Faculty teaching clinical courses do not need to create the course syllabi but do need to post a Clinical (Orientation) Letter to their Brightspace site. The clinical letters need to be created for each clinical you are teaching.
Download a copy of the relevant clinical letter template from the links below and update it as needed for your course.
ALL CLINICAL LETTERS MUST BE POSTED IN BRIGHTSPACE.
All faculty teaching a clinical course must be in compliance with the Clinical Faculty Health Requirements by 2 weeks before the start of the clinical and maintain compliance through the duration of the clinical.
Faculty are responsible for the costs of compliance.
Click here to open the Clinical Faculty Health Requirements Handbook page.
Updated 7.28.2021
Attendance & Student Absences
All students are required to attend every clinical meeting for the entire duration of the scheduled time. Excused absences for personal illness or emergency may be granted at the instructor's discretion.
If a student is late to clinical by 30 minutes or more, they may be sent home at the instructor's discretion.
Students are highly discouraged from requesting to leave clinical early, however permission may be granted by the instructor if they determine the circumstances are appropriate.
USM Closure & Inclement Weather
USM is closed due to inclement weather or other circumstances; clinicals are cancelled. Such cancellations are announced through the USM Alert text/email system. Faculty and students are automatically enrolled to receive alerts.
We encourage instructors to discuss potential inclement weather plans with students in advance if inclement weather is likely on the clinical day and USM has not yet made an announcement. Instructors may also consider a delayed clinical start while waiting to see if there will be a snow day called.
Campus delayed start or closing early: For example, the campus opens at 10 am, but the clinical would have started at 7 am. Instructors should use their discretion and knowledge of the unit to determine if it is appropriate to start the clinical day late or cancel the clinical for the day. The same applies regarding campus closing early (for example, the campus is closing at 5 pm and the clinical starts at 3 pm).
Weekend Snow Days - USM does not declare snow days on weekends. Faculty teaching clinical on a weekend should use their best judgment to determine if a clinical day should be cancelled due to inclement weather.
Time on Unit
All instructors are expected to use all of the scheduled clinical time. Clinicals should not begin late or end early unless there are significant extenuating circumstances. Our clinical partners are aware of the clinical timeframes, and not utilizing our allotted clinical times damages our relationship with the hospitals and could put future clinical requests at risk. If such circumstances occur, please let Netty & Leslie know immediately.
Instructor Illness or Emergency
Instructors may need to cancel a clinical due to personal illness or an emergency. If that occurs, students should be notified promptly (being mindful that some students travel from several hours away) and should be assigned an alternative assignment. Please immediately notify Netty & Leslie if you cancel a clinical day.
Learning Outcomes
All clinicals have learning outcomes in the syllabus. Instructors should work to address those outcomes through the clinical. Whether or not students are meeting those learning outcomes is a significant part of whether a student should pass, fail, or low pass clinical.
Instructors should not ask or require that students go to the hospital the day before to prepare for a clinical.
Faculty may ask students to prepare focus topics or things to review prior to the clinical. For example: Before our clinical on Wednesday, please review the usual meds, ambulation policies, dressing changes, and nutrition, as we will be focusing on these topics during our clinical time.
Debriefing concepts and skills will be addressed during the clinical teaching orientation.
Each clinical type (med/surg, peds, maternity, acute care) should be consistent with assignments (type, frequency) across all faculty teaching that clinical. For example, care plan requirements.
The course lead will determine how assignments will be structured and communicate this to the faculty.
Instructors should utilize debriefing practices (discussed in the clinical teaching orientation each semester) to support student learning.
If an instructor has a concern about a student and whether they are meeting learning outcomes, they should reach out to their course lead and Netty & Leslie for feedback. Concerns should be addressed with students as soon as they are identified, and faculty should work with students to develop action plans to address those concerns.
Instructors MUST use the mid-semester and final student evaluation forms to provide concrete constructive feedback on student performance goals.
14 weeks clinical
All faculty teaching 325 should complete a mid-semester evaluation with students in the clinical. The course lead will review information about these processes with faculty.
7-week clinical
7-week clinicals are very short. Because of this, we developed a Mid-Semester evaluation tool for instructors to use in 7-week clinicals. Course lead faculty will discuss the use of this tool with faculty in their clinical group.
All faculty (regardless of clinical type) should complete a clinical performance appraisal for each student at the end of the clinical.
Possible clinical grades are high pass, pass, low pass, and fail. If faculty are considering whether a low pass is appropriate for a student, they should consult with Lesle and Netty.
Factors to consider in final course grades include attendance, late arrivals, professionalism, USM nursing core values, and performance appraisals to determine the extent to which the student meets learning outcomes.
Pass / Fail
A passing grade in clinical implies that the student is meeting the high standards expected in the nursing program. These high standards have been developed from the baccalaureate program objectives (Addendum B) in four evaluative areas: critical thinking, clinical nursing practice, communication, and personal/professional growth, as noted in the Clinical Performance Appraisal. It is expected that a student will receive a Satisfactory grade in each of the 4 evaluative areas. A student who receives a Needs Improvement in one of the first three areas (critical thinking, clinical nursing practice, or communication) may pass the course.
A failing grade implies that the student has not satisfactorily met the performance criteria as described below:
A student will fail if they receive a grade of Unsatisfactory in any of the four evaluative areas.
A student will fail if they receive a Needs Improvement in more than one of the first three areas (critical thinking, clinical nursing practice, and communication) and do not meet the criteria for a low pass designation described below.
A student must adhere to the first two criteria under professional/personal growth regarding safety, accountability, and ethical behavior. Failure to meet these criteria will result in failure in the course and may lead to dismissal from the nursing program as described in Addendum A.
A second low pass in any subsequent clinical course would constitute an F, would stop progression in clinical coursework, and would necessitate a repeat of the clinical course in which it was received.
Low Pass
A low-pass grade is used to identify students who are borderline in terms of clinical nursing performance in a clinical course. A student who is performing at the level of low pass demonstrates a significant need for improvement in performance over the course of the clinical experience. The student will be required to meet with the clinical faculty to identify, using the Clinical Performance Appraisal, areas where the student is not meeting requirements. The clinical faculty and the student will develop strategies for the student to address in subsequent clinical courses. The student will be expected to initiate a meeting with subsequent clinical instructors to discuss issues raised in the clinical appraisal, resulting in a low pass grade.
High Pass (Pass with Distinction)
The faculty at the School of Nursing considers a pass with distinction a high honor awarded only after much consideration and collaboration with other faculty. A pass with distinction is awarded to recognize those students who meet the passing standard in all four areas and, in addition, demonstrate exceptional performance.