Clinicals and religious observances?

allnurses Guide · Jul 24, 2013

I hardly need to say it but I will anyway. Nurses work 24/7 and all the holidays.

2nd point; clinical hours are difficult to arrange and even more difficult to make up.

As you say you are not "extremely religious", where you would be violating your everyday practice of religion; asking for it off is not really a good idea. All of us like our holidays off to spend with family and friends, no matter which religion we are. I would rather have my Thanksgiving dinner on the day, but often have it on Friday instead if I had to work on Thursday. Same with Christmas or Easter.

A rabbi friend of mine is very orthodox, but does what he has to as an RN. He went per diem, just so he could always be off on Shabbat. When we work together, I cover for him when I can so he can do evening prayers, but on a busy night, he simply goes on with his work. The needs of sick people come first. This may not apply so much here, as you are still a student, but I use it as an example.

Jory, MSN, APRN, CNM · Jul 25, 2013

Hi all. Any other nursing students out there from minority religions- have you found that a religious observance is an acceptable reason to miss clinical? I just realized that I have a clinical on Rosh Hashanah and while I am not extremely religious or opposed to working on that day, I generally take it off to be with friends/family.
It would be nice to get some info on here from others who have been in this position before I go through the trouble of asking my clinical instructor and potentially putting her in an awkward position.
Thanks!

Clinical time cannot be missed b/c you are required to do a certain number of hours in order to obtain licensure with the BON when you graduate.

At my school, we could miss ONE clinical day without penalty, two and you were reduced from an A to a C (yes, two letter grades)...if you missed three you failed.

The school may be required to allow you off, but I can assure you an employer will not.

priorities2 · Jul 25, 2013

Alright. Thanks guys. Yes, according to the laws, saving lives comes WAY before observing a high holiday, but as a student I don't know if I technically fit that criteria (maybe.. but it's probably a stretch). I think I'll skip asking for it off, though.

I mean no offense to you, Jbudd, but FYI -- taking the day off for Rosh Hashanah is not the same as taking the day off for Easter. It's against Jewish law/tradition to work on certain days, Rosh Hashanah being one of them. I don't believe Easter, Christmas or Thanksgiving are the same way.

PS: Your friend is an Orthodox Rabbi and a nurse? Dang, impressive. :)

elkpark · Jul 25, 2013

Alright. Thanks guys. Yes, according to the laws, saving lives comes WAY before observing a high holiday, but as a student I don't know if I technically fit that criteria (maybe.. but it's probably a stretch). I think I'll skip asking for it off, though.
I mean no offense to you, Jbudd, but FYI -- taking the day off for Rosh Hashanah is not the same as taking the day off for Easter. It's against Jewish law/tradition to work on certain days, Rosh Hashanah being one of them. I don't believe Easter, Christmas or Thanksgiving are the same way.

I'm confused. It may be against Jewish "law/tradition," but you said in your original post that you're not extremely religious and not opposed to working on the day. Sounds like you would just prefer to have the day off.

BTW, there are plenty of Christian groups that consider it a violation of God's commands to work on Sundays or significant Christian holidays, inc. Christmas and Easter (Thanksgiving is a civil holiday, not a Christian holiday). The fact that our larger society has secularized and commercialized some of the Christian holidays doesn't mean that all Christians have.

I'm sure you're allowed to miss some limited number of clinical hours per clinical rotation. If it's really important to you, take it off. However, you'll be running the risk that, if you end up missing any other clinical days later in the rotation, for illness or some kind of emergency, you will risk failing the rotation.

priorities2 · Jul 25, 2013

I'm confused. It may be against Jewish "law/tradition," but you said in your original post that you're not extremely religious and not opposed to working on the day. Sounds like you would just prefer to have the day off.
BTW, there are plenty of Christian groups that consider it a violation of God's commands to work on Sundays or significant Christian holidays, inc. Christmas and Easter (Thanksgiving is a civil holiday, not a Christian holiday). The fact that our larger society has secularized and commercialized some of the Christian holidays doesn't mean that all Christians have.
I'm sure you're allowed to miss some limited number of clinical hours per clinical rotation. If it's really important to you, take it off. However, you'll be running the risk that, if you end up missing any other clinical days later in the rotation, for illness or some kind of emergency, you will risk failing the rotation.

