Health Requirements Nursing

Clinical Courses: Clinical Placement Clearance Requirements

Prior to the commencement of a clinical placement, students must complete the health clearance process. In order to ensure that all health standards have been met prior to the commencement of a clinical placement, the health clearance process begins as early as six months prior to the commencement of the placement.

Only if the completed health clearance process demonstrates to the satisfaction of the Lienhard School of Nursing and any applicable clinical agency that all requisite health standards have been met, will the student be permitted to commence the clinical placement.

Clearance requirements for clinical courses include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Health clearance
• Proof of a current registered professional nurse license issued by the New York State Education Department and a current unrestricted registration. The registration must remain current and unrestricted until the student’s degree is conferred.
• Cardiopulmonary resuscitation certification (CPR), including use of the automated external defibrillator (AED).
• Mandatory training.
• Clinical agency requirements may include such things as drug screening, criminal background check, respirator mask fit test, student interview, and facility orientation. Failure to satisfy the clinical agency’s requirements may result in removal of the student from the clinical agency, reassignment to another clinical agency, and subsequent delay in program progression and completion.

Health Clearance

Prior to the commencement of a clinical placement, students must complete the health clearance process. In order to ensure that all health standards have been met prior to the commencement of a clinical placement, the health clearance process begins as early as six months prior to the commencement of the placement. Only if the completed health clearance process demonstrates to the satisfaction of the Lienhard School of Nursing and any applicable clinical agency that all requisite health standards have been met, will the student be permitted to commence the clinical placement.

The health clearance process consists of completing

1. the Annual Health Assessment Form (to be completed annually);
2. the forms pertaining to titer tests and immunizations (required only once);
3. any supplemental forms required by the agency(s) at which the clinical component of a course will be conducted; and
4. provide evidence of an annual influenza immunization.

For the fall semester, the health clearance process must be completed by May 1; and by August 1 for the spring semester, unless otherwise instructed.

The required health forms are posted in the LSN Classes Community, and it is the student’s responsibility to obtain these forms, complete them, and submit them as directed. Students are required to upload and manage the required documents to an account they will subscribe to with American Databank. Separate instructions on how to open and upload the documents are posted in the LSN Classes Community. The registration of students who do not complete the health clearance process as required will be voided, and tuition cancellations, if any, will be made in accordance with the University’s Tuition Cancellation Policy.

Health clearance must be maintained throughout the semester in which the student is enrolled in a clinical course. Students must notify the clinical faculty member and the course coordinator of any health condition that occurs during the semester that, if it had been detected during the health clearance process, would have resulted in the student being denied health clearance. In such cases, the student will not be permitted to commence a clinical placement until he or she has been cleared to do so.

In addition to the health clearance required to commence a clinical placement, all students must, as required by New York State law, be immunized against measles, mumps, and rubella. The registration of students who do not provide proof of the required immunization to the University will be voided. Clinical agencies may require additional immunizations before students are cleared to commence a clinical placement. Students are urged to keep copies of all health forms for their personal records.

Criminal Background Check and Drug Screenings

There are various laws, standards, and employer policies that require all employees, volunteers, and students working in or assigned to a clinical site to undergo a criminal background check and/or drug screening. Therefore, in order to comply with these requirements, clinical agencies may require students, at their own cost, to complete a criminal background check and/or drug screen prior to commencing a clinical placement. Based on the clinical agency requirement, the student either will be directed to the agency to complete the agency’s required background check and/or drug screening, or the student will complete the background check and/or drug screening through Castle Branch.

For further details about criminal background checks and drug screenings requirements, students should contact the program director. 

Soon after admission but before the start of the first semester, master’s and Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) students in the Lienhard School of Nursing must provide evidence they are currently licensed by the New York State Education Department as a registered professional nurse and have a current unrestricted registration. Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Nursing students must provide evidence that they are licensed by the New York State Education Department as a registered professional nurse by the completion of their first year of study. Every student’s registration must remain current and unrestricted until the student’s degree is conferred. Information about New York State licensing requirements for a registered professional nurse may be found on the NYSED Office of the Professions website.

In addition, prior to attending a clinical course, graduate students must provide evidence they are currently licensed as a registered professional nurse and have a current unrestricted registration from any state in which a clinical site at which they have been placed is located. 

Doctor of Nursing Practice students (DNP) must provide evidence they certified as a nurse practitioner by the New York State Education Department and have a current unrestricted registration by the completion of their first year of study. Every DNP student’s nurse practitioner certification must remain current and unrestricted until the student’s degree is conferred. Information about New York State certification for nurse practitioners may be found on the NYSED Office of the Professions website.

Mandatory Training

In order to participate in clinical placements Lienhard School of Nursing graduate students must have completed the following training.

• Occupational safety and health measures to reduce the transmission of bloodborne pathogens.
• The protection and disclosure of protected health information as defined by the federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA).
• Practices and controls to prevent the transmission of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and the Hepatitis B virus.
• Identification and reporting of child abuse and maltreatment.

Further, a clinical agency may require students to participate in additional training before permitting them to commence a clinical placement. Questions about mandatory training should be addressed to the Lienhard School of Nursing Office of Academic Affairs.

Please refer to the Lienhard School of Nursing Department of Graduate Studies Student Handbook for additional information including liability insurance, dress code, required equipment, attendance at clinical sessions, etc.