Frequently Asked Clinical Clearance Questions

For the 2023-2024 academic year, the due date for all students is November 15, 2023.

For students beginning the program in January 2024 the due date is April 1, 2024.

We recommend submitting your package one month before the deadline to ensure time to review and fix any errors. The deadline is strict, and no late submission will be considered.

Uploading means you are adding one of your documents or forms to the website. Submitting means sending your entire clinical clearance package to the clearance team for review. Submitting your clearance package happens once all of your documents are uploaded into the correct sections of the website and the "submit application" button appears on the bottom left of the website. .

No, you can upload as you complete each document, but your clearance package will not be reviewed until all documents have been uploaded AND you click on the “submit application” button on the bottom of the nursing clearance site.

Absolutely not! Upload and submit as early as possible.

Yes, students can sign their documents electronically -  Per the Electronic Commerce Act of Ontario, an electronic signature has the same legal effect as a handwritten signature. Accordingly, electronic signatures on documents confirm agreement with the information provided within

No, electronic signatures by Healthcare Providers are not accepted. Please print documents, sign, save as a pdf and upload to the clinical clearance website.

You upload the documents to the nursing clearance site only after you receive email communication that the website is open. The website link is https://selfservice.nipissingu.ca/Student/Student/NursingApplication.

All documents are only accepted via the nursing clearance site.

You will receive an email confirmation when your clearance package has been submitted successfully. Ensure you click on the “submit application” button on the bottom left of the nursing clearance site.

Go back to the nursing clearance website and ensure you clicked on the “submit application” button in the bottom left corner.

Please allow up to five business days for an email response. If you have not received a response in five business days, please go back and ensure you have clicked on the “submit application” button of your clearance package. The closer to the deadline you submit your package, the longer the response time will be.

Yes, the clearance cycle runs each Fall and is intended to clear all students for clinical during the Winter, Spring/Summer and Fall of the following year. If you have any intention of completing clinical courses in 2024, you must successfully complete a clearance package before the final deadline of November 15, 2023.

Students who are newly admitted to the program in January 2024 are given a special Winter clearance opportunity to be cleared for 2024 with a package deadline of April 1, 2024 to participate in clinical in Spring/Summer or Fall 2024.

No, if you have a "cleared" status from the Fall 2023 clearance cycle, you are considered clear for any clinical course in 2024. Providing you will be completing all your clinical hour requirements before the end of 2024, you do not need to complete a clearance package at this time. If your final consolidation is being completed over both the Fall 2024 and Winter 2025 semesters, you WILL need to complete an annual clearance package.

No, it is the responsibility of the student to ensure that they save all original documents after they have been uploaded to the clinical clearance website.

Please wait for clinical clearance to send a “rejection” email with details on what needs to be fixed to have the form approved. Once a form is rejected you have the opportunity to upload again.

Please email clinicalclearance@nipissingu.ca

You can upload as you complete documents, but your clearance package will not be reviewed until all forms have been uploaded and you have clicked the “submit application” button on the nursing clearance site.

No, we only accept Police “Vulnerable Sector” Checks (PVSC).

The personalized "consent to disclosure" letter is attached to the first clinical clearance email you received with the information about the clinical clearance process.

If you have a postal code that starts with a "M" you have been sent a PVSC application form for the Toronto Police Service (TPS) and an instruction sheet detailing how to submit the application to the TPS to obtain your PVSC instead of the personalized letter.

It can take weeks to months to receive your PVSC depending on the volume of requests that your local police station is receiving. We suggest you request one as soon as you receive your clinical clearance email notifying you that the clearance package is open. To qualify for special consideration at the clinical clearance deadline, the date of request for your PVSC must be within the first 30 days of the clinical clearance website being open i.e. September 1-30th for the Fall clearance cycle.

Yes, you can upload your receipt, but it will only be accepted if it is dated September 1-30 for the Fall clearance cycle.

