Attendance Policies

Hondros College of Nursing believes active participation in classroom, lab, online, and clinical experiences is essential for the development of the healthcare professional.

Attendance is expected in all courses. A record will be maintained for each student’s attendance and tardiness patterns in the classroom, on-campus labs, online courses, and clinical settings. Any and all absences put the student’s ability to be successful at risk. A student will be withdrawn from their program when any of the following criteria are met:

• A student fails to post any attendance during week 1; or
• A student has unexcused absences from all classes (including lab and clinicals) for fourteen (14) consecutive calendar days; or
• A student is absent from consecutive classes and/or lab meetings (excluding clinicals), as outlined in the following schedule, for a second time within their program.

Lecture and lab meetings for an individual course count as a separate “meeting” for that week. Courses traditionally offered online are considered as “meeting” once per week.

Excused Absences

The following documented absences may be considered excused for purposes of the attendance policy (see above). Excused absences do not apply to pre-class/out-of-class assignments. Pre-class assignments, by their very nature, are designed to prepare students for specific lecture content and therefore cannot be made up. An excused absence means that a student will not be penalized under the attendance and tardiness policy and will only be considered for purposes of whether or not a student will be administratively withdrawn.

• Court Appearance – Applicable only when a student is mandated to appear in court for an action in which he/she is a third party or witness. Documentation will be required.
• Military Duty – All military personnel requesting an excused absence must submit a copy of their orders to the Campus Dean/Director of Nursing or designee prior to the missed time.
• Illness – In the event a student suffers personal illness or injury, either a written doctor’s note excusing participation in school or documentation of the stay in the hospital will be required.
• Bereavement – Applicable in the event of the death of an immediate or extended family member and not to exceed 3 days. Documentation (e.g. newspaper notice, funeral notice, obituary, or church handout) is required.
• Jury Duty – Documentation required (stamped jury duty form from court).
• Extenuating Circumstance - Approved by the program's Sr. VP of Academics.

Documentation of the above approved excused absences should be presented to the Campus Dean/Director of Nursing or designee upon returning to school, or in advance when applicable. Students receiving funds from any state or federal agency may be subject to the additional attendance requirements of that specific agency.

Classroom, Lab and Clinical Attendance

Students are responsible to ensure they answer roll call or sign the attendance roster for each lecture, lab and clinical. Arriving late or leaving early is considered disruptive conduct per the Student Code of Conduct, and is subject to disciplinary action. Students enrolled in a virtual online lecture option are expected to log into the Zoom meeting at the start of each course lecture session and remain for the duration of the course. Student enrolled in a virtual online lecture option will be required to be present at the campus for quizzes/exams. Attendance for virtual online lectures held via Zoom will be captured by the Zoom Usage Report which show a log in and log out time for each student. Attendance for virtual clinical excursions will be captured on the lesson participation log.

NCLEX® Review Attendance  

Students in their final term of the PN program will complete a two-day NCLEX® review, and students in their final term of the ADN program will complete a three-day NCLEX® review provided by the College. This event is designed to review test-taking strategies and curriculum content in order to increase student success on both the comprehensive and predictor examinations, and the NCLEX-PN® and NCLEX-RN® examinations. Due to the beneficial nature of this review, attendance is mandatory. Attendance will be taken daily. Any absences must be approved by the Campus Dean/ Director of Nursing or designee. If approved, the Campus Dean/Director of Nursing or designee will provide a make-up plan. Completion of the NCLEX® review or the approved make-up must be completed prior to the administration of the final term HESI assessment.

Online Attendance - for Traditional Online Courses Only

Students are required to “attend” an online course through submission of weekly course work in an asynchronous or synchronous format.

Students who were unable to complete online coursework due to a valid, verifiable excuse (per the Excused Absences policy above), but who are still considered as present in the course during the timeframe in which the missed coursework was due, may make up the missed coursework if they provide proof of the excuse to the Campus Dean/ Director of Nursing or designee within five (5) days of the due date of the missed coursework.

Excused absences only allow students to make up missed online coursework with a due date during the time period covered by the excuse, not the entire week for which the student received attendance.

Clinical/Lab Attendance 

Clinical Attendance:

1. All clinical attendance is 100% mandatory. Students are required to make-up all missed clinical time resulting from an absence, tardy or leaving early.
2. Any student not attending a clinical must notify the instructor and/or facility as directed by the clinical facility member prior to the scheduled start time of the clinical experience. A no call/ no show is defined a student who does not call prior to the missed clinical experience. A no call/ no show will receive a critical incident and may not be eligible for a clinical make-up.
3. A student arriving less than 30 minutes late for clinical will be required to make up all missed minutes and will do so at the discretion of the clinical instructor.
4. Any student arriving 30 minutes or more late to clinical will be sent away and required to make up the entire clinical, if approved.
5. A pattern of clinical tardiness or leaving early from clinical may result in disciplinary actions up to and including course failure.
6. Students may only submit one clinical make-up form per term.
7. Make-up clinical time must be approved by the Campus Dean/Director of Nursing or designee. The student will be required to submit a make-up request form with supporting documentation.
8. If there is an extenuating circumstance, one additional make-up may be approved by the SVP of the nursing program with supporting documentation.
9. Clinical make-ups are not guaranteed. Clinical make up dates are determined by the Campus Dean/Director of Nursing or designee.
10. Clinical make-up time that is not granted will result in a failing grade in the course.
11. Students who have not completed the clinical eligibility requirements or specific clinical facility requirements will not be permitted to attend and will not be eligible for a clinical make up.

Lab Attendance:

1. Due to the hands-on nature of the nursing and science labs, material presented may be difficult or impossible to replicate. Some lab experiences are not available to be made-up, and the College is under no obligation to provide make-up opportunities
2. All absences from nursing and/or science lab must be made up.
3. Students arriving less than 30 minutes late or leaving early, will be made up at the discretion of the faculty.
4. A student arriving 30 minutes or greater to lab will be considered an absence, the student will not be permitted to remain, and will be required to make up the entire lab.
5. All time missed resulting from absences, leaving early or tardiness in NUR 166, NUR 167, NUR 221, and NUR 232 must be made up.
6. Students may only submit one lab make-up form per course, per term.
7. Make-up lab time must be approved by the Campus Dean/Director of Nursing or designee. The student will be required to submit a make-up request form with valid, verifiable excuse.
8. If there is an extenuating circumstance, one additional lab miss/make-up may be approved by the SVP of the nursing program with supporting documentation.
9. Approved lab absences must be made up within 14 calendar days of the missed lab. Make-up labs are done at the instructor’s availability and cannot be guaranteed.
10. Lab make-up time that is not granted will result in a failing grade in the course.
11. A pattern of lab tardiness or leaving early from lab may result in disciplinary actions up to and including course failure.

Fitness for Duty Policy

Students assigned to clinical rotations shall be deemed “fit for duty” by the student’s health care provider. If the clinical agency wants to verify the health records of any student assigned to the named agency, those records will be provided upon request.

Students prohibited by a health care provider to participate in lab or clinical due to an illness, accident, or injury must notify the faculty member. A note from the student’s health care provider must be submitted to the Campus Dean/Director of Nursing or designee to verify student’s fitness for duty upon return to classes (lab, clinical). Students may not be permitted to attend lab or clinical without this verification.