Editing Herzing Issues: Clinical Intensives and Simulation (section)

=== HU-079: Clinical hour requirement of 135 hours is not divisible by standard 12-hour nursing shifts; institutional policy requires students to work an additional full 12-hour shift to capture the remaining 3 hours ===
{| class="wikitable" style="width:100%"
! style="width:14em" | Severity
| Medium
! Status
| CONFIRMED
|-
! Issue type
| Clinical Hour Structure / Inefficient Scheduling
! Date added
| 2026-05-05
|-
! Owner
| colspan="3" | Program Chair / Clinical Coordinator
|}
'''Finding.''' Per the tracker's evidence, the 135-hour clinical requirement for Clinical III and IV is not evenly divisible by 12, yielding eleven shifts of 12 hours plus 3 remaining hours. Institutional policy reportedly does not allow students to work less than a preceptor's full scheduled shift, so students must complete an additional full 12-hour shift to capture those 3 hours, working 12 times 12, or 144 hours, to meet a 135-hour requirement, 9 hours of unpaid, unaccredited overage caused by institutional scheduling design.

'''Evidence.''' Facebook comment by Student CB (Oct 20, 2024), from the Herzing Direct Entry MSN Facebook Group Export, Dec 2022 to May 2026, Topical/Keyword Review, Volume 6.

'''Reported statement.''' Student CB stated that 135 hours does not divide evenly by 12, that the extra 3 hours force another 12-hour shift because the school does not allow shifts shorter than a preceptor's scheduled shift of normally 8 to 12 hours, and called it pathetic that the school could not make the requirement divisible by common nursing shift lengths.

'''Standards.''' ACEN Standard 5: clinical workload must be reasonable and aligned with credit hour definitions. 34 CFR 600.2 (credit hour): clinical hours must reflect a reasonable approximation of work expected per unit of credit; requiring a full 12-hour shift to capture 3 additional hours represents unjustified excess workload. Common nursing education practice structures clinical hour requirements to align with standard shift lengths of 8 or 12 hours to avoid this kind of inefficient remainder.

'''Impact.''' Students traveling significant distances for clinical ({{HU|HU-024}}, {{HU|HU-049}}) bear additional unnecessary travel and lodging costs to capture an extra full 12-hour shift for only 3 hours of credit. Students with documented disabilities ({{HU|HU-024}}, {{HU|HU-025}}) face additional fatigue exposure. The institutional rigidity of not allowing shifts shorter than the preceptor's scheduled shift is itself questionable, since the institution sets the requirements and could allow shorter make-up shifts for the residual hours. The "pathetic" characterization reflects student frustration with unnecessary institutional inflexibility.

'''Notes.''' Verification: review of clinical syllabi for hour structure, and the institutional policy on minimum shift length. A simple structural fix, requiring 132 or 144 hours, both divisible by 12, would resolve the issue. The persistence of 135 hours suggests no institutional review of this design despite student complaints. Cross-reference: {{HU|HU-032}}, {{HU|HU-033}} for related clinical hour total inconsistencies.

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