Get ready for your placement

We can’t wait to welcome you to your student placement with us. Before you begin, here are a few things you’ll need.

Complete before your placement

Vaccines

You will need to get the same vaccines as healthcare workers and may be refused a placement if you do not follow Alberta Health Services' public health requirements. Your vaccine records need to be in writing, readable and complete.

Finding vaccination records

Students and instructors may contact their local public health centre for vaccination records. Alberta residents can request their records through MyHealth.Alberta.ca.

International vaccination records

Students need written records from their country of origin. If you do not have these, contact your local public health centre or doctor.

Strongly recommended vaccines

tetanus, diphtheria, pertussis (Td, dTap)
measles, mumps, rubella (MMR)
varicella (chicken pox) (Vz)
influenza (annual) (FLU)
tuberculosis (TST baseline) (PPD)

We also recommend that some health disciplines get vaccinated against:

hepatitis B (Hep B) (HBV)
polio (IPV)
tuberculosis (TB) (PPD)
meningococcal (Men-B Men-C)
typhoid (salmonella) (TYVI)

Verifying vaccination records

The school will collect and verify student or instructor vaccination records. Our student placement team will collect and verify vaccination records for international students or clinicians completing post-specialty education.

Translations

If records are in a language other than English, the student, instructor or school must have the documents translated into English by an accredited translation service. We will also need confirmation from the translation service provider.

Police Information Check and Vulnerable Sector Search

All students and instructors must provide a Police Information Check. You must complete the check within 90 days of your first placement start date. If you are providing patient care, you must also provide a Vulnerable Sector Search.

Original documents will be collected and verified by the school or by our student placement team for international students or clinicians completing post-specialty education.

How to complete a Police Information Check

To request a Police Information Check, go to your local police station and ask for a police check. If you are providing patient care, also ask for a Vulnerable Sector Search.

If you have only lived in the community for a short time, the local police may ask you to have the check done in the last community you lived in.

Translation

If the police check is in a language other than English, the student, instructor or school must have the documents translated into English by an accredited translation service. We will need confirmation from the translation service.

Non-clear results

If a student’s police check or Vulnerable Sector Search is not clear, we will do a risk assessment to see if the placement can go ahead. The student will need to report to their school, and the school can email students@covenanthealth.ca to request an assessment.

Fitness to practice requirements

Students and instructors must maintain their fitness to practice (physical, mental and emotional capacity) throughout the placement. This includes meeting vaccination requirements.

Students also need the required education, theory and preparation before starting their placement.

Accommodations

Tell your school if you have a condition that affects your fitness to practice. The school will complete an occupational health assessment and submit a written accommodation request to us.

We will make every effort to accommodate students. Depending on the case, we may complete an internal occupational health risk assessment. If your condition causes undue hardship or poses a high risk to patients, staff or property, we may decline the placement.

Connect Care access and training

Connect Care is Alberta's health record system. To get Covenant Health network accounts as well as Connect Care training and access:

Alberta students and instructors: Work with your local school.
Out-of-province and international students: Work with our Student Placements team.

Confidentiality, privacy and IT security training

Students and instructors must keep all health information confidential, following laws and policies. To complete information, privacy and IT security training:

Watch this video.
Complete this 30-minute training module.
After finishing the training, students and instructors from Canadian schools should print and sign the Alberta Health Services Confidentiality and User Agreement Form and Covenant Health Confidentiality Agreement form.
After signing these documents:
- Canadian students: Submit them to your school’s placement co-ordinator.
- International students and clinicians completing post-specialty education: Email these signed documents to students@covenanthealth.ca.

Infection prevention and control training

Healthcare workers, students and instructors have an important responsibility to protect patients and residents, visitors, staff and themselves from hospital-acquired infections and harm.

Training module

Before your placement starts, you must:

Complete the PPE and You module and provide the certificate of completion to your educational institution as directed
Watch the How to use alcohol based hand rub and Five effective steps to proper hand cleaning videos

The following are supplementary guidance documents to assist you during your clinical experience:

Basic Life Support certification

Our Basic Life Support (BLS) requirements are dictated by union contracts, position descriptions and program requirements. Email students@covenanthealth.ca if you are not sure if you need BLS training.

BLS for Healthcare Providers — Level C (BLS-HCP(C))

We recommend that students and instructors who provide direct care refresh their BLS for Healthcare Providers — Level C (BLS-HCP(C)) registration every 12 months.

This registration, provided by the Heart & Stroke Foundation, is the standard BLS certification adopted by Covenant Health. A Health Care Provider Level “C” BLS certification from another provider will also meet our BLS requirements.

N95 fit testing

Students who provide direct care must complete mask fit testing every two years. If you have not completed mask fit testing, you could be limited in working with patients and may not be able to finish your placement if there is an outbreak.

For Canadian students, mask fit testing is facilitated by the school before your placement begins. Mask fit testing is not provided by Covenant Health Occupational Health, Safety and Wellness.

Email students@covenanthealth.ca if you are not sure if you need to have current mask fit testing,

Behavioural safety program training

Covenant Health has a responsibility to inform students of potential hazards in the workplace in keeping with Alberta Occupational Health and Safety Legislation and Safety Code. Effective January 1, 2025, behavioural safety program (BSP) education is mandatory for all students completing a placement within Covenant Health patient or resident care areas.

