Flu - Missing Class

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I am currently in nursing school and have never had the flu or flu vaccine. My school only allows students to miss 1 clinical day. If you get sick and miss 2 or more days you are removed from the program and must reapply as a new student in one year. My state declared a state of emergency today due to the flu outbreak, nearly everyone in my family has it and I'm terrified I'm going to get kicked out of school. Can a school really remove a student from a program because they got sick and missed 2 days of class?

Specializes in NICU, ICU, PICU, Academia.
My family are jehovah's witnesss and our congregation are agasint modern medical science, so not getting vaccinations is common but its not prohibited to do so.... I think the OP just mean their "beliefs, not religion".

I am NOT being snarky- I am truly curious. If this is so (and I don't doubt you) why would you want to be a nurse? And have you Oscean had a flu shot?

I start clinicals in a few weeks and my college had a few students who opted to not have flu shots due to religious reasons. Thanks for the info, I'll changed my username

I'm surprised your school gives people the option to not get a flu shot. My school required it or we were not allowed to go to clinicals.

Specializes in Mental Health.
I'm surprised your school gives people the option to not get a flu shot. My school required it or we were not allowed to go to clinicals.

Same. We even needed it before taking the CNA course.

Specializes in Critical care.
1st you need to understand the attendance policy --- there should be a difference between missing 2 days of "class" and 2 "clinical" days.

Yes, the reason schools are so strict about missing clinical is because a certain number of clinical hours are required in order to take the NCLEX.

I am NOT being snarky- I am truly curious. If this is so (and I don't doubt you) why would you want to be a nurse? And have you Oscean had a flu shot?

Haha, I got a flu shot (mandatory for clinicals). That's why I said my family were jehovahs witnesses and not me. Hence why I left my religion once I turned 18. So, they were against me becoming a nurse at first, but now they are getting used it.

Specializes in NICU, ICU, PICU, Academia.
Haha, I got a flu shot (mandatory for clinicals). That's why I said my family were jehovahs witnesses and not me. Hence why I left my religion once I turned 18. So, they were against me becoming a nurse at first, but now they are getting used it.

Thanks for your reply.

I'm surprised your school gives people the option to not get a flu shot. My school required it or we were not allowed to go to clinicals.

I'm surprised by this as well. To be fair, it isn't my school that requires the flu shot. They make it well known that students are welcome to opt out, but that most (if not all) clinical sites require it. No flu shot = impossible to place in clinicals = eventual dismissal from the program.

Specializes in Psychiatric and Mental Health NP (PMHNP).

As lehaley1989 pointed out, while your school may not require a flu shot, most, if not all, of your clinical sites will require the flu shot. If you can't get placed in clinical, you can't complete nursing school. End of story. In addition to the flu shot, you may require other vaccinations like rubella. I would be shocked if your nursing school would waive all vaccinations and your clinical sites certainly won't. My school required the flu shot and other shots, NO EXCEPTIONS.

Even if you were somehow able to complete nursing school, it will be very difficult for you to get a nursing job if you refuse to get required vaccinations.

With regard to missing clinical days, the policy is the policy. Sometimes, for extraordinary circumstances, an instructor, AT THEIR DISCRETION, may give you a chance to make up clinical hours. My school allowed this, but if you missed more than 2 clinical days, you had to repeat the clinical.

Why on earth do you want to pursue nursing? Your refusal to get vaccinated not only endangers yourself, but more importantly, it could endanger your patients. Please consider another career. You can look into alternative health careers.

Specializes in Critical Care, Trauma.
I'm surprised by this as well. To be fair, it isn't my school that requires the flu shot. They make it well known that students are welcome to opt out, but that most (if not all) clinical sites require it. No flu shot = impossible to place in clinicals = eventual dismissal from the program.

My RN program is the same way. No vaccinations are required specifically for my school. However, they're all required at our clinical sites. Flu, hepatitis B, tdap, etc... And if we don't complete the clinical hours, we're out of the program.

Right now a few of my classmates and I are in an awkward spot. We had one clinical day at our site and then a few days later we were informed that we would not be allowed to return due to a flu outbreak at the facility. We missed this week's clinical due to this and the school is trying to come up with another clinical site for us.

Right now a few of my classmates and I are in an awkward spot. We had one clinical day at our site and then a few days later we were informed that we would not be allowed to return due to a flu outbreak at the facility. We missed this week's clinical due to this and the school is trying to come up with another clinical site for us.

Yikes! I'm sure your school will figure something out for you guys, but what a stressful situation to be in!

Specializes in Critical Care, Trauma.
Yikes! I'm sure your school will figure something out for you guys, but what a stressful situation to be in!

Thanks! I hope so, too. The facility we were at stated we wouldn't be allowed back in until one week after the last of the symptoms are gone... This is long-term care, so that may be awhile! The program I'm in is very fast paced and we only have a week between terms. That doesn't leave us very much room to squeeze in make-up days.

We'll get it done one way or another.

Specializes in PICU.

First off, I am quite surprised that your school allows students not to get flu vaccine as it is pretty much mandatory in most clinical settings. You do need to think about protecting your patients. Becoming a nurse and providing care for your patients should be a top priority. But yes, your school could kick you out if you missed two days, especially if you did not get the flu vaccine and have the flu. Those are the rules set in place and you have agreed to them by attending school.

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