NCSBN Issues Guidance on Unvaccinated Nursing Students

The National Council of State Boards of Nursing (NCSBN) and eight other leading nursing organizations, including AONL, issued a policy brief to guide boards of nursing and nursing education programs that receive requests from students for alternate clinical experiences when a program’s clinical sites require COVID-19 vaccination. The policy brief recommends nursing programs reach out to vaccine-hesitant students and counsel them about the benefits of the vaccination, in order to dispel myths and misinformation students may have. Students who refuse to comply with an institution’s vaccine mandate and do not qualify for reasonable accommodation under disability laws or for a sincerely held religious belief may be disenrolled or prevented from graduating. (NCSBN news release, 9/28/21)