33 Clinical Attendance Policy
Consistent attendance in the clinical setting is a behavior that the RISP faculty looks for in student radiographers. The RISP faculty strongly encourages students to maintain a good attendance record. The presence of the student in clinic adds to the “professional preparation” of the student.
Although it is possible for a student to achieve minimal technical competence early in a given rotation, the RISP faculty believes that the student will gain considerably from multiple repetitions of radiographic examinations on the variety of patients who may present themselves during the time that a student spends in a particular clinical course. Additionally, consistent student participation in the clinical environment helps the student learn interpersonal communication skills and the teamwork necessary in the radiology work environment.
Attendance is monitored through the Evalue database by clocking in and out. When on clinical assignments, students must report to their assigned areas promptly at the assigned time, in uniform, or in surgery scrubs (if applicable), ready to work. Students must only use approved devices to clock in/out
- Students must clock in through Evalue on a hospital computer upon arrival and clock out on a hospital computer when leaving
- The student’s assigned CP or faculty support person will verify all time, pdays, productivity, etc. Any communication with a CP should match the site the student is attending. Students rotating away from their base hospital will select the appropriate CP and site for the visiting location
- Students must electronically clock-in using the Evalue System by their assigned clinical arrival time
- Students may not clock in and out for anyone else
- There is no grace period for a late clock in
- If a student forgets to electronically clock-in or out, the student must contact their clinical preceptor immediately. Verification from a technologist is necessary
- When students clock out from a clinic day they must put the first and last name of the technologist they worked with the most during their shift in the Evalue notes section
- Students must always put a comment in the notes field if there is unusual activity
- Students are not allowed to work through lunch and clock out early
- Students are not allowed to clock out early if there are no exams to be done. When the department is slow, students should practice and become more familiar with the equipment, especially the control panel. Students can also practice positioning with each other.
- Students should not expect to have time to study or work in Canvas during clinical hours
- Clocking out early and/or before the end of your scheduled shift, will incur the same tardy penalties as clocking in late.
A student who has perfect attendance for a clinical course (using no personal days within the course and receiving no grade deductions for tardiness, or electronic clock-in/out violations) will be recognized with a pin to wear with their I.D. badge. Students with perfect clinical attendance can receive up to five (5) pins during the program. If all five (5) pins are earned, the student will receive a plaque at the graduation convocation. In addition, the student’s perfect attendance record will be shared with potential employers who call or write in for a reference.
Students are expected to arrive to their assigned clinical sites on time. Clocking in late, clocking out early, and/or failure to report to assigned area by the start of a shift, will result in a tardy. There is no grace period given for tardiness. Although faculty understands occasional tardiness may occur; excessive tardiness will not be tolerated.
Please note: continual car trouble, traffic problems, oversleeping, etc. are not acceptable reasons for lateness. In addition, If the assigned clinical area requires the student to be dressed in hospital scrubs, the student must be dressed and ready in those scrubs before clocking in.
Tardiness Policy Violations
- A tardy is defined as clocking in or out one (1) to fifteen (15) minutes late or early. Each tardy will count as a database error.
- Tardies over fifteen (15) minutes will be converted to a half p-day. (If converted to a half p-day, the student is still charged with a tardy.)
- Excessive tardiness is identified as a professional behavior violation and at the discretion of the Clinical Preceptor or Clinical Coordinator. (Refer to Professional Behavior Policy)
Clinical Attendance Policy Violations
If a student fails to report to clinic for at least 50% of scheduled clinical days for an assigned practice area or rotation (i.e. Fluoroscopy, portables, etc.) they will not be evaluated by the supervising technologist in that area or rotation and a failing grade will be assigned for that portion of the clinical course.
The number of days included in each course, and in each practice area or rotation within the course, can be determined from the clinical rotation schedule distributed during each specific hospital orientation.
Failure to report a clinical absence (No Call, No Show) – Students are required to report all types of absences (personal days, funeral days, jury duty, etc.) to their CP as well as document the absence in the Time Tracking system of Evalue . Failure to report an absence to their CP by the start of the shift is considered a No call, No show. This type of absence will incur a full letter grade reduction and a full personal day reduction. There is no appeal mechanism for these reductions. Failure to enter the pday in eValue within the same day of the absence will result in a database error.
A student sent home from clinic – Instances, where students are sent home due to P&P violations, may incur any of the following; a grade reduction, personal time being taken away, the recommendation for probation, or program dismissal.
Clinical Preceptors have the right to send a student home based on the P&P infraction.
Failure to clock in or out on time (Tardy)- Please refer to the Clinical Handbook’s Tardiness Policy mentioned above
Leaving clinic without permission (Cutting Clinic)- A student who leaves clinic without permission of the clinical preceptor, clinical coordinator, or program director will be considered to have “cut clinic”. This type of absence will be penalized with a full letter grade reduction and a full p-day deduction. There is no appeal mechanism for this reduction.
Late reporting of a personal day- A student who fails to report an absence a minimum of 60 minutes before the start of their shift but who is between the 0 – 59 minutes of that hour is allowed a late reporting. Up to two late reports are allowed each semester. Concurrent semesters of late reporting will incur a -1/3 letter grade reduction.
Failure to Clock in or Out- A student who forgets to clock in or out will receive a database error. To avoid a no-call, no-show penalty, the student must provide appropriate verification that they arrived and/or left clinic on time.
Excessive personal day-use- A student who misses more than 10% of the clinical days in a clinical course but does not exceed 20% will receive an automatic grade reduction based on the number of days missed. A student who misses 20% of more of their assigned clinical days will automatically fail the course. There is no appeal mechanism for these reductions. The number of personal days and grade reductions for excessive use are as follows:
| Clinical Course | No reduction (10%) | -1 letter grade | -2 letter grades | Clinical Probation | Failure (>20%) |
| R151/171 | 3 days | 3.5 to 4 days | 4.5 to 5 days | 5.5 to 6 days | >6 days |
| R271/272/270 | 4 days | 4.5 to 5 days | 5.5 to 6.5 days | 7 to 8 days | >8 days |
