Immunizations, titers, TB testing and BLS for UC clinicals

The health items UC checks before clinicals

Immunizations, TB testing and CPR or BLS are all Critical Requirements at UC. The May 2026 Preceptor Guide tells preceptors that UC can verify each student's Basic Life Support certification and University Health Services requirements, which it lists as titers, immunizations, flu and TB testing. Those records must be in order before your first clinical day and stay in order through your last. Keep your own copies too: a site's onboarding can ask for the documents themselves, not only UC's summary.

The 2026–27 Student Handbook says students pay for their own immunizations and titers, and that anything else UC or a site requires counts as well. Order and document deadlines are on our Critical Requirements page; this page covers what the health items themselves involve.

Immunizations and titers

Two UC sources set the list: the College of Nursing handbook and UC Health Services' immunization requirements for the health-sciences colleges, which include the College of Nursing. Read them side by side.

UC's Critical Requirements FAQ refers to positive titers. If a titer comes back negative, ask UC how it wants the item resolved before you book a repeat series, and keep the lab report either way.

TB testing

UC Health Services accepts either an IGRA blood test (QuantiFERON or T-Spot) or a two-step tuberculin skin test with the steps 7 to 21 days apart, followed by an annual TB risk assessment screening. The College of Nursing's Critical Requirements page lists tuberculosis testing without naming a method, so the Health Services description is the most specific UC guidance available.

If you go with the skin test, plan the calendar. Two rounds 7 to 21 days apart are easy to derail with a holiday or a schedule change. UC's older CastleBranch overview said a college administrator could approve a two-step test done outside the window, but that document dates from several years ago, so don't count on it. If timing is tight, ask whether the blood test suits you better.

The flu shot by October 15, plus site-driven extras

The flu vaccine needs the most regular attention, because it renews every season. UC's Critical Requirements materials set October 15 as the date for proof. For a fall clinical that date lands mid-semester, and for spring it has already passed by the time the term opens, so get the shot early in the fall either way.

COVID-19 works differently. UC Health Services lists a primary series as a third-party requirement, the College of Nursing's graduate pages don't list it separately, and the handbook defers to what sites require. Ask each site during onboarding instead of assuming either way; our site onboarding page explains how those site requests reach you.

BLS or CPR: which card UC accepts

UC's Critical Requirements page asks for CPR certification, while the May 2026 Preceptor Guide says Basic Life Support. The Critical Requirements FAQ names the providers UC accepts: the American Heart Association, the American Red Cross and ASHI. UC hasn't said publicly that it requires the AHA course specifically, and a BLS card from any of the three fits both wordings.

UC's older CastleBranch overview asked for a signed card with both sides uploaded, and accepted an American Red Cross IACET certificate of completion in place of a card. Check the current instructions before relying on either detail.

Advanced certifications are track-specific. Nurse-midwifery students need NRP (Neonatal Resuscitation Program) certification and a finished fetal monitoring course before starting Practicum II, ANW8062; see our nurse-midwifery clinicals page. We found no ACLS in UC's AGACNP clinical requirements, no PALS in the pediatric acute care document and no NRP in the neonatal NP document, but a site may still ask, so check during onboarding.

CastleBranch or the Bearcats Health app: confirm where to upload

Here UC's sources leave a gap. The College of Nursing's graduate pages route Critical Requirements through CastleBranch. UC Health Services, though, lists the College of Nursing among the colleges whose immunization form is submitted through the Bearcats Health app. Neither source says which route online graduate students use, or whether they need both.

Before you upload anything, ask your Clinical Site Coordinator or UC's Critical Requirements team three questions: where immunization and TB records go for your program, whether the Health Services form is also required, and how the current CastleBranch purchase hold changes that for your term. Keep the answer in writing.

Keeping dates from lapsing

Most items here expire: the flu shot each season, TB screening each year, CPR or BLS on the date printed on the card. CastleBranch sends reminder emails ahead of each expiry, but a reminder only helps if you read it. Line up every expiry date against your clinical terms at the start of the program.

When we search for a preceptor for you, we ask the site early about its health requirements, so an extra item doesn't surface in week 1 of the term. UC decides on every preceptor and site; our part is the search. Share your track and term in the form if you want us to begin.