Help- will not finish Hep B immunization before clinicals

[bfg1997]

Hey all,

I just got admitted to my first choice BSN program as a transfer student and they have given me the option of starting clinicals in the fall semester as long as I take classes there over the summer. However, I obviously need a health clearance prior to this, and that requires a three-part Hep B vaccine that totals 7 months. I start in September and it's almost May, so that's less than 5 months. Would I be given a temp. clearance or barred completely? If I can't start in the fall, my clinicals will be delayed until Fall 2020 which is obviously not ideal. I'm sure it varies by campus but does anyone have any experience with this??

[bitter_betsy, BSN]

I was only required to start the series prior to clinicals. I had to have 2 of the 3. I received the 3rd shot after I completed my first semester of clinicals. I'm sure it varies by program.

[TriciaJ, RN]

I think your best bet would be to call the registrar of the school that accepted you and clarify this.

[morbidlycurious]

I've noticed that the schools around here only notify students of their acceptance a few months prior to starting. So this must be a somewhat common occurrence. I'm sure that you won't be the first person to have this question when you call the school.

[Workitinurfava, BSN, RN]

I only recieved two shots prior to nursing school. This was years ago though. I now get titers. Everything always checks out.

[tining, BSN, RN]

You are what we call "In process".

[_firely]

I think this is extremely common and they will have no problem letting you start anyway. Schools are a business after all. Write a check. Keep moving.

[UrbanHealthRN, BSN, RN]

Like others have said, I wouldn't worry about it and would just double check with my school that the vaccine schedule I'm on won't interfere with my clinicals. Speaking of vaccine schedules, you could be done with your Hep B series sooner than 7 months, depending on how your provider spaces it. Minimum interval spacing, which is still acceptable for immunity purposes, could have you done in about 4 months. Here's the official CDC adult immunization schedule for reference:

https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/schedules/hcp/imz/adult.html

[CommunityRNBSN, BSN, RN]

My school just wanted us to have started.

[James75]

At my school you only had to have the first shot, but if you were even a day behind on any of the boosters you were barred from clinical until you had them. So sometimes people needed to make sure they got their shot on a very specific day.

[FashionablyL8, CNA, LPN]

This is exactly what I've been stressing about! I got accepted into an LPN program at a technical school, and they need titers proving immunity, even if we finish the vaccine schedule. I got my first dose even before I knew I was accepted, on Jan 4. Got my second dose and now I need my third, then to wait a month and get my titers checked. UrbanHealth has a good point- although the typical schedule is 0, 1 and 6 months, the guidelines state just that there must be 8 weeks between dose 1 & 2, and 16 weeks between dose 1 & 3. There's even a accelerated schedule that can be done in a month, I believe. However, my pharmacist insists upon going with the full 6 months which brings me up to June, then waiting a month and getting titers checked in July. My PCP won't test my titers until a month after I get my last dose. From 5-15 percent of people are non responders, so I really won't know if I'll be going to school this year until July. We start in late August, so that doesn't give me much time to get my books and all that. Nothing like adding a little suspense to the mix!

Oh yeah- there is a new Hep be B vaccine that is a 2 dose and done in one month- it is called Heplisav-B. Nobody carries it around here, but maybe it's in other parts of the US.

[Thanksforthedonuts, MSN, APRN]

You need to call your school. That should have been your first instinct. A school is a business and they have their own protocol.

If they say you need to have all the hep B series completed before the start of the program OR the start of clinicals try doing a HepB titer. I did that for a whatever I could in nursing school.

Another tip, if you're female and childbearing, with every pregnancy you need to get a blood panel drawn. With each panel I ask for my midwife to add HebB titer and a quanitferon gold (for TB) just for the heck of it. It has come in handy SOOOO many times with work since I can pull up that documentation and show it to my employer and many times they accept it (even if temporarily until a get a new draw). It helped me in nursing school also!