STUDENT COUNSELING PROGRAM POLICY

Purpose

The UPMC Shadyside School of Nursing is interested in the health and wellbeing of students and is also concerned about the potential impact nonacademic related problems may have on a student's academic success and performance.

It is the policy of the UPMC Shadyside School of Nursing to establish guidelines for the administration and utilization of the Student Counseling Program (SCP), a full-service student assistance program that exists to promote individual development.  The SCP provides confidential, professional counseling for nursing students who have personal problems that may or could affect their academic study or performance through a wide range of services including assessment, short-term counseling, referral, monitoring and followup

SCP services are free.  If additional counseling requiring referral to an outside resource is necessary, the student is responsible for the costs involved.  However, health insurance coverage can often defray a portion of these costs.  If a referral is necessary, the counselor will take into consideration the student's health care benefits and the student's ability to pay

The SCP is designed to:

• Provide professional, clinical assessment for personal problems such as marital or relationship difficulties, family/child concerns or emotional/behavioral problems in order to form a tentative treatment or Action Plan, and to guide the student to the right level of care;
• Provide brief counseling, consultation and motivation for the student to take steps to resolve the personal problem(s) as early as possible;
• Refer the student, when needed, to appropriate outside resources for further assistance, including HMO networks, community or public providers;
• Provide direct support, guidance and consultation to faculty and administration when they are confronted with difficult student situations, patterns of poor performance by suspected drug or alcohol usage or unusual behavior of any student at any point in the program.

Overview

The Student Counseling Program (SCP) is a confidential assessment, consultation, brief counseling, and referral service for students.  Use of the SCP is voluntary in most cases.

• Should academic performance or conduct of a student be affected, sound management practice requires that the performance problems ge resolved.  Faculty members are encouraged to offer the SCP to students as a tool to help prevent or resolve the impact of any personal difficulty upon academic success.
• Students are encouraged to seek assistance before personal problems begin to affect their work. Early resolution of personal problems is in the best interest of the individual and the School of Nursing.
• Students who utilize the services of the SCP are guaranteed full confidentiality within the limits of the law.  Informational records created in the SCP will not be divulged outside the SCP without the written permission of the student; unless required by law.  SCP records are separate from he student's academic and compliance files.  Only SCP counseling staff member have access to SCP records.
• The program provides consultation to faculty and administration when students with persisted performance/attendance or conduct problems do not respond to the usual ways of intervening.
• Students are subject to the usual disciplinary actions, even if they are using the SCP.  Using the SCP does not jeopardize a student's status or graduation opportunities.
• Faculty are responsible for detecting and attempting to correct deteriorating or unsatisfactory academic performance. The establishment of a Student Counseling Program does not eliminate this responsibility.
• Mentioning the availability of the SCP to students is one means of improving performance.  Faculty should not attempt to determine the existence or nature of any personal problem that may be involved in a performance or conduct issue.
• the presence of a personal problem is not a justification for lowering performance expectations.  If the student is able to be in class or clinical, he/she should be held to the same performance criteria as another student.  If the student is unable to perform his/her duties because of stated personal problem, the student may choose to temporarily withdra2w from the program.

Implementation

Students may obtain assistance through the Student Counseling Program in one of the following ways:

1. Self-Referral  
Students may seek assistance on their own behalf by calling the SCP directly.  in these cases, all communication between the Student Counseling Program staff and the student will be held in the strictest confidence, unless the student requests that others be notified or if disclosure is required by law.  Most SCP clients (85-95%) will self-refer.

2. Faculty Recommendation (Voluntary use)
In those cases when a student is evidencing personal difficulties and performance has not yet been affect, faculty may encourage self-referral to the SCP. The student should call the SCP for an appointment.  The faculty member will not be notified by the SCP since self-referrals are confidential..

To make a recommendation to the SCP, faculty; will encourage students to seek counseling on their own, inform them about the services provided by the SCP and its locations,, provide the student with an SCP brochure, and tell them how to schedule an appointment.

3. Formal Faculty Referral (Voluntary Use)
The use of the formal Administrative/Faculty Referral is driven by a pattern of performance decline by the student and after the faculty's usual informal ways of intervening have be unsuccessful.  Faculty are encourage to make a Formal Faculty Referral to the SCP before or at the time of the Learning Contract process.  If the student refuses to offer of assistance, faculty should remind the student that they (the faculty and the School of Nursing) will focus on the academic and clinical performance with the goal of meeting performance expectations.  The faculty member should call the SCP to alert the SCP that a formal faculty referral is being made.  The SCP counselor will ask the faculty member about the academic or performance difficulty, the consequences that have been discussed and the expected time line for improvement

During the first SCP session, the SCP counselor will reinforce the faculty members observations concerning the performance problem.  For Formal Faculty Referrals only, the SCP counselor will provide the following feedback if able to obtain a Release of information:

• Whether the student made it to the SCP appointment;
• Whether the student is working on a plan to resolve his/her personal problem or does not wish to further participate.

The only way for the faculty to obtain general feedback from the SCP is to make a Formal Faculty Referral.

4. Mandatory Referral
Under very specific and serious circumstances, a school faculty and/or administrator may require the student to undergo SCP assessment and treatment planning.  These circumstances include threats to the safety of the student, threats to other students or threats to the safety of the school or hospital workplace related to the student's behavior, conduct, actions, verbal threats or bizarre behavior.  In addition, a Mandatory Referral  to the SCP is required when a student admits to a faculty member or administrator of having a chemical dependency problem;m,even if there is no evidence of use, diversion, or theft at school controlled substances.  Lastly, a Mandatory Referral to the SCP is used as part of the Drug and Alcohol Policy of the UPMC Shadyside School of Nursing.

When Mandatory Referrals are made, the faculty member should contact the Director or Associate Directors to discuss his/her observations and plan.  The faculty member will complete the "Mandatory Referral Documentation" sheet and submit it to the Associate Director - Admissions, Recruitment and Student Support Services.  This documentation will not become part of the Students permanent record; it will be maintained in a separate file in the Associate Director's office.  Upon meeting with the SCP counselor, the student will be informed that all content of the sessions will be kept confidential.  However, the student will be informed that the counselor will call the faculty member or Director/Associate Director and provide the following information:

• Whether the student has or has not attended the SCP sessions
• Whether the student is following the recommended plan of action
• whether or not the student will need to temporarily withdraw from the program and if so,when and for approximately how long.

No information regarding the nature of the problem or the plan of action will be revealed.  The student may choose to accept or reject an offer or recommendation for treatment services with the understanding that the decision concerning such recommendations will be reported to the referring faculty/administrator.  A refusal to attend required SCP sessions may result in termination.

For Additional Information

Contact a Student Counseling Program counselor with questions on how to deal with performance problem that may be caused by personal problems.

Refer to your SCP Student brochure or the EAP website.

Top of Page