Students are closely supervised by their clinical instructor throughout their clinical experience. Each time a student performs a new procedure or administers medication, the instructor observes and evaluates the student's technique and understanding until the instructor is confident in the student’s ability. In addition to this supervision, patients assigned to students are also under the care of a staff nurse who remains legally responsible for their own assignment. Because of this, students must keep the staff nurse informed about their patient’s status at all times.
At the beginning of the clinical rotation, instructors will outline their specific expectations. Student assignments are determined at the discretion of the clinical instructor and may be posted in advance of the clinical shift. Once assigned, students begin their research on the diagnosis and patient care goals using the Clinical Report Sheet. This process includes identifying key areas of concern, planning appropriate care, and reviewing the patient’s medical record to understand prescribed medications and their implications.
During the clinical day, students will assess and monitor their patients, communicate with patients and their families, collaborate with other healthcare providers, and provide basic care such as bathing and feeding. They will also administer medications and, when appropriate, perform certain procedures in accordance with site policies and instructor approval. As students gain confidence and demonstrate proficiency, they may be assigned more than one patient, provided both they and their instructor feel comfortable with this progression.
Total Clinical Hours: 540
NUR 307 Fundamentals Lab - students complete 8 hours of direct clinical work as part of this lab
NUR 325 - Adult I Clinical - 112 hours
NUR 331 Mental Health Clinical - 56 hours
NUR 341 Service Learning Leadership and Advocacy (community) Clinical - 28 clinical hours with additional classroom hours
NUR 422 Maternity Clinical OR NUR 428 Pediatric Clinical - 56 hours (students take one or the other)
NUR 425 Adult II Clinical 112 hours
NUR 480 Practicum 168 hours
Camp Sunshine (Sebago Lake)
Specialized pediatric clinical where students will attend one weekend of clinical immersion at Camp Sunshine including overnight accommodation (no cost to students) at the camp. Fall dates could be any of the following weekends: September 25 to 28 (Sickle Cell), October 23 to 26 (Brain Tumor), October 30 to November 2 (Mixed Diagnosis), or December 4 to 7 (Type 1 Diabetes).
CMMC – Central Maine Health Care (Lewiston)
ED – Emergency Department
ICU – Intensive Care Unit
M2 – Orthopedics
M3 – Maternity
M4 – Adult Medical/Surgical
SSU – Short Stay Unit (Medical/Surgical, ICU)
T1 – Medical/Surgical/Telemetry
T3 – Cardiopulmonary
Y3 – Intermediate Care Unit (higher acuity than med/surg but lower than ICU)
MG – Maine General Medical Center (Augusta)
Behavioral – Mental Health
Combined Child/Repro Unit
Med/Surg
Mercy - Northern Light Mercy Hospital (Portland)
2B – Medical/Surgical
5B – Telemetry
Mercy Birthplace – Maternity
MMC - MaineHealth – Maine Medical Center (Portland)
BBCH - Barbara Bush Children's Hospital
Bean 2 – Ortho Post-Op
Bean 5 - Respiratory w/embedded IMC unit
CFT7 – Oncology
FBC - Family Birth Centre
MFT4B – CICU
MFT5 – Cardiac Telemetry
P3CD – Adult Medical/Surgical
R1 – Surgical Cardiology
R2 – Express Admission Unit, Telemetry Monitoring, and Acute Care
R3 – Adult Medical/Surgical
R4K – Surgical Oncology
R5 – Nephrology and Urology (including chronic multisystem diseases)
R6 – Neurosurgical/Trauma Unit and Neuro-Focused Intermediate Care
MMC Biddeford - MaineHealth – Maine Medical Center Biddeford (formerly SMHC – Southern Maine Healthcare)
MS3 – Medical/Surgical
MS4 – Medical/Surgical
MMC Sanford - MaineHealth – Maine Medical Center Sanford (formerly SMHC – Southern Maine Healthcare)
MHU – Behavioral Health
Mid Coast - MaineHealth – Mid Coast Hospital (Brunswick) (formerly Mid Coast Hospital)
FBC - Family Birth Center
MS – Medical/Surgical
Spring Harbor SH - MaineHealth – Behavioral Health at Spring Harbor (Portland) (formerly Spring Harbor Hospital)
Mental Health Nursing Clinicals throughout the facility
Stephens - MaineHealth – Stephens Hospital (Norway) (formerly Stephens Memorial Hospital)
Medical/Surgical
Riverview - Riverview Psychiatric Center (Augusta)
Mental Health Nursing Clinicals throughout the facility
St. Mary’s Hospital (Lewiston)
Behavioral Health
C3 – Surgical (and Medical Overflow)
Clinical attendance is mandatory.
If a student, due to extraordinary circumstances, must miss a clinical experience, the instructor must be notified prior to the time of the clinical. Clinical make-up and an alternative assignment will be at the discretion of the instructor.
Nonattendance at clinical for work or personal events such as travel or a vacation are not acceptable absences and will impact your grade.
Students enrolling in any clinical course (NUR 325, 331, 341, 422, 425) or most labs (NUR 313, 329, 413, 417, 418) should register for the TBD (to be determined) open section of these courses in Mainestreet. No day or time will be listed.
Students will receive a Google survey via email to rank their clinical, partnership, and lab placement preferences as: Preferred, Acceptable, or Not Preferred. This will be sent by Dr. Provost.
While we make every effort to accommodate preferences, students may still be placed in "not preferred" sections and are required to attend the clinical, lab, or partnership to which they are assigned.
Students who fail to complete the survey by the deadline are placed last, in any remaining spots.
Survey Timeline:
Fall Clinicals: Surveys sent in April or May
Spring Clinicals: Surveys sent in late October or November
Summer Clinicals: Surveys sent in March
Clinical placements may not be finalized until shortly before the semester begins.
Dr. Provost, in collaboration with Jules Sclafani, determines clinical placements using the following process:
Survey Review: Survey responses are received and reviewed
Data Processing: Survey results are exported to a spreadsheet for analysis
Special Considerations: The comments section is reviewed for priority accommodations (for example, documented medical conditions affecting clinical availability)
Use of a Random Name Generator: In some cases, if a particular placement is overwhelmingly popular, a random name generator is used to fairly select students
Near the start of the semester, final clinical sections and relevant labs will be assigned, including date, time, and location.
Your Mainestreet registration will be updated to reflect your clinical placement.
Once placements are finalized for a specific clinical type, you will receive an email with details and action steps.
The action steps must be completed before clinicals start. In some cases, you may have less than a week to submit paperwork, so it is essential to check your email daily, including during breaks and holidays.
Jules Sclafani will email you instructions. Do not complete any site specific clinical paperwork until she instructs you to do so.
Requirements may include:
Online training modules
Paperwork submission
Reviewing the clinical site's Clinician Nexus page, if applicable.
Signing hospital policy and confidentiality agreements, along with other required documents.
Completing in-person or online orientation/computer training, which may take place before classes start.
Applying for a parking pass and/or student badge.
DO NOT complete any of these hospital specific instructions until insturcted to do so by Jules Sclafani.
For every clinical rotation, students will get a clinical letter from their instructor. These are posted in Brightspace, typically about a week before the clinical begins.
Clinical letters include information on where to meet faculty on the first day, what to wear, where to park, and other information related to the first day of clinical.