| Course | NU 617 The Nurse Educator Roles |
|---|---|
| Unit | Unit 5 |
| Paper type | Advising and referral protocol |
| Length | About 620 words, 5 pages |
| Format | APA 7 student paper |
| School | Herzing University |
| Program | MSN Nurse Educator |
| Updated | October 2026 |
Free sample paper for NU 617 Unit 5
Advising and Referral Protocol for Faculty Office Hours in a BSN Program: What I Handle, What I Refer, and What Cannot Wait
Student Name
Department of Nursing, Herzing University
NU 617: The Nurse Educator Roles
Instructor Name
March 10, 2026
Advising and Referral Protocol for Faculty Office Hours in a BSN Program: What I Handle, What I Refer, and What Cannot Wait
Purpose and Setting
This protocol is for my office hours as an assistant professor in a composite university BSN program. Nursing students bring more than academic questions to faculty, partly because clinical faculty see them in stressful settings and form close working relationships with them. Nursing students report substantial stress from clinical and academic demands, and social support is associated with how they manage it (Reeve et al., 2013). Clinical faculty also report seeing student stress directly in the clinical setting (Stubin, 2020). The protocol draws the line between academic advising, which is my role, and personal counseling, which is not, and decides in advance what happens with each kind of disclosure.
What Academic Advising Covers in This Program
Academic advising here covers course sequence and progression requirements; the consequences of failing or withdrawing from a nursing course, including the program's two-failure dismissal rule; study approaches for nursing examinations; clinical expectations and how to prepare; planning around employment; and referral to academic support services such as tutoring and the writing center. It does not cover diagnosing or treating personal problems, legal advice, or financial counseling, even when a student's academic problem is caused by one of them.
Disclosures and Responses
The table sets out, for common disclosures, what I handle in the office, where I refer, and how urgently.
| What the student discloses | Handled in office | Referred to | Urgency |
|---|---|---|---|
| Failing a course, confusion about progression | Yes: explain rules, options, and deadlines | Academic advisor for formal plan if needed | Routine |
| Test anxiety, poor study habits | Yes: study strategies, practice testing | Academic success center; counseling center if anxiety is severe | Routine |
| Working long hours, financial strain affecting attendance | Partly: discuss schedule and program flexibility | Financial aid office; basic needs program for food or housing insecurity | Within a week |
| A condition that affects learning or testing | No diagnosis or accommodation by me | Disability services, which determines accommodations | Within a week |
| Persistent low mood, grief, stress beyond ordinary | Listen, express concern, do not counsel | Counseling center; offer to walk the student there or call together | Within days |
| Sexual harassment or assault, dating violence | Listen; explain my reporting obligation before the student shares details if possible | Title IX coordinator, as university policy requires of faculty; confidential counseling options | Same day |
| Thoughts of suicide or self-harm, or intent to harm others | Do not leave the student alone; stay calm and direct | Counseling center crisis line during hours; 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline or 911 if immediate risk | Immediate |
| Impairment at clinical, such as alcohol or drug use | Remove from patient care per policy | Program director and student health; policy process | Same day |
What I Say
Faculty often struggle more with wording than with knowing where to refer. For a referral to counseling: "What you are describing sounds really hard, and I want you to have more support than I can give as your instructor. Can we call the counseling center together right now to set up a time?" For a disclosure that triggers a reporting duty, before the student gives details where possible: "Before you go on, I want you to know that as a faculty member I am required to share reports of harassment with the Title IX office, so they can offer you support and options. If you would prefer to speak confidentially first, the counseling center can do that." For immediate risk: "I am worried about your safety, and I am going to stay with you while we get help."
Privacy
Advising conversations are education records only if written down, and any notes I keep are subject to the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, codified at 20 U.S.C. § 1232g. I record academic advice given and referrals made, not personal details. I do not share a student's disclosure with other faculty except where policy requires, such as the Title IX office or the program director in a case of clinical impairment, and I tell the student when I must share something.
Following Up
Referral is not the end of the protocol. A week after any non-routine referral, I send a brief message asking how the student is doing and whether they were able to connect with the service, without asking for details. College counseling services have seen rising demand, and students referred to them may wait or not follow through (Kitzrow, 2003), so a short follow-up from a trusted instructor can make the difference between a referral made and a referral used.
My Own Limits
I am a nurse, and the temptation to assess and treat a student in distress is real. The protocol exists partly to restrain that impulse. My role is to notice, respond with care, refer appropriately, and continue to treat the student fairly in my course; it is not to become the student's clinician. When I am unsure, I consult the counseling center's faculty consultation line before acting.
References
Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, 20 U.S.C. § 1232g (1974).
