Editing Herzing Issues: Clinical Intensives and Simulation (section)

=== HU-084: OB/Pediatric clinical observation hours fulfilled at public library children's section; institutional validation of pedagogically inadequate 'clinical experience' ===
{| class="wikitable" style="width:100%"
! style="width:14em" | Severity
| High
! Status
| CONFIRMED
|-
! Issue type
| Clinical Hour Quality / Adequacy
! Date added
| 2026-05-05
|-
! Owner
| colspan="3" | Clinical Coordinator / Program Chair
|}
'''Finding.''' Per the tracker's evidence, OB/Pediatrics observation hours required under the Family Nursing course were fulfilled by a student volunteering in the children's section of a public library, and the hours counted toward the total clinical requirement despite having no clinical educational value for obstetric or pediatric nursing care.

'''Evidence.''' Student H (Dec 12, 2024), from the Herzing Direct Entry MSN Facebook Group Export, Dec 2022 to May 2026, Exhaustive Line-by-Line Review of 34,887 lines, 1,350 posts, and 14,112 comments across 8 passes, Volume 7.

'''Reported statement.''' Student H described the Family Nursing OB/Peds hours as self-arranged observation only, called the arrangement a bit of a joke, and said her OB/Peds hours amounted to volunteering in the kids section of a library.

'''Standards.''' ACEN Standard 4: clinical learning experiences must provide meaningful exposure to patient populations relevant to the course objectives. NCSBN Guidelines for Prelicensure Nursing Programs: clinical hours must expose students to appropriate patient care scenarios. OB/Pediatrics clinical hours are designed to provide supervised exposure to maternal-newborn and pediatric patients in clinical settings, not to children in a public library. Counting library volunteering as OB/Peds clinical hours misrepresents the nature of students' clinical preparation to state boards of nursing, which rely on institutional attestations of clinical hours.

'''Impact.''' Students graduating with OB/Peds clinical hours fulfilled by library volunteering have not received the clinical exposure those hours represent. If state boards of nursing require specific clinical hours in OB/Peds settings and those hours were fulfilled by library volunteering, students may not meet licensure requirements (see {{HU|HU-085}} Alabama BON enforcement, {{HU|HU-070}} VA BON hours issue). The requirement that students find their own hours also shifts the institutional obligation for clinical placement to the student, a burden-shift documented across multiple issues ({{HU|HU-072}}, {{HU|HU-081}}).

'''Notes.''' Students found their own OB/Peds observation hours in whatever settings they could access, including libraries, schools, and community programs. The institution accepted these hours without clinical educational value review. Cross-reference: {{HU|HU-080}} (mid-rotation clinical requirement changes), {{HU|HU-070}} (VA BON direct-care hours), {{HU|HU-085}} (Alabama BON enforcement on virtual hours).

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