Prelicensure Clinical Schedule

OliverElio87, BSN, RN · Mar 11, 2016

It's def. not 3-4 days per term. In the first (actual) nursing term, you are expected to compete 120 hours. You def. cannot do all that on 3-4 days. So it's about ten 12 hours shifts. Some people in my cohort didn't have 12 hour shifts and only had 8 and that increased the number of days. Those are not counting the lab days you need to be available. There are at least 8 lab days in a term.

GeekkeeG · Mar 26, 2016

I can only speak for the CA requirements currently (These hours were revamped Sept 2015. They changed some lab days to virtual simulation days to prevent us from having to attend lab.).

Here's what it is:

First term (6 month terms):

2 lab days + 1 lab assessment day (This is called "bootcamp" and, in my cohort, there was a second cut after "bootcamp" - where 10 out of the 12 of us made it into the final cohort. You have to apply for the nursing program, be accepted to go to bootcamp and THEN APPLY/INTERVIEW for the final cut after you pass bootcamp.)

Second term:

8 lab days + 2 lab assessment days

120 hours of clinicals

Third term:

3 lab days + 1 lab assessment day

191 hours of clinicals

Fourth term:

2 lab days

158 hours of clinicals

Fifth/final term:

3 lab days + 1 lab assessment day

252 hours of clinicals

Most of the clinical shifts are 12 hours for my cohort (with the exception of psych {Term 3} for some people and community {term 4} for all of us).

Our labs have been on the weekend days only. The lab assessment days are about an hour out of your day + commute time.

The facilities we've been placed at have the choice as to whether or not to require an orientation day prior to each rotation - mine have required this for all except psych so far. Because these dates are outside of the calendar they provided to us that we need to be available, I was able to negotiate for a makeup day on an orientation day. Outside of that, your schedule is fixed. Trading is not allowed. Preferences are not given (but should be, because it's illogical to give weekend shifts to someone who only works weekends at their job while giving weekday shifts to someone who only works weekdays at their job). Sometimes the schedule is given to you with VERY LITTLE WARNING for your clinical hours. This last rotation? The clinical date window had already started before I knew that I needed to be at clinicals two days later.

They suggest that you be available for the whole clinical window, but this is unrealistic for those of us who work full-time and aren't sitting on Mt Everest-sized piles of PTO.

So, yeah, it's a lot more time-consuming in terms of clinicals than it was made to seem before I applied.

I once made a comment to someone in WGU administration about how it seems irrational to expect that full-time workers in this program could just drop their job's shifts with minimal notice. I got something akin to, "Well, that's the life of nursing. Schedules change very quickly and you don't know what is going to happen!" :/

Good luck!

mistyp88 · Mar 27, 2016

We got our last clinical schedule with very little notice as well and was told that we were being put on nights. Would not have been as bad if we had our schedule sooner. I get the impression that they don't care if it works with our life or not.

windyspring · Mar 29, 2016

Hi! This is another question adding onto your question... I live in San Jose, California (a half day's drive away). I am a mother and work part time as an LVN at a SNF with a very flexible work schedule. I am considering WGU and just commuting for the labs/clinicals and staying in a hotel for a few nights at a time. My question is how far apart are your lab/clinical days? If there is about 10 days per term (6 months), is it like a few days in a row? I'm trying to figure out if this is a realistic option. Thanks!

tsm007 · Mar 29, 2016

Hi! This is another question adding onto your question... I live in San Jose, California (a half day's drive away). I am a mother and work part time as an LVN at a SNF with a very flexible work schedule. I am considering WGU and just commuting for the labs/clinicals and staying in a hotel for a few nights at a time. My question is how far apart are your lab/clinical days? If there is about 10 days per term (6 months), is it like a few days in a row? I'm trying to figure out if this is a realistic option. Thanks!

I commuted and stayed in a hotel a few nights at a time. If you ask, they can try to group your clinical days together. It will not always work out like that, but I did get a lot of my clinical days as 3 in a row or 1 day on, 1 day off, and 2 in a row. A lot of nurses like to work 3 in a row which makes it not a hard request. It is usually 6 days in a 2 week period. You work a nurse's schedule.