About the program

Our BSP and risk assessment measure the risk of patient-to-worker violence. This program is a clinical practice standard for identifying and communicating safety risks and safe care strategies for patients or residents displaying harassing or violent behaviours. The BSP reduces exposure to patient-to-worker harassment and violence by using screening tools and behavioural safety planning.

The training provides insight into the program’s role in improving safety and covers:

OHS Code Part 2 – Hazard Assessment, Elimination and Control
OHS Code Part 27 (389) – Violence and Harassment
- Violence and harassment are considered hazards for the purposes of OHS Code Part 2

Training module

Before your placement starts, complete the 15-minute non-clinical training module which gives an overview of the program. You must also provide a screen print of the completed module to your educational program.

Abuse and harassment course

We do not tolerate workplace abuse or harassment. Our Workplace Abuse and Harassment policy includes procedures and processes for reporting and responding to abuse and harassment. You should also check with your school for its reporting requirements.

Required learning

The Respectful Workplaces and Prevention of Harassment and Violence policy course supports student and instructor safety during placements. The course will help you prevent and safely respond to worker-to-worker and patient-to-worker harassment and violence.

Orientation and learning tools

For students

We are excited to support your practice education experience. Review our student welcome package to prepare for your placement and to familiarize yourself with why Covenant Health is an employer of choice.

Essential information to review

Liability insurance

Schools need to have insurance for their students and instructors according to placement agreements.

Clinicians completing post-specialty education and students who are not covered under the school’s student placement agreement must have $5 million in professional and general liability insurance. Ask your discipline’s college or regulatory body for provider suggestions.

General liability insurance covers:

bodily injury and property damage
personal and advertising injury
medical payments or tenants’ legal liability

General liability insurance does not cover the above items if they are caused by negligence while providing or failing to provide a professional service.

Professional liability insurance covers bodily injury, except for:

incidental medical malpractice injury
property damage or personal injury specifically due to negligence while providing or failing to provide a professional service

Professional liability coverage is also called errors and omissions liability or malpractice liability.

Alberta workers’ compensation insurance

Students and instructors in Alberta

Students and instructors are covered by the Alberta government’s Workers’ Compensation Board (WCB) policy.

Students outside Alberta

Students from a school outside Alberta but within Canada are covered under Covenant Health’s WCB policy.

International students

International students and clinicians completing post-specialty education are considered on a case-by-case basis. Email students@covenanthealth.ca for questions about WCB coverage for international students.

Living arrangements

Students are responsible for any housing and travel needed for their placement. Some of our rural sites may have housing available. Email students@covenanthealth.ca for more information.

Parking

Parking may be available for students in some locations. Our large urban sites have staff waiting lists, but public transit is available. Students are responsible for parking and transportation expenses.

Storing personal items

Lockers may be available for students and instructors in some sites. For more information, ask your assigned unit.

Identification

The use of identification (ID) badges helps keep our sites safe and secure. Students must show valid school photo ID at all times while on site.

Swipe cards

Some students will need swipe card access to enter the site and locked areas. In these situations, they will need to visit the parking or access office. They will need to show a valid driver’s license and school photo ID to receive the swipe card.

Covenant Health swipe cards must be returned to the site’s parking office at the end of the placement. A $20 fee will apply for lost cards.

Policies and procedures

You’ll be able to access our policies and procedures once you have your network account.

Illness or injury

If you have an illness or injury that affects your placement, contact your preceptor, unit manager, instructor and placement co-ordinator.

If you are injured during your placement, email ohs@covenanthealth.ca, your instructor and your program. We will report the injury to the Workers’ Compensation Board and complete the forms for the injury if needed.

Outbreak protocols and respiratory viruses

Students and instructors must follow Occupational Health and Safety Outbreak Management protocols.

If there is an outbreak, students and instructors who are immunized and mask fit tested can usually continue their placement, unless the risk is considered high (i.e., for Ebola). If you are not mask fit tested or fully immunized, you may be limited in working with patients or may not be able to finish your placement.

Attending work with respiratory virus symptoms

The attendance at work and respiratory virus symptoms standard encourages students and instructors to:

stay home when sick
return to work when their symptoms have improved
mask continuously for five calendar days when they return to work, starting from the first day they are eligible to return to work

Masking directive

Our masking directive has been updated to include all respiratory viruses. The directive reinforces best practices for masking at all Covenant Health sites, and sections 2 - 4 describe enhanced masking requirements at acute care facilities.

Outbreak management

If there is an outbreak, we will:

find out which students and instructors at the unit or facility are immunized and mask fit tested
consider excluding unimmunized students or instructors from the affected areas of the facility
offer protection such as personal protective equipment, antivirals, treatments, vaccines, etc.

Reporting symptoms

If a student or instructor has symptoms consistent with an outbreak, they must follow the Occupational Health and Safety Outbreak Management policies and protocols.

If the preceptor has symptoms, they must follow the outbreak guidelines and protocols, which may affect completion of the placement.

Legislation

Contact

students@covenanthealth.ca