Yes, as long as it is a PVSC and is not dated prior to September 1, 2024 for the Fall clearance cycle.

No, please scan as a legal sized document or even a continuous document to include both pages. Look under the technical section further down if you need assistance.

To start the eLearning module, go to Worker Health and Safety Awareness in 4 Steps | Ministry of Labour, Training and Skills Development (gov.on.ca) Please remember to download the certificate of completion as a pdf so that you can upload it to the clinical clearance website.

No, we only require proof of completion at present or past, you may upload a copy of your past certificate of completion, and it will be accepted for clearance purposes.

We accept CPR level C, Health Care Provider (HCP) or Basic Life Support (BLS). We do not accept CPR A (Adult)

No, first aid is not required.

No, acceptable CPR must be updated annually for clinical clearance.

No, your CPR must not have an issue date prior to September 1, 2024.

If your employer offers CPR within our clearance timeline, after September 1, 2024, and before the clinical clearance deadline, we will accept it.

Yes, providing it is not dated prior to September 1, 2024.

No, fully online certification is not accepted. The training session must have a face-to-face component delivered by an approved Canadian health care training agency. We do accept bended/hybrid delivery CPR certification that includes both online content as well as a face-to-face hands-on component. We do not accept Blended temporary CPR certificates where the hands-on component has not been completed in addition to the online portion. Blended CPR courses must be fully complete before the final deadline in order to be accepted.

No, extensions are not given for CPR. Additional travel may be required to find available courses.

No, your mask fit is valid for two years, but is required to be uploaded annually to the nursing clearance site. Your mask fit test cannot expire before September 2025.

No, you must meet the clearance deadline.

You can submit either your report from Occupational Health, or the mask fit card/certificate received when mask fit testing is done. Please ensure if double-sided that both sides are submitted. Copies or photos of ID Badges are not accepted.

Ordinarily yes, but we understand that many regions are experiencing supply issues due to the pandemic. It has been necessary to be fitted to other types of masks recently. We will accept other types of mask fittings such as KN95, P100 masks at this time with the understanding if the placement agency you are attending does not carry the mask fit size you have a fitting for, you will need to complete a new mask fit at your expense prior to clinical.

Download the form on the nursing clearance site and follow the instructions to complete the training via BlackBoard. If you still cannot access it, please email clinicalclearance@nipissingu.ca to resolve the technical issue.

Your official certificate or a screenshot of your certificate are accepted. Your score results will not be accepted as they do not include your name or the date of completion.

Yes, you need to complete this training annually to clear for clinical.

If you are using a browser other than Chrome, try using Chrome. If the issue persists, please create your own ticket with the University Help Desk using the Self-Service Ticket Portal (helpdesk.nipissingu.ca).

Any Licensed Healthcare Provider (HCP) can sign, example: Physician, Nurse Practitioner, Registered Nurse, Registered Practical Nurse.

A Licensed Healthcare Provider (HCP) can be any of the following: Physician, Nurse Practitioner, Registered Nurse, Registered Practical Nurse.

A Primary Healthcare Provider is a Physician or Nurse Practitioner.

No, a lab report is not accepted. But you can have the information from the lab report transcribed onto the CDSF and then have a licensed Healthcare Provider sign and date to verify the accuracy of the information.

There is a specific page in the CDSF for Polio vaccination, provide proof of Primary Series Vaccination (Child), or Primary Series Vaccination (Adult).

As long as you can provide proof of starting the series including the upcoming/anticipated dates of future doses, this will be accepted.

One option is to have your Primary Healthcare Provider complete the Polio Vaccination Attestation letter and submit that with your CDSF. If your primary healthcare provider will not complete a Polio Attestation letter and you have insufficient vaccination records, you will need to begin adult series Polio vaccination to complete this requirement.

Yes, you must re-upload the entire document once the error has been corrected and the form has been re-signed and dated acknowledging the updated information.

Yes, every change needs to be signed and dated by a Licensed Health Care Provider.

