According to the tardy policy, how many hours of clinical time are assigned for the first 15-minute interval of lateness?

• A. One hour.
• B. Two hours.
• C. Half hour.
• D. No extra time.

Answer: (A)

Punctuality in the clinical setting matters because even a short delay reduces supervised patient care time and learning opportunities. For the first 15 minutes of lateness, one hour of clinical time is assigned to be made up. This creates a clear, proportional consequence—the initial tardy costs a full hour of scheduled clinical experience—reinforcing that every minute in the clinical environment is valuable. It also sets the stage for how the policy escalates with further tardies, though the first occurrence uses one hour to reflect the impact of missing part of a shift. The other options don’t fit because a half hour would understate the impact, two hours would overstate it for the first incident, and no extra time would ignore the lost clinical experience.