Current Students

Compliance & Clinical Onboarding

COVID-19 symptom checklist

When in-person clinicals resume, please review the COVID-19 Symptom Screening and Tracking Guidance document prior to attending any clinical site.

Nursing students must meet Health Sciences and School of Nursing compliance requirements before the start of the program and throughout enrollment. The Office of Clinical Placements (OCP) quarterly monitors:

  • Student training
  • Licensure
  • Policy agreements
  • Background checks, and
  • HSIP immunizations

You will be alerted to pending expiration dates so you can renew immunizations/licensure/etc. and minimize interruption to your research or clinical rotations. However, you are responsible for ensuring that compliance items do not become overdue or are incomplete.

You must be fully compliant 8 weeks prior to the start of the quarter to ensure clinical onboarding can be completed.

Compliance items that require renewal include CPR, TB, TDAP, health insurance, UW Privacy Agreement, and background check and disclosure. If an item expires part way through the quarter, you must renew it before the quarter begins. (This means items like TB may be renewed after only 9 months.)

2023-2024 Compliance Renewal Deadlines

Quarter Compliance items expire before… Due date
Spring 2024 June 6, 2024 Friday, February 9, 2024
Summer 2024 August 15, 2024 Friday, May 3, 2024

Account Holds

Holds will be placed on student accounts when a requirement’s expiration date has passed. Contact your compliance specialist at nscomply@uw.edu for questions regarding account holds.

Please add “HOLD on LNAME ACCOUNT” in the subject line so we can respond to you faster.

Health Sciences Immunization Program (HSIP)

The Health Sciences Immunization Program (HSIP) ensures students enrolled in health sciences academic programs comply with the requirements detailed in the University’s affiliation agreements with clinical and practicum training sites.

Please refer to the HSIP website here for more information about Immunization requirements and FAQ. If you have any questions in regards to Immunization forms, records, rejections from CB, please contact 206.616.9074 or myshots@uw.edu.

Castle Branch

CastleBranchStudents access and submit their School of Nursing Compliance forms and immunization and test result documentation to a web-based system called Castle Branch (CB). The School of Nursing will send instructions for creating the CB account to accepted students, along with deadlines for meeting requirements.

You will be instructed to create 2 trackers with the 2 package codes that will be provided to you. Once you create both accounts, you can access the required compliance forms. All forms should be completed within CB (no paper/email copies need to be sent to the School of Nursing unless requested).

Tracker #1: School of Nursing – Trainings and Certificates

To create your School of Nursing Compliance CastleBranch account:

  1. Go to: https://portal.castlebranch.com
  2. Click Place Order
  3. Enter the appropriate code:
    • UQ79 if you are an undergraduate student (enrolling into ABSN or BSN program) OR
    • UQ78bg if you are a graduate student (enrolling into DNP, PhD, MS, Certificates)
  4. Castlebranch will guide you through creating your account and ordering your national/state background check, as well as the process of submitting your other compliance requirements.
    Email nscomply@uw.edu if you have any questions or rejections made by CastleBranch to any compliance material.
  5. There will be a one-time $96 account setup fee that includes your initial background check. Annual background check renewal will cost $24 and will be good for one year.**

Tracker #2: HSIP – Immunizations

BSN, ABSN, and DNP students must create a second CastleBranch account for tracking immunizations. You should use the same email for both accounts:

  1. Go to: https://portal.castlebranch.com/ux50
  2. Ensure it says University of Washington – Health Sciences Portal at the top
  3. Select “Place Order”
  4. Select the proper department – Nursing – and select the package UX64im: Nursing student
  5. Follow the rest of the prompts
  6. There will be a one-time $43 account set-up fee**
  7. Read through the HSIP Requirements Checklist

**Please contact HSIP at myshots@uw.edu with questions about immunization records or rejections by CastleBranch after submitting immunization records.

Visit the UW HSIP page HERE for for further information regarding your immunization requirements.

Clinical Placements Northwest (CPNW)

Undergraduate students will register for an account with Clinical Placements Northwest to complete additional training modules for clinical sites. Training includes, but is not limited to, bloodborne pathogens, patient rights/safety, and standard precautions.

You will need to complete eLearning modules annually. We prefer that you take the modules during July-August, as you will need to renew them before the start of the next year.

The CPNW website also includes links to site-specific paperwork and onboarding requirements for some clinical sites. If your site is not listed in CPNW, wait to hear from your clinical instructor.

There is a one-time account setup fee of $100 for A/BSN students and $75 for DNP students.**

DNP students

DNP students are only required to create a CPNW account if your clinical site requires it. You will start your clinical practice in the second year of your program during spring quarter. Upon receiving confirmation from your Clinical Placement Coordinator, you should refer to your clinical site’s Canvas page to confirm if your site requires you to have a CPNW account. If there is no mention of CPNW on your site’s canvas page, that means you do NOT need to create a CPNW account. You must check every quarter upon being assigned to a new clinical site for the duration of your program.

Register online

Register for a CPNW account using the appropriate access code below. Allow 48-72 hours for account approval.

For technical support, email support@cpnw.org or nscomply@uw.edu.

ABSN Codes

BSN Codes

DNP Codes

Student 86-36 85-36 235-36
Faculty 86-27 85-27 235-27

How to fill out the CPNW Clinical Passport

Download the CPNW Clinical Passport HERE.

*NOTE FOR DNP STUDENTS- Please include your RN license credentials in the license area on the second page.

Additional Tips/FAQ

Tip #1: Avoid completing sections highlighted in red.

Sections highlighted in red are either unnecessary for this Spring quarter or will be completed by our compliance specialists. Kindly concentrate on filling out only the sections that are not highlighted in red.

*NOTE FOR DNP STUDENTS- Please include your RN license credentials in the license area on the second page.

Tip #2: Refrain from entering dates for submissions pending approval on Castle Branch.

Submissions must receive approval on Castle Branch before your completion dates can be entered into your clinical passport. This means that all requirements must be submitted and approved before you can finalize your clinical passport.

Tip #3: For pending HEP B doses

Keep the corresponding fields blank until you have completed the dose. Meanwhile, proceed to fill out the remaining sections of the HEP B form with the dates of the doses you have already completed. Please note that the HEP B requirement follows its own timeline. If you have not completed your series, you will adhere to the next due dates provided to you on your Castle Branch UX64 tracker until it’s completed.

Tip #4: Clinical passports are required every quarter.
Refer to the compliance deadlines provided above to ensure timely submission of the following quarter’s clinical passport by the specified deadline. Remember, it’s essential to renew any compliance items expiring before the last day of the upcoming quarter (last day of final exam week on UW Academic Calendar) to maintain compliance. Renew by the deadline to facilitate a seamless clinical onboarding process for your upcoming rotations.

Need further assistance?

  • General compliance and CB UQ78/79 questions – nscomply@uw.edu
  • Immunizations and CB UX64 questions – myshots@uw.edu
  • Castle Branch technical support – 888.723.4263 or visit their website HERE.
  • CPNW technical support – support@cpnw.org