Students will not be permitted to smoke, use tobacco or vaping products, including e-cigarettes, while at the clinical facility. Students must follow agency policies regarding smoking – most facilities do not permit smoking on facility grounds, including parking lots.
Each student is responsible for their own transportation arrangements and costs to all practicum sites. These sites may be located some distance from the SON, and public transportation may not always be available. Students will be informed at the beginning of each nursing course of the hours of the practicum experience. Practicum experiences may be on any shift and on any day, including night shifts and weekends. Please note that the student has the ultimate responsibility to make sure they arrive to their clinical assignment on time. Students are not permitted to transport clients or other persons during practicum hours nor are faculty or host agency personnel permitted to transport students. Students must have access to a vehicle for each practicum day due to the nature of the practicum experience. The expectation is that students will each provide their own transportation as carpooling is generally not feasible.
Students must meet all clinical agency placement requirements, which include standards written into the Commonwealth of Kentucky Nurse Practice Act. Students must be academically qualified to fulfill the role and responsibilities of a person licensed to practice as a professional nurse. Students who have criminal convictions involving drugs, alcohol, fraud, deceit, falsification of records, a breach of trust, physical harm or endangerment to others, or dishonesty may be ineligible for clinical placement. For more information, refer to the Kentucky Board of Nursing website concerning “Criminal Convictions” https://kbn.ky.gov/Consumer-Protection/Pages/reporting-criminal-convictions.aspx. Students who have questions concerning criminal conviction(s) and clinical eligibility are encouraged to speak with the Director for Undergraduate Programs.
Kentucky has a mandatory Nurse Practice Act that requires anyone who practices nursing according to the definition of the practice in the state Nurse Practice Act must be licensed. Exemptions to this include the practice by students of nursing in their course of study while under the supervision and direction of a clinical nursing instructor, outlined in KRS 314.101(1)(b). During private employment, a student cannot perform nursing tasks (as defined in the Nurse Practice Act) that require professional licensure, unless functioning in