Malpractice insurance, the clinical badge and dress for Bradley clinicals

Malpractice insurance: how Bradley covers each practicum

The Graduate Student Handbook says professional liability insurance for each practicum course is provided through course fees. Bradley's online tuition page lists malpractice insurance as a yearly nursing fee, and Bradley's 2017 preceptor webinar told students they buy the coverage through Bradley. The tuition page carries the current amount, which Bradley reviews each academic year.

Because the coverage is tied to the practicum course, it is one more reason to keep every hour inside an approved practicum and inside the semester, as the handbook requires. Hours with a preceptor Bradley has not approved, or before the term opens, fall outside the rules the whole system is built on.

The handbook also flags that when you move or train over a state line, the site's affiliation agreement and the liability coverage attached to it may affect your progression. If your plans cross a state line, raise it with your advisor before the semester starts. Separately, the 2026 handbook says students pay any costs from incidents or injuries at an agency.

Health insurance is a separate requirement

Malpractice coverage answers for claims arising from your clinical work. Health insurance covers your own care. Bradley requires both, and they run on different tracks.

Active health and hospitalization insurance is one of the items in the Graduate Clinical Requirements Policy. The proof follows a set rhythm: first-semester midterm, the term just before your clinicals, then each February 1, with any change of plan reported inside two weeks. The upload happens in Viewpoint; the Clinical Requirements Policy page explains the rest of that list.

Keep an image of your insurance card beside your Viewpoint confirmation. Clinical sites can add requirements of their own during onboarding, and proof of coverage is an easy one to answer when it is already on your phone.

What to wear

The graduate handbook's dress rule is short: professional clothing, a white lab jacket and a Bradley graduate student name badge. The welcome sites say the same thing in their own words for students about to enter clinical rotations.

Bradley's Dress Code for Practicum (updated November 2024) describes the campus undergraduate uniform, so graduate students follow the handbook rule instead. Your site may keep its own expectations, so ask your preceptor before the first day whether the practice has a dress standard of its own or issues its own ID.

Set out the lab coat and badge the night before your first day, and keep Bradley's approval email on your phone in case the front desk asks who you are and why you are there.

Why Bradley students choose us for a ready first day

The placement desk makes sure the preceptor side of that checklist is done early. We collect your preceptor's license, CV and malpractice certificate along with the site address and the course, so the DocuSign packet reaches Bradley complete, and we confirm any site onboarding before your first day.

You bring the badge and the lab coat; we handle the chase for documents from busy practices. We also note what each practice expects on the first morning, from arrival time to who meets you, so day one starts with patients rather than paperwork. Put your track and upcoming course in the form on this page, or see how it works.