Editing Herzing Issues: Clinical Placement (section)

=== HU-137: Student R: clinical scheduled at Palmetto General Hospital (Hialeah, FL) with no approval confirmation; last email said not yet approved but would update asap, no follow-up came; I'm so lost, I'm worried; part of multi-site cohort pattern across Florida and Tennessee; Ann Zientara identified as Florida coordinator ===
{| class="wikitable" style="width:100%"
! style="width:12em" | Severity
| High
! style="width:12em" | Status
| CONFIRMED
|-
! Issue type
| Clinical Placement Not Approved / No Follow-Up Communication / Multi-Site Cohort Pattern
! Date added
| 2026-06-02
|-
! Owner
| colspan="3" | Ann Zientara (Florida Clinical Coordinator) / Florida Clinical Placement Team / South Region Clinical Team
|}
'''Finding.''' Student R, a student in the Nursing 2027 cohort, reported in the GroupMe that she had clinical scheduled at Palmetto General Hospital in Hialeah, Florida, but had not received confirmation the site was approved to begin. She wrote asking whether anyone else was set to do clinical tomorrow at Palmetto General, noting that the last email she had received the prior week stated they weren't yet approved to begin but would be updated asap, and that she still haven't heard back, adding that she felt so lost, and separately that she was worried. The last communication she received stated the site was not yet approved but that an update would come soon; no update followed. The GroupMe thread documents that this was not an isolated incident but part of a multi-site pattern across Florida and Tennessee: Student R at Palmetto General; a student, Student BE, whose clinical was in Stuart, Florida, who did not go, emailed, and was then started the following week; an unnamed student who received a not-cleared email for the Clarksville-Vanderbilt location, supposed to start on the 6th; and a student with clinical scheduled in Tennessee who had not received any email and had been emailing for weeks about not having enough information to know where to go. Peers advised each other to email the Florida clinical placement contact, identified as Ann Zientara, and, in some cases, to simply not go and email stating they had received no update. The pattern documents that students across multiple Florida and Tennessee clinical sites were left without confirmed placement approval immediately before scheduled start dates.

'''Evidence.''' Nursing 2027 GroupMe, June 2026. Student R asked whether anyone else was set to do clinical tomorrow at Palmetto General Hospital in Hialeah, Florida, stating that the last email received the prior week said the site weren't yet approved but would be updated asap, and that she still haven't heard back, adding that she felt so lost. Student R separately said she was worried. A cohort member identified as Student BE told her to just dont go and send an email saying she didnt get an update, reasoning that if no update was received she wouldnt know, and said she think Student R would be fine, since that approach worked for Student BE the prior week when Student BE was fine and was started that week; Student BE also advised emailing the Florida clinical placement email, adding that Student BE's own clinical was in Stuart that week. Student R asked whether the coordinator was Ann Zientara, saying she's the one who has been coordinating. An unidentified student, shown only by [phone redacted], stated they received the exact same email for the Clarksville-Vanderbilt location, which was supposed to start on the 6th. Another unidentified student, in Tennessee, stated they had clinical scheduled for tomorrow in Tennessee and hadn't got an email at all, and that today the email finally arrived after weeks of emailing about not having enough information to know where to go. Student: Student R. Source Group: Nursing 2027 GroupMe, Student R and cohort members re Palmetto General Hospital (Hialeah, FL) and multiple Florida/Tennessee clinical sites, June 2026; provided by the reporting student.

'''Reported statement.''' Student R, a student pseudonym, paraphrased asking whether anyone else had clinical the next day at Palmetto General, noting the last email said she was not yet approved but would be updated soon and that no update had come, and expressing that she felt lost and, separately, that she was worried. Other students, including Student BE and unnamed cohort members, described similar not-cleared or no-information situations at Stuart, Florida; the Clarksville-Vanderbilt location in Tennessee; and other Tennessee sites, and advised each other to email the Florida placement coordinator, identified as Ann Zientara, or simply not attend and email that no update had been received.

'''Standards.''' ACEN Standard 5 requires that clinical placements be approved and confirmed before students are scheduled to begin. A student scheduled for clinical the next day at Palmetto General Hospital who has received no approval confirmation, after being told an update would come as soon as possible, documents that the institution did not finalize placement approval before the scheduled start. 34 CFR 668.14 (administrative capability) requires institutions to coordinate clinical placement logistics and communicate approval status to students in time for them to plan. The multi-site nature of the failure, Palmetto General, Stuart, Clarksville-Vanderbilt, and other Tennessee sites, indicates a systemic coordination breakdown rather than an isolated site issue. The fact that students resorted to advising each other to simply not go reflects a breakdown in authoritative institutional guidance.

'''Impact.''' Student R and other cohort members could not determine whether to report to clinical, having received no confirmation that their sites were approved. Students faced the choice of either traveling to a site that might not be ready or not attending and risking attendance consequences. The lack of follow-up after being promised an update as soon as possible left students, in Student R's words, so lost and worried. The cohort-wide, multi-site nature of the failure, Florida and Tennessee sites simultaneously, demonstrates that the placement readiness problem documented for individual students ({{HU|HU-136}} Student K, {{HU|HU-133}} Student A) is a broad systemic failure affecting many students across the program in the same enrollment period.

'''Notes.''' Attributed to student Student R (Palmetto General Hospital, Hialeah, FL). Ann Zientara is identified as the Florida clinical placement coordinator, per Student R's statement that she has been coordinating. Other cohort members referenced: Student BE (Stuart, FL); an unnamed student at [phone redacted] (Clarksville-Vanderbilt, also referenced in the {{HU|HU-136}} notes); and an unnamed student with a Tennessee clinical. This issue documents the cohort-wide pattern; the Janel Rizo not-cleared email is documented separately as {{HU|HU-138}}. Cross-reference: {{HU|HU-136}} (Student K, Ascension Saint Thomas West), {{HU|HU-138}} (Janel Rizo not-cleared email), {{HU|HU-128}} (Week 3 no placement, National Online), {{HU|HU-133}} (Student A), {{HU|HU-134}} (Powell organizational structure), {{HU|HU-071}} (Spring 2025 placement crisis), {{HU|HU-109}} (affiliation agreements).

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