U-M School of Nursing juniors: On-site clinical is suspended as of March 18

Hello juniors,

Your willingness and commitment to continuing your clinical experience in the last few weeks has now paid off with success. We now confidently believe we can keep you in progression in the nursing program. Therefore, on-site clinical is suspended as of 7 p.m. today, March 18, for the remainder of the term. We want to congratulate each one of you for all your hard work and continued flexibility!

To finalize successful completion of your current clinical rotation, you will be required to participate in innovative, remote experiences as well as some additional on-site hours at a later date. Specifically, the following will be required to keep you on track within your respective clinical experiences:

• Virtual Clinical Experiences (now to the end of the term):  Each specialty course has developed some remote learning experiences (e.g., synchronous discussions, videos, reflections, and virtual simulation) to ensure you are able to meet the learning objectives of the courses. In an effort to support your learning, the UMSN has also purchased Vsim, a web-based platform that provides realistic nursing simulation scenarios which will substitute for some of the remaining clinical hours. Details as to how to access and utilize the program will be sent to you shortly. Your clinical faculty will be communicating with you as to next steps.
• On-site Clinical Experiences (late summer): There are some skills and competencies (e.g., medication administration, patient interaction and education) that will need to be completed on-site at a later date. We have full support from our clinical partners to allow for this in late summer. For now, please HOLD the last two and a half weeks in August with the expectation you will be coming back to campus for bootcamp and the deferred clinical experiences.  Participation during this time will be vital for your on-time progression, so please make plans accordingly. Specific details and programming for this experience will be communicated in early spring. 

Please note: Completion of both the virtual and on-site experiences will be required for successful completion of the course and continued progression. Each of you will receive messaging from your respective faculty that will outline the specific experiences as well as a timeline for completion.  

Many of you have questions if you will be able to progress on time. The answer is yes, assuming that you complete the remaining remote instruction and the on-site clinical experiences scheduled for late summer.

We know that the past several weeks have been difficult due to the COVID-19 public health emergency. Nursing, as a clinical profession, requires time in the clinical setting to develop the skills and competencies needed to care effectively for patients, families and communities. Your faculty and clinical preceptors have worked hard to provide this, to ensure that you meet the requirements set forth by nursing education regulatory agencies, and to ensure that you get what you need to be successful. Completion of both the remote and on-site experiences will keep you on track!

Please know that every member of the faculty and staff of your school are committed to facilitating your nursing education and your continued progression in the program. 

Take care and be safe.

Patricia D. Hurn, PhD, RN

Dean and Professor of Nursing, School of Nursing

Professor of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology

College of Literature, Sciences and the Arts

University of Michigan