Galen College of Nursing

To whom it may concern,

I have been attending Galen for three quarters. And so far, I have had no complaints, until now.

Personally, I have been extremely happy with Galen, up until this point.

So, to get into it, I am being treated very unfairly to say the least. During this quarter, it has been my goal to complete my clinical requirements, in doing so, I was concerned with completing them by the time of registration. As you know, the covid vaccine is a requirement for clinicals or you can show a religious exemption. As far as my religious beliefs and my own rights, I was opposed to getting the vaccine and was leaning toward a religious exemption, however this all changed when speaking with registration. I was told that certain clinical sites had the opportunity to deny a student the right to participate if they were not fully vaccinated. Then, I was told by two registration employees that upon vaccination, by receiving an initial first dose, I would be able to register, and this was imperative to me, so I immediately went to receive this vaccine.

This was a very big step for me considering I set aside my beliefs and my rights all because I am so dedicated that I did not want the vaccine to hold me back in my education or possibly my future career.

So, I got the vaccine the same day upon hearing this information to ensure my place in registration. I was told it would take 3-5 business days by registration after Galen received the proof from castlebranch, which I was okay with. However, I had been waiting and went to speak with registration once more because it was taking quite some time and I just wanted to make sure things were still going smoothly, but then was told it would take 3-7 business days... so already was told two different pieces of information, which still not that big of a deal, I am understanding of this.

But what has really upset me is that I was still unable to register and had not heard from anyone about submitting my initial dose and why I still had not been able to register when it had been 7 days post Galen receiving the proof. So, I emailed the head of registration my concerns, but was met with entirely new information to me. Jason stated that my vaccine had not been approved because I had to be fully vaccinated in order to register. Nobody had told me this prior. I expressed to him that I was told I only need to have the first dose completed and as long as the second dose would be taken before the start of clinicals, I was good to register. He then continued to express there was nothing he could do for me, and I should've had this done ahead of time, yet I did, and I put aside my rights and beliefs to make sure I got everything done in time. So, after conversing with him and not receiving any assistance or accommodation for being misinformed, I decided to take my matters to somebody hire up in the Galen chain. When going to speak with a clinical specialist, I explained my concerns to her and she confirmed that I was indeed right about only needing the initial dose to register, but just to make sure, she went to confirm this information with another specialist, and came back still saying this was correct information. So, she reached out to Jason about this and was met with Jason saying they had all been misinformed and that the new requirement was that a student had to be fully vaccinated. As all of this has gone on, I have been seeing my classes fill up and I am extremely upset and stressed. This is detrimental to my future here at Galen. I am very dedicated and put in a lot of time and effort not to mention I am paying quite a lot of money, so I expect to be accommodated as a student with a good standing. I reached out to the director of the BSN program explaining my situation and her assistant, and it has been two days and I have still not been left with a response, I even called and left a voicemail to the assistant, no response.

I drive a very far way and work, not to mention, my mom is currently going through chemotherapy and I help take care of her, I planned my schedule to fit my lifestyle because it worked best for me. Little did I know I would be met with no assistance or help and put in this situation.

I decided to reach back out to Jason and he proceeded to tell me there is nothing he could do.

I am beginning to debate my attending here at Galen due to this. Another student had a varicella complication that registration performed an override for so that she could register, and this makes me feel as if I am being mistreated specifically.

Is this how Galen treats there hard-working students?

I have been misinformed by many staff members and am now being punished for this misinformation, it is unfair and unjust.

I am extremely disappointed with the feedback I had received and with how I have been treated. I feel as if Galen staff members are okay with letting their students take the fall for their mistakes.

I have cried and have been extremely stressed out by this, nothing seems to be getting done and at this point I feel so defeated, I just wanted to complain so that hopefully no other students has to be put through this.

This is at the Tampa Bay campus.

I am aware that this states to not put personal information, but just in case this can be resolved, my name is Kayla Macomb and student ID#1059300