Kitzrow, M. A. (2003). The mental health needs of today's college students: Challenges and recommendations. NASPA Journal, 41(1), 167-181. https://doi.org/10.2202/1949-6605.1310
Reeve, K. L., Shumaker, C. J., Yearwood, E. L., Crowell, N. A., & Riley, J. B. (2013). Perceived stress and social support in undergraduate nursing students' educational experiences. Nurse Education Today, 33(4), 419-424. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nedt.2012.11.009
Stubin, C. (2020). Clinical stress among undergraduate nursing students: Perceptions of clinical nursing faculty. International Journal of Nursing Education Scholarship, 17(1), Article 20190111. https://doi.org/10.1515/ijnes-2019-0111
Reading the NU 617 Unit 5 instructions
Unit 5 asks you to develop a protocol for advising students and making referrals. Expect to define what academic advising covers, list common student concerns, decide which you handle and which you refer, set urgency levels, address confidentiality and plan follow-up. Many versions ask about mental health crises and mandatory reporting. Check whether your section expects resources specific to a real institution or a composite. Faculty are not counselors, so the protocol should restrain the urge to treat while still responding warmly. Wording matters, and including what you would actually say makes the protocol usable. FERPA governs records, so explain what you write down and who may see it, and what exceptions apply in an emergency.
How this NU 617 Unit 5 example is built
The protocol opens with purpose and setting in a few lines. The advising section lists what falls within the faculty role in this program. The table is the core, giving each disclosure a response, a referral destination and an urgency level, from same day to routine. The wording section offers sample sentences for referrals, which addresses the hardest part for many faculty. The privacy section explains FERPA in plain terms, including when records may be shared without consent in an emergency. Follow-up is scheduled, which keeps referral from becoming a handoff that ends contact. The final section is reflective and honest, naming the instructor's professional instinct to assess as a risk the protocol exists to manage.
NU 617 Unit 5 rubric: what full points look like
Herzing's rubric for an advising protocol typically scores the definition of the advising role, the range of concerns addressed, referral decisions and urgency, communication, confidentiality, follow-up and writing. Referral points reward accurate destinations and appropriate urgency, especially for safety concerns that cannot wait until the next day. Communication criteria look for wording that is supportive, plain and specific. Confidentiality draws close reading from graders, who check that FERPA and its emergency exceptions are explained correctly and that notes are treated as education records. Follow-up points go to scheduled contact after referral rather than a handoff that ends the relationship. Professional boundaries may be scored within the role criterion. A readable table helps the reviewer. References in APA 7 include the FERPA statute and Kitzrow on college student mental health needs.
Common NU 617 Unit 5 mistakes, and how to avoid them
Advising protocols in Unit 5 most often lose points by leaving out urgent situations, such as a student disclosing suicidal thoughts, or treating them as routine referrals. Another frequent problem is faculty taking on counseling roles they are not trained for, however well meant. Students often describe FERPA inaccurately, either too strictly or too loosely. Follow-up is commonly missing. Wording is absent, so the protocol says refer to counseling without showing how to say it. Resources are listed without hours or contact methods. Finally, address the faculty member's own limits, because graders look for awareness that nurse educators may feel pulled to assess and treat students, and the protocol should say plainly how to resist that pull.
Get a NU 617 Unit 5 example written to your instructions
Send the Unit 5 instructions and the rubric from your NU 617 classroom, plus your program setting and any student services structure you want reflected. We write a custom example with the advising role defined, situations sorted by required response, referral routes named, reporting obligations separated and documentation settled, returned in 24 to 48 hours. The first custom sample is free.
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NU 617 Unit 5 questions, answered
How much should faculty know about students' personal circumstances?
Enough to advise on academic decisions and no more than a student chooses to offer. Circumstances often explain a pattern of absence or a decline in performance, and knowing that helps. What the protocol should prevent is a faculty member collecting personal history as a habit, since information held with no purpose creates obligations and records that nobody planned for.
Is a faculty member ever required to break confidence?
Yes, and the protocol names those situations rather than leaving them to instinct. Threats of harm to self or others, disclosures covered by mandatory reporting statutes, and matters falling under institutional policy on discrimination or misconduct commonly carry duties that override a student's request. Confirm what applies in your state and institution, because these obligations differ and secondary summaries go out of date.
Should the protocol cover students in clinical settings?
It usually has to, because a disclosure at a clinical site raises questions a classroom does not: fitness to practice that day, the site's own obligations, and who at the facility needs to know what. Say what an educator does when a student is not safe to continue a shift, and separate that from the academic consequences, which are decided later through a different process.
Where can I find a free NU 617 Unit 5 sample paper?
You can read the whole NU 617 Unit 5 advising and referral protocol here for free, the disclosure table, sample wording and privacy rules. A custom protocol can be built for your own program and its resources.
Can nursing faculty share what a student tells them in office hours?
Generally only with a legitimate educational reason or the student's consent, under FERPA. Emergencies involving health or safety allow disclosure without consent. This sample explains both and keeps notes brief because they become education records.