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Nursing students, hospitals and the National Guard press lawmakers over vaccine rules and potential fallout
Summary
Witnesses told the committee that clinical site vaccine requirements and federal directives for military personnel are disrupting nursing education and raising personnel and unemployment questions; UAMS and the Arkansas National Guard outlined their policies and legal constraints.
Little Rock — After hours of redistricting debate, members of the State Agencies & Govt'l Affairs Senate turned to a different, urgent topic: who can require COVID‑19 vaccination and what happens to students and workers who refuse.
A father testified he had been forced to consider having his daughter withdraw from the nursing program at the University of Central Arkansas because outside clinical sites required vaccines and UCA would not disclose the list of required sites or seek exemptions on students’ behalf. "She will have to withdraw from college due to this mandate," Chad Bond told the committee, describing his daughter’s high grades and concern that clinical placements were being withheld.
University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) staff told the committee UAMS does not have a system-wide COVID vaccine mandate and that roughly 78% of College of Nursing students are vaccinated.…
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