Clearing CastleBranch (myCB) for your practice experience
Before you can start the project behind your Excelsior capstone, the site that hosts you usually wants proof that you are cleared to be there. For many agencies that proof runs through CastleBranch, the compliance vendor whose student portal is called myCB. This page explains what the CastleBranch step covers, what to expect at each stage, and how we keep it from stalling your term.
What is CastleBranch, and why does it show up now?
CastleBranch is a company that healthcare agencies and schools use to run background checks and to track student compliance records in one portal. When you log in as a student, that portal is branded myCB, and it holds your order, your requirements, and your uploaded documents. It is not an Excelsior product, and it is not something Excelsior completes for you. Remember that Excelsior provides no clinical instruction in any program in the School of Nursing, which means the university does not arrange your site or run your background check. The compliance requirement almost always comes from the site or agency that agrees to host your practice experience.
That timing catches people off guard. You have already found a master's-prepared mentor, you have a site that will host your project, and then the site says it needs a background check and current immunizations before you set foot in the building. CastleBranch is simply the tool many sites use to collect and verify that paperwork. The good news is that it is a known, predictable process once you understand what is in the order.
What does a CastleBranch order usually include?
A CastleBranch order commonly bundles three things: a background check, a drug screen, and an immunization and document tracker. The exact contents are set by your site, not by us, so treat the table below as the typical shape rather than a fixed list.
| Component | What it is | What usually affects timing |
|---|---|---|
| Background check | A criminal history search, sometimes with county, state, or federal layers the site specifies. | Often a few business days; longer if records span several counties. |
| Drug screen | A urine screen you complete at a designated collection lab on a printed order form. | Depends on how soon you visit the lab; results then post to myCB. |
| Immunization tracker | Uploads for records such as MMR, varicella, hepatitis B, Tdap, influenza, and a TB screen. | Slowest step if you need a titer drawn or a vaccine series completed. |
| Documents | Items the site may add, such as a CPR card, health insurance, or a signed policy. | Quick once you have the file, but easy to forget until the deadline. |
This is a general picture of a healthcare compliance order and not a statement of your specific site's requirements. Always read the requirement list inside your own myCB order, because your site decides what it needs.
How does the process actually go?
Once your site confirms it uses CastleBranch, you place the order that matches its package and pay CastleBranch directly. The portal then shows a requirement list, each item marked incomplete until you satisfy it. The background check runs on its own in the background. For the drug screen you print an order form and go to the named collection site within the window it gives you. For immunizations you upload records, and myCB either accepts them or flags what is missing or expired.
The step most likely to slip is immunizations. If your records are old, incomplete, or held by a former employer, you may need a titer to prove immunity or a vaccine you thought you already had. A titer takes a lab visit and a wait, and a two-dose or three-dose series can take weeks or months to finish. That is why the calendar matters so much. Below is the sequence we walk students through so nothing surfaces at the last minute.
- Confirm with your site whether it requires CastleBranch and which package.
- Place the myCB order and read every requirement before you start.
- Gather immunization records early and compare them against the tracker.
- Complete the drug screen at the named lab inside the allowed window.
- Watch your myCB status until every item reads cleared, then confirm with the site.
How do we help you clear it?
We treat compliance as part of the placement, not an afterthought. When we secure your practice-experience site, we ask up front whether it uses CastleBranch and what its package contains, so you are not guessing. We hand you a plain checklist of every immunization and document the tracker will expect, and we flag the slow items, the titers and vaccine series, so you can start those first. Then we keep an eye on your myCB progress alongside your mentor and site work, and if something is missing we tell you while there is still time to fix it.
There are firm limits on what we do, and we want to be clear about them. We do not complete the medical steps for you, we do not sign your health records, and we never touch a payment to your volunteer mentor, who serves without a fee. You pay CastleBranch directly for your compliance order, just as any student would. Our placement fee is separate and covers sourcing and verifying your mentor and site and coordinating the affiliation agreement and the compliance timeline.
Start compliance when you start the search. A background check clears fast, but a missing titer four weeks before your project is what stalls a capstone term.
CastleBranch compliance, answered
What is CastleBranch and why does my practice-experience site use it?
CastleBranch, whose student portal is called myCB, is a background-check and compliance-tracking company that many healthcare agencies and schools use. Your practice-experience site, not Excelsior, decides whether it requires clearance. When a site does, CastleBranch is often how it runs your background check and drug screen and stores your immunization and document records in one place.
Does Excelsior require CastleBranch for the MSN practice experience?
Not by itself. Excelsior provides no clinical instruction and does not run your background check for you. The requirement usually comes from the site or agency that hosts your practice experience. If that site uses CastleBranch, you complete its myCB order to be cleared to be on site for your project.
What does a CastleBranch order usually include?
An order commonly bundles a criminal background check, a urine drug screen, and an immunization and document tracker where you upload records such as MMR, varicella, hepatitis B, Tdap, influenza, and a TB screen, plus items like a CPR card or health insurance if the site asks. The exact package is set by the site, so read your order requirements carefully.
How long does CastleBranch clearance take?
A background check often returns within a few business days, but a drug screen depends on when you visit the collection site, and immunization items can stall for weeks if you need a titer drawn or a vaccine series. Because of that variability we recommend starting compliance four to six months before your capstone term, at the same time we line up your mentor and site.
How do you help me clear CastleBranch?
We confirm which package your site requires, give you a checklist of every immunization and document the tracker expects, flag titers or vaccines that take time, and keep an eye on your myCB status so a missing record does not surface the week your project starts. We do not complete the medical steps for you, and we never handle a payment to your volunteer mentor.
Who pays for the CastleBranch order?
You pay CastleBranch directly for the compliance package, the same as any student would. Our placement fee is separate and covers sourcing and verifying your mentor and site and coordinating the affiliation agreement and compliance timeline.
Let us line up the site and the compliance timeline
Tell us your Excelsior program, your city, and your capstone term. We will source your mentor and site and map out CastleBranch so nothing clears late.
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