Immunization Instructions

All College of Nursing students are required to be in progress of completing immunization documentation listed below. Failure to do so will affect the student’s ability to attend clinical or health assessment. Immunization documentation must be submitted directly to the Wilce Student Health Center via MyBuckMD document uploader. If you do not have access to MyBuckMD please email documentation to preventivemedicine@osu.edu.

Documentation must contain the students name and either date of birth or student ID number.  If this is not already included on the documents, please write or type the information on each page before submitting.

If the student is in progress of re-vaccination for Hepatitis B, the student will be considered temporarily compliant; however students are required to submit the necessary paperwork to the Wilce Student Health Center after each step of the immunization process. To begin this process, please email preventivemedicine@osu.edu.

To comply with the immunization requirements, you may use this form or any documentation you have and upload it to MyBuckMD. Be sure to select the 'Health Professional Compliance' tag to avoid processing delays.

Hepatitis B*

To achieve compliance for the Hep B vaccination, the following two requirements must be completed:

Requirement 1: Hepatitis B 2-dose or 3-dose vaccine series

• Documentation of the full two (2) series. The 2nd dose should be administered at least (1) month after the 1st dose.
  OR
• Documentation of the full three (3) shot series. The 2nd dose should be administered at least one (1) month after the 1st dose; the 3rd dose should be administered at least six (6) months after the first dose with a minimum of two (2) months between the 2nd and 3rd doses.
• If there is no documentation of previous Hepatitis B vaccines, the entire series must be repeated before the titer is collected.
  • A positive Hep B surface antibody titer will not be accepted without proof of the vaccine series.
  • Please see note at the end of the requirements for further explanation
• After completion of the 2-shot or 3-shot series, a positive hepatitis B surface antibody test (titer) must be completed and documented.
• If the titer is negative, the series must be repeated and an additional titer must be completed 1-2 months after the last dose of the vaccine.

Requirement 2: Hepatitis B Surface Antibody Test (Titer). You must complete requirement 1 before completing requirement 2.

• The titer must be positive (reactive) and show proper immunity.
• If the titer is negative, the series must be repeated and an additional titer must be completed 1-2 months after the last dose of the vaccine.
  • A single booster dose and a repeated titer is also acceptable as long as the repeated titer is positive. If the repeated titer is still negative, the 2nd dose of the 2-shot series or the 2nd and 3rd doses of the 3-shot series must be given, and another repeated titer must be completed 1-2 months after the last dose of the vaccine.

MMR

• Two (2) shot series, with one (1) month between each injection.
  • Vaccines must be completed after the first year of life.
• Surface Antibody tests for Rubeola (Measles), Mumps Rubella will be accepted in place of the vaccines.

Varicella

• Positive varicella titer
  -OR-
• Two (2) shot series of varicella vaccine, with one (1) month between each injection.

TDap

• One (1) Tdap vaccine is required within the last 10 years.

Two-Step PPD (TB Test)

• An initial two-step PPD test is required
  • 2-step skin test - A 2-step PPD involves getting two 1-step skin tests done in rapid succession, usually about a week apart. The second test will give a more accurate result, based on a "boosting" of the body's response.
  • A TB blood test will also satisfy this requirement. It can go by the following names: Interferon Gamma Release Assay (IGRA), QuantiFERON-TB Gold (QFT-G), and T-Spot TB test.

Returning Students:

• Submit the completion certificate for the Infection Prevention training annually unless you are placed in a high-risk unit.
  High-risk units were identified by the Wexner Medical Center and include the following: Clinical Microbiology (AFB lab and processors); Ear, Nose and Throat; Infectious Diseases; Pulmonary; Pulmonary Diagnostic Lab; Respiratory Therapy (main medical center campus and east hospital).
  • To complete the Infection Prevention training, follow these steps:
    • Log into BuckeyeLearn at buckeyelearn.osu.edu with your name.#
    • Search the exact title for “Infection Prevention Starts With You FY25” in the search bar at the top right corner, then hit enter
    • Choose ‘Staff in Inpatient and ED Settings’ (for undergraduate/prelicensure GE) or ‘Provider’ (for MS/DNP/postlicensure GE)
    • If you are not able to locate the module, please email concompliance@osu.edu
    • Complete the training
    • Save the Certificate of Completion to your computer
    • Submit the Infection Prevention Certificate of Completion through MyBuckMD using the Health Professional Student – Compliance Document tag.
• If there is a history of a positive PPD, a chest x-ray in addition to documentation of a positive PPD test is required.
• The certificate must contain your name and date of birth on the document.

Influenza

• Documentation of an annual flu vaccine administered during the current flu season is due before November 1.
  • Please be sure to include processing time in your timeline for vaccination.
• Students requesting a medical or non-medical exemption for the flu vaccine must submit documentation to Wilce by September 15.

COVID-19

The COVID-19 vaccine primary series is required for students in a clinical or immersion experience, health assessment course, or by an agency hosting educational experiences.

Students seeking a medical or religious exemption must complete this form and submit it to Wilce via MyBuckMD for review. Personal exemptions for the covid vaccine are no longer accepted by the College of Nursing. Although a medical or religious exemption may be approved by the Student Health Center and the College of Nursing, the exemption may not be accepted by a clinical agency. The College of Nursing cannot guarantee that you will be placed in a clinical that accepts COVID-19 vaccination exemptions.

*Important Information Regarding the Hepatitis B Vaccine Requirement

The following information is for students with documentation of a positive Hep B surface antibody titer, but no documentation of the 3-dose vaccine series.

The Hepatitis B requirement for the Ohio State University College of Nursing is based on the CDC recommendations of immunizations for health care professionals and students. These recommendations are implemented to ensure all professionals, students, and the patients themselves are not at risk for becoming infected with or transmitting diseases during their education and clinical rotations. The CDC recommends health care professionals and students provide documentation of both the 3-dose Hepatitis B vaccine series and a positive surface antibody titer to prove that they have long-term immunity to the disease. This is because long-term immunity has only been demonstrated in individuals who have completed a full vaccination series with a positive antibody titer completed afterwards.

For students with a positive titer alone without any documentation of the vaccines, or with less than 3 documented doses of Hep B, we cannot guarantee the student will remain immune throughout the duration of the program. Even though all 3 doses of Hep B were more than likely completed in childhood, for the safety of the student and the patients, a lack of documentation must be treated the same as if they were never completed. With less than 3 doses of Hep B given, the immunity demonstrated in the positive titer could technically subside to a non-immune level at any time. Rather than having the student repeat the titer periodically to check if they are still immune, the protocol is to repeat the Hep B vaccine series, then repeat the titer 1-2 months afterwards to have a full and complete Hepatitis B record. You only need to repeat as many vaccines as needed to have 3 full doses of Hep B on file. If you need to repeat the vaccines due to a lack of documentation of your original series, you will be considered temporarily compliant for Hep B while you are in progress of repeating the shots. Please contact the Preventive Medicine department at Student Health Services for any questions or concerns regarding the Hep B requirement of the College of Nursing.