Do nursing schools have to provide health insurance to students?

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Hello all,

I am in a predicament. I had an injury today at the clinical site. I have my own health insurance. The school requires that students have their own health insurance which I thought was what all schools did. The patients blood is being drawn and I'll get the results in a few days. The issue is, I went to an urgent care facility to get my baseline drawn and get treatment or whatever. Well the manager there was saying that the school is supposed to provide me with my health insurance and cover me at the facility site they are sending me out to. As in I am not supposed to have my own separate health insurance to pay for things like injuries at the clinical site. He went on saying if I go ahead and pay for it on my own then I am liable and could go to jail when they are audited and the state of California finds out that the school did not provide me health insurance and that I knew that and I payed for it anyway. In addition, he said if I choose to not get treatment and later on I do have some communicable disease from this incident and I am practicing as a nurse and the state of California finds out that I did not follow up with proper testing and treatment I could lose my license for having some disease like HIV and not telling my employer about it. I have no idea if this is true but I don't know why he would lie about it. I already signed some release of liability document to my school so I'm kind of nervous about this. I just want to know if this is true. The patient was low risk so I'm not SUPER nervous about that but this legal thing is scaring me. I of course know what the protocol is for bodily fluids exposure but I had no idea about this legal aspect of it. If someone could enlighten me I would really appreciate it. Thank you.

When I started school I had to sign a form exempting the school and clinical facilities from liability in case of injury, and we either had to show proof of health insurance, buy student health insurance, or sign a waiver stating that we did not have/want insurance and would be financially responsible for any healthcare costs. We were specifically told that if we are injured at a clinical site any healthcare would be our responsibility. I am in WA though, not CA. Your should talk to someone at your school if you have questions.

The practice manager at your clinic should be careful...in a lot of places offering legal advice when not qualified to do so is a big no no.

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My school requires all nursing students to show proof of health insurance but the school does not offer it. If we are injured while at the clinical site, it is our responsibility to handle the charges on our own, whether we use the insurance or pay out of pocket. I have (luckily) not suffered any injuries but if I do, I'm fairly certain that my health insurance won't cover it since it's technically work related, even though I'm not getting paid. It's a crappy situation to be in and I'm sorry that you've had to go through all of this.

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Specializes in ER, ICU, Education.

Unless the law is vastly and bizarrely different in your state, the manager is dangerously uninformed at best, and intentionally intimidating you at worst. In my state and school, our students bear the financial cost if under-insured, and must show proof of insurance each semester.

Losing your license if you were to become infected is not a viable threat unless you are infected and wantonly/deliberately exposing patients to your infected bodily fluids. It almost sounds as if the manager was trying to frighten you, although I'm not sure why anyone would do something so disgusting to a student who is likely already terrified. I would avoid that clinic like the plague in case the manager's stupidity is contagious. Nothing you are doing is fraudulent. Fraud means that you are lying to get something you wouldn't otherwise get. You had a needlestick, reported it, and sought care. I would be sorely tempted to report the manager. There is something very wrong here.

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Thank you so much for your reassurances!

I guess what worries me is that the manager or I guess his official title is director of marketing said that whether I know or not about this "law" that I am liable for fraud. As in my school is doing something illegal as in not covering my injury, I now know about it (or don't know, it doesn't matter apparently), and I'm paying for my medical bill/seeking treatment in relation to the clinical site injury. He is saying it is illegal. He also said if I go else where it would be the same. The ER never heard anything of this before though. So basically if this is true and let's say that I never went to the urgent care and never got this "talk" but just waited and went to my PCP, got seen by him, got treatment, and paid for it that would've been fraud and I would be thrown into jail or fined a few months down the line by the state of California. I've done some research and haven't found any law in relation to this. Also, I've been on other school websites in California and all of them say that students must have their own health insurance before they start clinicals. I'm still a bit nervous but I'm going to speak to some school officials next week to get a better grasp on this. Thank you all~

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Thank you so much for your reassurances!

I guess what worries me is that the manager or I guess his official title is director of marketing said that whether I know or not about this "law" that I am liable for fraud. As in my school is doing something illegal as in not covering my injury, I now know about it (or don't know, it doesn't matter apparently), and I'm paying for my medical bill/seeking treatment in relation to the clinical site injury. He is saying it is illegal. He also said if I go else where it would be the same. The ER never heard anything of this before though. So basically if this is true and let's say that I never went to the urgent care and never got this "talk" but just waited and went to my PCP, got seen by him, got treatment, and paid for it that would've been fraud and I would be thrown into jail or fined a few months down the line by the state of California. I've done some research and haven't found any law in relation to this. Also, I've been on other school websites in California and all of them say that students must have their own health insurance before they start clinicals. I'm still a bit nervous but I'm going to speak to some school officials next week to get a better grasp on this. Thank you all~

Lets be honest... you're in a state of emotional distress (kind of) and probably a little emotional so sleep on it and read what you've written when you're in a better state of mind. It truly makes no sense at all. This guy is an idiot at best. You will not end up in jail. You're gonna be fine. Take a deep breath and forget whatever this idiot told you.

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Specializes in Pedi.
Thank you so much for your reassurances!

I guess what worries me is that the manager or I guess his official title is director of marketing said that whether I know or not about this "law" that I am liable for fraud. As in my school is doing something illegal as in not covering my injury, I now know about it (or don't know, it doesn't matter apparently), and I'm paying for my medical bill/seeking treatment in relation to the clinical site injury. He is saying it is illegal. He also said if I go else where it would be the same. The ER never heard anything of this before though. So basically if this is true and let's say that I never went to the urgent care and never got this "talk" but just waited and went to my PCP, got seen by him, got treatment, and paid for it that would've been fraud and I would be thrown into jail or fined a few months down the line by the state of California. I've done some research and haven't found any law in relation to this. Also, I've been on other school websites in California and all of them say that students must have their own health insurance before they start clinicals. I'm still a bit nervous but I'm going to speak to some school officials next week to get a better grasp on this. Thank you all~

Whoa whoa whoa... this guy is director of MARKETING? As in, it's his job to buy billboard space and make internet ads? Yeah, I'm pretty sure you shouldn't listen to anything he says. You are not going to jail. You need to commit a crime to go to jail.

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Specializes in ICU.

He is talking about 2 completely different things and has them so confused. I'm not surprised as he is in marketing. He is talking about and health insurance. And he is mixing the two up. I am absolutely sure your school has liability insurance on you. You do not need to purchase your own until you are a practicing RN. There is no liability in health insurance. It is just to cover you financially should a medical need arise as what happened to you. Please do not worried about being sued or being put in jail. There is absolutely no way that would happen. And just say someone did try to sue you, your school has insurance in place in for that in which you are covered. But there is no crime here so you will not go to jail. I would report this person for being an idiot and spreading false information for something he has no credentials for. He is not licensed in health insurance nor property insurance so he needs to shut up.

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