{"id":557,"date":"2026-05-20T08:37:28","date_gmt":"2026-05-20T12:37:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.gcc.mass.edu\/xnursing\/?post_type=docs&#038;p=557"},"modified":"2026-07-08T07:44:20","modified_gmt":"2026-07-08T11:44:20","slug":"health-requirements","status":"publish","type":"docs","link":"https:\/\/www.gcc.mass.edu\/nursing\/docs\/handbook\/general-policies\/health-requirements\/","title":{"rendered":"Health Status &#038; Requirements"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The Massachusetts Board of Registration in Nursing\u2019s regulation 244 CMR 6.04(3) stipulates that <strong>all candidates<\/strong> for admission to a nursing program are required to provide satisfactory evidence of compliance with the immunization requirements as specified by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health. Additionally, students must complete the requirements of the Centralized Clinical Placement System (CCP) to attend clinical.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Criminal Offender Record Information (CORI) Acknowledgement Form<\/li>\n<li>National background check<\/li>\n<li>CPR certification &#8211; American Heart Association (BLS) only accepted<\/li>\n<li>Verification of health insurance \u2014 All students in the program must have health insurance. A copy of your card must be submitted.<\/li>\n<li>Health requirements\n<ul>\n<li>Student Health Information Release Authorization for Health Occupations Students: You must complete, sign and date this form that allows the college to share your health records with clinical agencies if requested.<\/li>\n<li>Physical Exam: Bring the Student Health History &amp; Physical Exam Attestation form for your program to your healthcare provider to complete for a physical performed within a year of August in the year you are accepted into the program. The form must include the date of the exam and be signed by the provider.\n<ul>\n<li>A change of health status form will be required for changes to the initial physical exam occur.A change in health status includes, but is not limited to, pregnancy, hospitalization, surgery, major injury or illness. The <strong>Return to Clinical Studies Following a Change in Health Status Form<\/strong> must be signed by a medical provider and returned to the <strong>Dean of Nursing<\/strong> before attending clinical or class. If the student anticipates that this change in health status may persist, they should contact Disability Services.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>COVID-19 vaccination \u2014 At least 1 dose of vaccine is required. A dose of the most recent booster formula is also strongly recommended, however the updated booster dose may be declined. Requirements are subject to change at the discretion of the healthcare facilities. If this requirement is updated during your time in the program, you will be required to take the necessary steps to meet the updated requirement in order to continue in the program.<\/li>\n<li>Hepatitis B vaccination \u2014 Completion of a 2-dose [HeplisavB] OR 3-dose vaccination series.\n<ul>\n<li>Three vaccinations over 4-6 months (generally given at birth to age 1 year old) OR two Heplisav-B vaccinations a month apart (available to those 18 years and older)<\/li>\n<li>Positive Hepatitis B surface antibody (anti-HBs) blood titer<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>Tetanus, diphtheria and pertussis (Tdap) \u2014 One vaccination within the past 10 years. This must be the TDaP vaccine; the Td vaccine does NOT meet this requirement.<\/li>\n<li>Meningococcal C \u2014 Only if you are 21 years old or younger; one Meningococcal Conjugate vaccination on or after 16th birthday, OR a signed Massachusetts Department of Public Health Meningococcal Information and Waiver form.<\/li>\n<li>Influenza (flu) \u2014 Seasonal vaccination each September, or a signed standardized form noting a medical contraindication or religious objection.<\/li>\n<li>Measles, Mumps, Rubella (MMR) \u2014 Two vaccinations at least 28 days apart OR, if unable to find evidence of two vaccinations, then a positive IgG blood titer for each disease<\/li>\n<li>Varicella (chickenpox) \u2014 Two vaccinations at least 28 days apart OR, if unable to find evidence of two vaccinations, then a positive IgG blood titer<\/li>\n<li>Annual respirator fit testing \u2014 Respiratory Medical Evaluation completed once prior to starting clinicals, and respirator fit test completed annually<\/li>\n<li>Four-panel drug screen \u2014 Screening will occur between July 15 and August 15 of the year you begin the program (see Drug Screen Policy). As per drug screening policy, random drug testing may occur.<\/li>\n<li>Annual Tuberculosis (TB) Screening \u2014 Choose one of the following two methods during July of the year you are accepted into the program NOT BEFORE, unless you are being tested at work annually.\n<ul>\n<li>One negative IGRA blood test (T-SPOT or QuantiFERON Gold) OR<\/li>\n<li>Two negative skin tests (PPD \/ Mantoux) 1 \u2013 3 weeks apart with documentation of the plant &amp; read dates and induration reported in mm<\/li>\n<li>Two skin tests are only needed if you have not been tested in the past year, but you must be able to provide documentation of your previous test.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>GCC utilizes an in-house clinical onboarding specialist for all students to track immunization compliance and most clinical requirements. Additional requirements are monitored through the Castlebranch screening platform. At the time of your admission you would have received a welcome email from Castlebranch inviting you to set up an account if you do not already have one. In this system you can see additional program requirements and your progress to completion. Castlebranch is only tracking the background checks and drug testing requirements. Each requirement has a deadline to complete. Make sure that your requirements are uploaded to the system and accepted or you will not be enrolled in the program or if enrolled you will not be able to progress in the program.<\/p>\n<p>It is the responsibility of each student to submit original copies of all immunizations to the clinical onboarding specialist, and to keep copies for their own personal files. Although all student health records are completed prior to admission, <strong>each student is responsible for keeping all health records current and updated annually<\/strong>. All student health records are maintained according to Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) regulations.<\/p>\n<p>COVID testing and vaccination requirements are dictated by clinical facilities, not GCC. Students will be notified of any testing requirements by their clinical instructors. Any student traveling to a foreign country while enrolled in the program is advised to refer to the CDC guidelines for health considerations and contact the dean of nursing for further information. If change in health status including but not limited to pregnancy, hospitalization, surgery, major injury or illness, the student is required to submit the <strong>Return to Clinical Studies Following a Change in Health Status Form<\/strong> (see appendices) to the Dean of Nursing. If the student anticipates that this change in health status may persist, they should contact Disability Services.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"parent":227,"menu_order":18,"template":"","meta":{"_is_vendor_doc":"0","footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"doc_tag":[],"class_list":["post-557","docs","type-docs","status-publish","hentry"],"comment_count":0,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gcc.mass.edu\/nursing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/docs\/557","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gcc.mass.edu\/nursing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/docs"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gcc.mass.edu\/nursing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/docs"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.gcc.mass.edu\/nursing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/docs\/557\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":789,"href":"https:\/\/www.gcc.mass.edu\/nursing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/docs\/557\/revisions\/789"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gcc.mass.edu\/nursing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/docs\/227"}],"next":[{"title":"Institutional Disability Statement","link":"https:\/\/www.gcc.mass.edu\/nursing\/docs\/handbook\/general-policies\/institutional-disability-statement\/","href":"https:\/\/www.gcc.mass.edu\/nursing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/docs\/566"}],"prev":[{"title":"Health Insurance","link":"https:\/\/www.gcc.mass.edu\/nursing\/docs\/handbook\/general-policies\/health-insurance\/","href":"https:\/\/www.gcc.mass.edu\/nursing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/docs\/555"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gcc.mass.edu\/nursing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=557"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"doc_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gcc.mass.edu\/nursing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/doc_tag?post=557"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}