Practice Experience Policies

Students will apply course content in practice with direct and indirect care. The practice experiences will be completed in varied settings and students will identify practice sites that meet course requirements within their location. 

PREPARATION
Students are expected to prepare for all course assignments including practice activities. A student reported to be unprepared for a practice activity may be removed from the practice site. A student dismissed from a practice site will need to identify and complete an alternate activity to meet course requirements.

CONFIDENTIALITY
Students may have access to confidential medical/personal client and family information, and to sensitive agency information as part of direct and indirect practice experiences.  It is of utmost importance that client/agency confidentiality is observed.  Information concerning a client/family or agency is not to be discussed after leaving the practice environment, agency or virtual classroom.  Violation of this policy may result in dismissal from the USI nursing program. 

PRACTICE EXPERIENCES
The practice experiences in NURS 457, NURS 487, and NURS 492 provide the opportunity to apply course content in varied settings.

BEHAVIOR AND APPEARANCE
Student’s appearance and conduct must be appropriate to comply with the high standards of the profession. Students are responsible for professional communication with practice sites, attendance as arranged with the practice site, and professional dress.

Student Attire

1. Students are required to wear professional attire during all practice experiences and anytime the student is representing USI as a nursing student unless directed differently by the instructor. Students must comply with the dress code of the agency.
2. Students may be dismissed from practice experiences if not properly attired for their assignment at the discretion of the course instructor.
3. Students are required to abide by the policies and procedures of the agency in which they have direct and indirect care experiences.

EVALUATION OF PRACTICE EXPERIENCES
Periodic conferences will be held to evaluate the student's performance. Student comments are encouraged. The student and faculty will share responsibility for evaluation of the student's progress during the course. The faculty are solely responsible for assigning the grade to each student’s practice experience and related assignments.

TRANSPORTATION
Students shall provide their own transportation to any agency or institution included in curriculum requirements.

ERRORS AND INCIDENTS IN CLINICAL LABORATORY
It is the College policy that all incidents occurring in the practice environment be reported for the purpose of generating and maintaining a record of such incidents. This information is considered confidential and is retained only for the period of time a student is enrolled in the nursing program.

Students who participate in or observe an incident involving students and nursing program personnel must take responsibility for notifying the appropriate persons and submitting a report to the faculty responsible for the area.  A student responsible for or witness an incident shall make out an agency incident report as appropriate.

REVIEW OF CHARTS/MEDICAL RECORDS
Patient records may not be removed from a clinical agency, photocopied, or electronically transmitted. No computer-generated patient information may be removed from the unit. Any information that identifies a specific patient in the clinical setting must remain in that setting. No chart may be reviewed for personal reasons.