Immunizations, TB testing and health records for SAU clinicals

01The health and training items SAU lists

SAU's two sources overlap but don't match. The catalog is the formal list; the blog post is a checklist of documents students gather before their first rotation. Read them together.

The background check, drug test, liability insurance and RN license are covered on our clinical compliance page. This page is about your health records and training certificates.

02TB testing

The catalog asks for proof of TB testing and stops there. It doesn't say whether SAU wants a skin test or a blood test, whether a two-step test is needed, or how often the result must be renewed. Unlike the background check and drug test, TB testing isn't described as a yearly repeat.

In practice, the clinical site often sets the window. A site may want a result dated within a set period before your first day, so time the test to your practicum start rather than to your admission date.

If you have had a positive result in the past, tell your program early and ask what documentation it accepts in place of a new test. Sorting that out can take longer than the test itself.

03Immunizations and titers

No SAU nursing source names individual vaccines. The catalog says any required immunizations and vaccinations; the blog adds immunization records and blood titers without saying which. MMR, varicella, hepatitis B, Tdap, flu and COVID-19 aren't itemized for clinicals on any SAU page we found.

The only named list is campus-wide and recommended rather than required. SAU's 2026-27 Student Handbook recommends, for all students, the childhood DPT and polio series, the MMR series, the varicella series or a confirmed history of chickenpox, the hepatitis B series, Tdap within the last ten years, and meningitis vaccination. It is a sensible place to start gathering records, not the clinical rule.

Titers take time: a blood draw, a lab result and, if a result comes back low, possibly another dose and a recheck. Start them first.

04Health insurance

Verification of health insurance appears in SAU's clinicals post, not in the 2023-24 catalog's list. Plan to show it anyway, since the post lists it among the documents students gather before a first rotation, and your program's current checklist may do the same.

Ask your program what form of proof it wants, such as a copy of your card or a letter of coverage, and whether a site-specific form is involved. If your coverage changes during the program, update the proof you have on file.

Students who live near the main campus can use Holton Health and Wellness Services, which offers physicals, immunizations and lab draws and bills health insurance. Online students elsewhere will use their own providers.

05OSHA and HIPAA training

HIPAA training is on the catalog's list; OSHA training is on the blog's. SAU doesn't say which course, provider or format it accepts, or how often either must be renewed.

If your employer already requires this training, ask your program whether that certificate counts before you take another course. Keep the completion date visible on whatever you submit, because a clinical site may apply its own renewal window. If the site also runs its own orientation modules, finish those before your first day and keep the completion records beside your SAU file.

HIPAA matters beyond the certificate. Your hour logs, case write-ups and messages about patients all have to leave out anything that identifies a person. See clinical hour logs for how that applies to logging.

06Gathering it all without a scramble

1. Ask for the current checklistSAU's clinicals post says staff and faculty will provide a list of required documents. Request it when your first practicum appears on your plan.
2. Pull the records you already haveYour employer's health file, your own provider and your state immunization registry may already hold most of what you need.
3. Order titers and any doses firstThey take the longest. Then book the TB test so its date suits your practicum start.
4. Collect training certificatesHIPAA, OSHA and CPR/BLS, each with its expiry date noted.
5. Ask the site what it addsYour clinical site may require vaccines or tests SAU doesn't list. Get its onboarding list before the four-week paperwork deadline; our paperwork page explains that deadline.

Under the 2023-24 catalog, you pay for these items and keep current records with the nursing department. Keep a copy of everything you submit.