A nurse at Saint Mary’s University in Halifax is refusing to write notes that would excuse students from academic obligations, according to the Globe and Mail.
Jane Collins, nurse manager at Saint Mary’s, said that after 19 years of writing sick notes for missed exams, she thinks they are a “waste of time.” She said she is not in a position to write sick notes when students come to her claiming they missed an assessment due to illness.
“How do I know, two weeks after the fact, that someone was ill?” Collins told the Globe and Mail.
Some professors at Saint Mary’s require sick notes in order for a student to rewrite an exam, according to Steve Proctor, communications manager at Saint Mary’s.
Students can then go to Student Health Services to get a note for the illness. However, he said these notes could not be written for an illness that occurred weeks before it was reported.
Proctor said Collins is not obligated to write sick notes.
“If our nurse is no longer giving notes based on her many years of experience, then that’s certainly within her right as a member of the medical profession,” Proctor said.
Collins said she thinks the solution lies with the professors.
“I’m thinking that Faculty will be changing the guidelines for medical notes, which is a positive change for students,” she said via email.
At Carleton University, students must see a doctor while they are ill in order to receive a sick note, according to the Health and Counselling Services website. An additional requirement includes speaking to the professor about the problem before requesting the note.
Maureen Murdock, director of Health and Counselling Services (HCS), said medical documentation is required in order to get a deferral for an exam.
“That’s part of the reason that there’s not a lot of wiggle room,” Murdock said. “The exams are set and if you’re too ill to make the exam, you need a note to support it.”
Murdock said professors at Carleton are not obligated to request a medical note in order to grant extensions for assignments throughout the year, although many do.
“I think some do ask for it because they feel it’s their only way of . . . helping them make a decision,” she said.
There is a $15 charge for notes that are issued, according to HCS.
It also specifies that sick notes might not always be issued for minor illnesses, past illnesses that have been resolved, those for which there is no documentation, as well as obvious injuries such as broken bones requiring a cast.