To clarify - I'm not a very religious person, however, if I were religious (i.e., if I abided by the commandments) I would take off on Rosh Hashanah. I usually stay home and fast on Rosh Hashanah, but I wouldn't necessarily prioritize it above NS clinicals. My personal attitude contradicts Jewish law in this respect.

Thanks for that information about Christianity. I didn't realize that it was considered a violation of commandments to work on those days, just like in Judaism. It sounds like it's the same idea. :)

I think I won't ask for it off, just in case I truly need to take a different clinical day off. I figure it's not uncommon to get ill during your first semester of nursing school right? Especially if you haven't previously spent much time in a hospital..

allnurses Guide · Jul 25, 2013

Good plan, IMHO. Same idea indeed; some follow rules more tightly than others, Christian or Judaic.

What I was trying to say, is since you aren't "opposed" to working on that day for religious reasons, it put you into the same place I am about holidays, much rather be with friends and family! But sick people just keep on being sick, holiday or no.

and yeah, my buddy is a pretty impressive guy. We have some great talks. Just a side note for the fun of it, did you know our Easter comes directly from Passover? So yeah, its a very important holiday for us too :)

green34 · Jul 25, 2013

Chances are they give you one clinical you can miss but will have to make up. In my school, you miss one you have to make it up. Missing a 2nd one will lead to an F in the class regardless of what you actually earned.

Also, I would personally not take it off. You never know when you may need your miss for something else like you get the flu, bad weather, etc.

Jeepchick97 · Jul 25, 2013

This is how it is at my school as well.

christina731 · Jul 25, 2013

In my program, on your first absence (regardless of the reason, whether it's car trouble or emergency brain surgery) from lab or clinical equals a 3% deduction in your overall grade for the class which includes lecture, lab and clinical. On your second absence, you fail. Period. I'm not sure how your program works but if I were you I would not voluntarily miss a day regardless of the reason because you never know what will happen on your next clinical day.

KelRN215, BSN, RN · Jul 26, 2013

When I was in school, I missed some clinicals for very good reasons (grandfather died) and some not good reasons (felt like going away for the weekend). It really depends on the school and on your instructor- Rosh Hashanah is just one day, right? Maybe there is another group that does clinical on the same floor but on a different day and you could join their group that week if they could accommodate you? I think my school would have tried to accommodate the request if they could do something like this. Or, many of our clinical instructors were actually working nurses in the hospitals we were doing clinicals in... sometimes they would offer to just have a student who missed a clinical come work with them for a shift. In psych, if we missed a clinical they asked you to go to an AA meeting. I actually found that suggestion to be quite intrusive- suppose you walk into an AA meeting to observe and then the people who are there to be anonymous become not so anonymous when you spot your Residence Hall Director or Professor. At my college, there were on campus AA meetings. But I digress.

When you are working as a nurse, I think it is highly likely that you will be able to get the high Jewish holidays off. I worked with one nurse who was Jewish and was very religious. She never worked Fridays after sundown or Saturdays at all. In exchange, she worked every Sunday to fulfill her weekend obligations. It was worth it to her and the hospital viewed it as a reasonable accommodation. If for some reason you were scheduled on a day of religious importance, unless you are working at a Jewish hospital, it's likely that the majority of your co-workers will not be Jewish and that you will find someone to switch the day with you... then you can work Christmas for them. :)

EaglesWings21, ASN, RN · Jul 26, 2013

This comment is to clarify, not to offend or argue. Christians are not required to take off the Sabbath or Easter or Christmas or other Christian observances, because Jesus declared it lawful. Jesus healed on the Sabbath and his disciples plucked grain on the Sabbath. Jesus justified their actions and made it lawful to work on the Sabbath. He rectified that Jewish laws were made so that the people's hearts would be after God and God only, but obviously that is not what happened. Therefore, Jesus gave a New Order when he came. I hope that makes sense; I just didn't want you to have incorrect information. If their are other Christians who have different beliefs, so be it, but most of the Christians I know abide by the laws I stated above.