Can You Miss Clinicals in Nursing School?

Nursing programs are divided into three major learning units, including clinical hours. Nursing clinicals are the hands-on portion of nursing school in a hospital or other clinical site instead of a classroom.

Attendance is mandatory for clinical hours. Students must complete clinical hours over the final two years of a Bachelor of Science in nursing (BSN). The number of clinical hours required can vary from state to state, but most states require around 500 clinical hours before taking the NCLEX. If you miss any hours, you'll be forced to make them up to maintain eligibility for examination.

Is It Possible To Miss Clinicals and Still Pass Nursing School?

It's possible to have clinical rotation absences and pass nursing school, but these hours must be made up as quickly as possible or at least before applying for your licensure exams. State boards set the individual requirements for licensure in each state, but nearly every state requires around 500 hours. Unlike missing a class in a standard degree program, you won't be able to take the NCLEX until you complete clinical make-up hours.

These hours are designed to provide clinical experience that can't be earned in a classroom or online. Tardiness can be just as much of a problem due to missed hours. It's hard to establish clinical rotations for the number of students that need to be scheduled. Missing your scheduled rotation will extend your timeline to complete your nursing degree.

How Many Clinicals Can You Miss in Nursing School?

Most schools don't have a set number of absences allowed, provided you make them up. Instead of a 'three-strikes' system of attendance, a set amount of clinical time must be completed. Rescheduling clinical days is often difficult and you need to ensure that any absence is for a legitimate reason, such as illness, mental health concerns, or a family emergency.

However, some schools might have a cap on excused and unexcused absences. Clinical placements are mandatory for a reason, and missing too many can show disinterest in the program and career. Nursing clinicals are graded, and attendance is one of the pillars of the grading criteria. Too many absences, especially without trying to schedule make-up, can lead to a failing grade.

How Does Missing a Clinical Rotation Affect Your Nursing Education and Progression?

Hands-on experience in a clinical setting is invaluable to nursing. No matter how much coursework you do in a classroom, real patient care can only be properly practiced in a healthcare facility. If you miss too many clinical rotations, you will fall behind on the practical skills needed to become a nurse.

You must complete these hours to apply for your nursing license, regardless of when you finish your nursing program. The longer it takes you to complete your clinical rotations, the longer until beginning your career as a nurse.

What Do Nursing Students Do in Clinicals?

Clinical rotations teach various soft skills, like critical thinking, and practical competencies required for daily nursing work. Although the daily work will vary based on which hospital a student nurse is training in, there are many common tasks that all students can expect to encounter.

Caring for Wounds

Nurses are the front line of healthcare. In standard rotations, student nurses work with clinical instructors to learn how to provide patient care, such as treating and caring for wounds. This comes in quick response and writing nursing care plans for long-term treatment.

Direct application of bandages, ointments, and other topical treatments can't be taught as effectively in a classroom as in a clinical setting. The ability to use real patients for training methods makes clinical rotations a valuable part of ADN and BSN programs.

Assessing Patients

Clinical rotations often expose nursing students to multiple specialties. This gives them opportunities to assess types of patients. This comes in forms like triaging ER patients and providing initial assessments before a doctor can speak with the patient.

Taking Patient's Vitals

One of the common roles of registered nurses is to check patient vital signs. Using tools like stethoscopes, students will take vital signs and learn how to quickly and accurately read analog and digital monitors. In a clinical setting, student nurses will work with children, adults, and the elderly learning best practices for taking vital signs on different body sizes and types.

Administering Medication Under Supervision

Nurses are responsible for the administration of medication, in addition to the treatment of wounds and other injuries. Student nurses will learn to calculate doses and provide medications in multiple forms, like pills, IVs, and topical treatments like cream or ointment.

Beyond just knowing how to administer medication, nursing students will learn about drug interactions and how to set up schedules to make sure patients receive proper dosing.

Documenting Patient Interactions

Patient interactions are one of the most important parts of a nurse's day, but a nurse won't be there for a patient through the entirety of their patient's day. Documenting interactions will help other nurses and doctors know the best way to talk to particular patients, information about their condition or past conditions, and more.

Documentation notes will vary for different patients, and getting hands-on experience with a wide range of patients will help student nurses learn how to figure out what is important enough to document, and the best way to record it.

FAQs About Nursing School Clinicals

Nursing school clinicals are one of the three main pillars of nursing programs. Aspiring healthcare professionals often have big questions about what to expect during clinicals.

Are Nursing Students Paid During Clinicals?

Nursing students aren't paid during clinicals. Even though students perform real healthcare in clinical settings, clinicals are considered a part of nursing school and not a job. Many degree programs include an internship as part of the graduation requirement to teach hands-on skills. Most are unpaid. In some ways, nursing clinicals can be viewed as an internship requirement for nursing programs.

When Do You Start Clinicals in a Nursing Program?

Most clinical rotations begin in a student's third year of a four-year nursing program. Nursing degrees include general education courses completed in the first two years before switching to industry-specific coursework. Once the shift is made to more nursing and healthcare-related courses, students begin clinicals. This allows students to apply their knowledge quickly. This also allows students to complete their total clinical hours requirements over multiple semesters.

Should I Go to a Clinical Rotation if I'm Sick?

No. You shouldn't go to your clinical rotation if you are sick. Most schools will help you reschedule if you have legitimate reasons, such as illness. Even full-time nurses will need to take sick days from time to time. If you have to skip a clinical rotation, you should treat it like calling in sick to work and provide as much warning as possible instead of simply not showing up. Try to schedule a make-up rotation as soon as possible.

Are Clinicals Hard in Nursing School?

Clinicals are often difficult due to the intense learning and long hours. Nursing students will work full-time shifts in a hospital or other healthcare setting along with their standard classes. This scheduling constraint can lead to stress and limited free time. Students also will learn various new skills, which can sometimes be overwhelming.