2026 Summer Internship - Nursing Intern

HealthFirst•New York, NY

About The Position

The Summer Internship is a 10-week paid program designed to provide Nursing (RN) students with a structured, clinically oriented learning experience within an urban health plan. Interns apply foundational nursing knowledge in a population health setting while supporting evidence-based outreach, care coordination, and member education for Medicare and Medicaid members. The program is also immersive and interactive, laying a foundation for continued leadership development. Interns do impactful work, collaborating with other interns, employees, and business leaders to solve current operational and clinical workflow challenges, strengthen member experience, and deliver measurable solutions aligned to quality and service goals. Learning Opportunities Exposure to health plan care management operations, interdisciplinary teamwork, and member engagement strategies. Experience supporting initiatives tied to quality outcomes, access to care, and reducing avoidable utilization. Mentorship from nurses and care managers with opportunities to participate in team meetings and project work. Position Summary The Care Management and Clinical Eligibility teams partner with Medicare and Medicaid members—many of whom have complex medical, behavioral, and social needs—to improve health outcomes, member experience, and access to services. The Nursing Student Intern will support outreach and care coordination efforts that promote preventive care, chronic disease management, transitions-of-care support, and linkage to community resources. Member outreach includes both telephonic engagement and supervised home visits, in alignment with organizational policies, safety procedures, and the intern’s scope as a Nursing student. Over the course of the internship, the intern will complete a defined project aligned to departmental priorities (e.g., improving outreach effectiveness, strengthening documentation standards, improving member education workflows, or addressing gaps in care).

Requirements

Currently enrolled in an accredited nursing program (ADN or BSN)
Strong written and verbal communication skills; comfort speaking with members by phone and engaging professionally in the community.
Ability to manage multiple tasks, meet deadlines, and work effectively on a team.
Prior experience requiring proficiency in Microsoft Office (Excel, Word, PowerPoint).
Ability to travel around downstate New York, which includes the 5 boroughs, Long Island, Rockland, and Westchester, for supervised home visits and community-based outreach as needed.
Eligible to work in the U.S. and will not require sponsorship for employment.

Nice To Haves

Must have completed at least one clinical rotation by internship start date (or equivalent school requirement).
Interest in population health, care management, health equity, and/or managed care (Medicare/Medicaid).
Experience (academic or work) in community health, patient navigation, case management support, or customer service.
Multilingual capability based on member population needs.
Familiarity with evidence-based patient education strategies and/or motivational interviewing concepts.

Responsibilities

Conduct supervised outreach with a Clinical Eligibility Nurse or Care Manager (phone and in-person/home visits) to Medicare and Medicaid members for care management engagement, appointment reminders, preventive screenings, post-discharge follow-up, and resource navigation.
Assist with pre-visit planning and post-visit follow-up (e.g., verifying contact information, compiling member education materials, tracking referrals, and confirming next appointments).
Use evidence-informed communication techniques (e.g., motivational interviewing basics, teach-back) to support member understanding of benefits, care plans, and next steps.
Observe and support culturally responsive interactions consistent with health equity best practices.
Escalate clinical concerns, safety issues, or urgent member needs immediately to the supervising clinician per protocol.
Identify barriers to care (e.g., transportation, food insecurity, medication access, health literacy) and escalate to care managers for intervention and referrals.
Assist with transitions of care workflows (e.g., post-hospitalization outreach), including compiling outreach lists and documenting attempted contacts per team standards.
Review outreach attempts and relevant member-reported information in care management systems per policy, including accurate, timely documentation and confidentiality/HIPAA expectations.
Help analyze outreach outcomes (e.g., contact rates, engagement rates, common barriers, referral completion) and summarize findings for the team.
Assist with identifying and tracking gaps in care and quality opportunities (e.g., preventive screenings, chronic condition monitoring) to support program goals (e.g., Stars/HEDIS-aligned initiatives where applicable).
Document current workflows and propose improvements to increase efficiency, member experience, and/or quality performance.
Complies with HIPAA requirements and maintains Protected Health Information (PHI) confidentiality of member, provider, medical and departmental information, and adheres to local, state, federal and Healthfirst specific compliance and regulatory guidelines.
Develop and present a final project readout with recommendations to internal stakeholders.
Additional duties as assigned