Health Sciences, or designee, and the student. A student who does not participate in an Exit/Re-entry Interview may forfeit any possible re-entry into the program.

Promotion

• Theory grades in nursing classes must be passed with a "C" or better.
• Clinical objectives in nursing courses must be passed with a satisfactory evaluation. Competencies must be demonstrated in full each semester in order to progress
• An "Incomplete" may be given if all assigned work is not completed by the end of the semester which may result in the student not progressing to the next course.
• The remediation of any clinical incomplete grade will be handled on a case-by-case basis in arrangement with the nursing faculty and is dependent on class space availability.
  

Learning Disabilities/Special Accomodations

Students with disabilities, whether physical, learning, or psychological, who believe that they may need accommodations in the nursing program, are encouraged to contact Disabled Student Program and Services (DSP&S) as soon as possible to ensure that such accommodations are implemented in a timely fashion. A DSP&S authorization form is required before any accommodation can be made.

Accommodations approved by DSP&S must be on file with the ADN Program. The student is responsible for relating this approved accommodation to the faculty responsible for the administration of the examination.
POLICY REGARDING NON-DISCRIMINATION
Consistent with the BRN policy of non-discrimination, the Citrus College ADN Program neither discriminates in employment nor in the admission and access to its programs and activities.

Competency of Nursing Students

Competency standards to which the Board of Registered Nursing holds the RN accountable are specified in Title 16, Business and Professions Code, Nursing Practice Act, Section 2725 and the California Code of Regulations Section 1443.5, Standards of Competent Performance. The Nurse Practice Act and the Standards of Competent Performance apply in all settings where RNs practice nursing. The nursing student may perform actions of the registered nurse while they are in the clinical setting under the supervision of faculty and RN staff based on clinical objectives. The student is accountable for their actions based on the level of nursing education completed.

Emotional Requirements

The student must have sufficient emotional stability to perform under stress; stress occurs in both academic study and the necessity of performing nursing care in real patient situations while being observed by the instructors and other health care personnel.

The student must have sufficient emotional stability to perform under stress; stress occurs in both academic study and the necessity of performing nursing care in real patient situations while being observed by the instructors and other health care personnel.

Physical Requirements

In order to participate in the Citrus College ADN Program, students are required to travel to agencies and hospitals with unpredictable environments. Students need to have the endurance to adapt to a physically and emotionally demanding program. A yearly physical is required for admission to the nursing program, additionally a doctor's note or a nurse practioner's note is required for entry into the nursing program. The following physical requirements are necessary to participate in the clinical application courses in nursing:

1. Strength: sufficient strength to lift, move and transfer most patients; to restrain and carry children; to move and carry equipment; and to perform CPR which requires sufficient body weight and adequate lung expansion;
2. Mobility: sufficient to bend, stoop, bend down on the floor; a combination of strength, dexterity, mobility and coordination to assist patients; ability to move around rapidly; and to move in small, confined areas;
3. Fine Motor Movements: necessary to manipulate syringes and IV’s; to assist patients with feeding and hygiene; to write in charts; to perform sterile procedures and other skilled procedures;
4. Speech: ability to speak clearly in order to communicate in both verbal and written formats and be understood on the telephone with staff, physicians, faculty supervisors, and patients in order to communicate nursing actions, interpret client responses, initiate health teaching, document and understand nursing activities, and interact with clients, staff and faculty supervisors.
5. Vision: sufficient to make physical assessments of patients and equipment;
6. Hearing: sufficient to accurately hear on the telephone; to be able to hear through the stethoscope to discriminate sounds; to hear cries for help; to hear alarms on equipment and emergency signals, and various overhead pages.
7. Touch: ability to palpate both superficially and deeply and to discriminate tactile sensations;
8. General Health: nursing is considered to be a high-risk profession for exposure to Hepatitis B and other contagious diseases. Immunizations required by the Health Sciences Department reduce this risk for nursing students, but do not eliminate it entirely. The following students need a physician’s note to participate in the program: students with impaired or deficient immune systems and pregnant women. Such students must have physician approval prior to participation in clinical courses and must discuss their situation with the clinical instructor.