The flu shot is optional. Students who do not get the annual flu shot will be subject to agency policy, and it may impact your ability to complete clinical. If you have received the flu shot, you are encouraged to submit proof as part of your CDSF.

You can provide a note from your Primary Healthcare Provider indicating the anticipated date(s) of vaccination(s).

Yes, we do not question the date the titre is done. It is up to the licensed HCP if they feel a booster would be beneficial.

Yes, but you will need to include your serum testing results as an additional page in the CDSF section. Also, on the TB page of the CDSF, please document positive or negative and write “see attached” so the clinical clearance team will know to review your serum testing results in lieu of the TST.

Annual chest x-rays are not required, but a Surveillance Letter is. You only need an x-ray if your Primary Healthcare Provider has indicated that you are a moderate or high risk of TB. After an initial clearance package with a positive TST, only an updated TB Surveillance Letter is required with your Renewal Communicable Disease Screening Form.

Yes, as long as you upload a signed CDSF with a note from a HCP stating the above. Ensure it is noted the date of your most recent Covid dose and the anticipated date that you will be able to have your TB test completed.

One step Tuberculosis Skin Testing cannot be dated prior to September 1 annually.

Two-step Tuberculosis Skin Testing cannot be dated prior to September 1. If you have received a two-step TB test in the past, you will need to provide the dates of your past two-step TB test, and a current one-step TB test will be required.

The COVID-19 vaccine is mandatory. Clinical placement is considered high risk as per Nipissing University’s COVID-19 Policy, Nipissing University School of Nursing policy and our affiliated placement agency policies. You are required to upload your vaccine certificate that includes the QR code, name and date of each dose received to the designated area on the nursing clearance site as one PDF document.

A request for an exemption to the Covid19 vaccine must be requested and approved through the School of Nursing - Clinical Clearance at clinicalclearance@nipissingu.ca

Please upload your exemption email to the nursing clearance site. 

Yes, as long as you upload a signed CDSF with a note from an HCP stating the above. Ensure it is noted the date of your most recent Covid19 dose and the anticipated date that you will be able to have your TB test completed.

You can provide a note from your Primary Healthcare Provider indicating the anticipated date(s) of vaccination(s). Any Covid19 vaccination exemptions/extension must be requested and approved through the School of Nursing -  Clinical Clearance.

There are many options for this, but your documents need to be saved as PDFs for uploading. On your PC, Mac, iPhone or Android phone, you can download “free” scanner apps. Ex. Adobe. There are also businesses such as your local library or Staples that provide scanning services.

Yes, if the picture is converted to a pdf and the entire document must be clearly visible.

No, it must be scanned as one legal sized document. The scanner apps will allow for legal sized document scanning.

No, the file format must be PDF.

Yes, you can click on the button “view uploaded form.” If you need to re-upload, click on “re-upload form.” We encourage you to review all of your uploaded documents prior to submitting your completed package.

Your files may need to be compressed. You can do this for free using the online Adobe app. 

If you are certain that your document is already in PDF format and less than 10 MB, it is possible that your browser needs to refresh the nursing clearance site page. Please use the sign-out button on the upper right-hand side of the screen to sign out completely. Now clear your browser’s cache for “all time” not just for the last day/hour. After clearing your cache, exit out of the browser completely before launching a new session and logging back in. If you receive the same error, please try using a different browser (i.e. Google Chrome, Safari, Firefox) before making another attempt.

For instructions on clearing your browser's cache, please contact Technology Services by telephone to 705-474-3450 ext. 4342 or put in a ticket with UTS at https://helpdesk.nipissingu.ca.

If you have taken the troubleshooting steps above and are still receiving the the same error message, please create a helpdesk ticket with UTS at  https://helpdesk.nipissingu.ca.

No, all documents need to be uploaded separately into their specific section for review. i.e. PVSC needs to be the only documents uploaded into the PVSC section on the clearance website.