Respiratory Care - A.A.S. Degree

Policy for Drug Screening

All applicants will be required to sign and agree to Alvin Community College’s Policy for Drug Screening. 

PURPOSE

• Promote and Protect Patient/Client Safety
• Comply with Clinical Affiliates Drug Screen Requirements
• Detect Illegal Drug Use

DEFINITIONS

Positive Drug Test
A positive drug test means a medically acceptable drug test, approved by Alvin Community College, the results of which indicate the use of illegal drugs.

Illegal Drugs
Illegal drugs include those drugs made illegal to possess, consume, or sell by Texas and Federal statutes. An illegal drug also includes those drugs taken by an individual which exceed the prescribed limits of a lawful prescription or the taking of a prescription drug without a valid prescription.

DRUG SCREENING PROCEDURE

Drug screening is conducted on all student applicants prior to acceptance into the program and a Positive Drug Test will bar admission to the program for a minimum of 12 months. The results of the drug test are generally accepted for the duration of the student’s uninterrupted enrollment in the program unless allegations are made to support reasonable cause that the student is not free of illegal drug use; with reasonable cause the student may be required to submit to further drug screening at his/her own expense. Alvin Community College is responsible for designating and approving the drug testing procedures. The student must complete drug screening at the scheduled time. An unscheduled drug screen will result in an additional expense to the student and conducted at a time and place designated by the college. The student must pre-pay for the drug screen as directed by the Program. The student is required to complete a release directing the company/agency conducting the drug screen test to send the results directly to the Program Director.

When the drug test results are reported by the Medical Review Officer, they are final. Within 10 days of learning of a positive result, a student can request to have their original specimen retested. The request must be stated in writing to Alvin Community College. There will be an additional cost for this process. If the final results change, the student will receive a refund for the requested second testing. Once the drug screen and the GC/MS (Gas Chromotography / Mass Spectrometry) confirmation are completed, and the Medical Review Officer has reported the results of the second set of testing, those results are final and cannot be appealed.

POLICY

When the college determines that a student has a positive drug test, the student is not allowed to attend any clinical agency/rotation for a minimum of twelve months and may affect his/her re- admission to the program. The student with the positive drug test is required to withdraw from the clinical course and all concurrent health, nursing or allied health programs.  Prior to returning to the program, the student must re-apply and be accepted to the program (including re-testing), have a negative drug test, and provide satisfactory documentation to the college of successful drug counseling and treatment, all at the expense of the student. When a student with a previously positive drug test is accepted back into the program he/she will be subjected to unannounced random drug screening at their expense.

Policy for Criminal Background Screening

The purpose of this policy is to:

1. Comply with clinical affiliates who may require a student background check as a condition of their contract
2. Promote and protect patient/client safety

Conduct of Criminal Background Check

Background checks will be conducted as a condition of full acceptance into Neurodiagnostics program. The results will be accepted for the duration of the student’s enrollment in the Respiratory Care program if the participating student has not had a break in enrollment at the college and if the student has had no disqualifying allegations or convictions while enrolled. Alvin Community College will designate the agency selected to do the criminal background screening. Results of the background check will be sent directly to the program director at each college. The student will pay the cost of the background directly to the agency. The student will sign a form indicating knowledge of this policy and their belief that they do not have any criminal history that would disqualify them from clinical rotations.

Unsatisfactory Results

A student with a significant criminal background screen will be ineligible to enroll in the Respiratory Care program.  All criminal background information will be kept in confidential files by the investigating agency and the program director will have access to these files. A student who is convicted of a criminal offense while enrolled in the program must report the offense to the program director within three days of the conviction.

Student Rights

Students sign a release form that gives the program director the right to receive their criminal background information from the agency. If the student believes his or her background information is incorrect, the student is responsible for providing the evidence of the inaccuracy of the information to the investigating agency. The student will not be able to enroll in the Respiratory Care program until the question is resolved. The inability to participate in a clinical experience could prevent a student from meeting course objectives and result in failure of the course.