Nurse Extern - Operating Room

UNC Health•Raleigh, NC

1d•Onsite

About The Position

The Student Nurse Externship Program is a paid, 10-week summer experience running May 24, 2027 through July 31, 2027, for rising senior ADN and BSN nursing students. The program gives prelicensure students hands-on clinical experience, supports the development of nursing skills and clinical judgment, and helps students transition from nursing school to professional practice. In the Operating Room, students join a robust surgical program with separate inpatient and outpatient departments serving adult and pediatric populations. OR West has 12 operating rooms; OR East has 11 operating rooms and 2 procedure rooms. Nurses and surgical technologists provide intraoperative care across service lines including plastics, GYN, GU, general surgery, bariatrics, colorectal, orthopedics, neuro, urology, pulmonology, robotics, and ENT. The Student Nurse Extern I (SNE I) functions as a member of the patient care team and works with an RN partner within the Nursing Assistant I scope of practice. The extern applies concepts learned in an accredited nursing program to provide technically skilled care and gains experience in a hospital, clinic, or home health care setting. All work is performed under the direct supervision of a registered nurse or provider. The SNE I reports to the department’s Patient Services Manager or designated Education Leader, while the assigned RN partner supports learning and care delivery in complex and non-complex situations.

Requirements

Currently enrolled in an accredited prelicensure nursing program, with anticipated graduation within 12 months of the start of the externship.
Listed as Nursing Assistant I with the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services.
Basic Life Support (BLS) certification.
Fluent in verbal and written English.
Ability to organize and prioritize assignments in the delivery of patient care.
Attainment and maintenance of unit-specific competencies.
Basic computer skills.
Ability to lift and carry 40–50 lbs.; examples include pushing or pulling patients on a bed or stretcher (29 lbs. of push force) and lateral transfers involving up to 50 lbs. of the patient's weight.
Frequent to continuous standing and walking.
Patient care providers may need to kneel, bend, squat, and perform CPR.
High school diploma or GED; a higher-level degree may satisfy this requirement.

Responsibilities

Observe, collect, and document patient information while providing care, and promptly report significant changes in a patient's condition to a registered nurse or provider.
Participate in the collaborative identification and reporting of patient safety issues.
Assist patients and families with admission, orientation to the hospital, clinic, or home health experience, and discharge.
Provide care and treatments in accordance with the plan of care, including vital signs, height and weight measurement, specimen collection, skin preparations and scrubs, catheter care, capillary blood glucose checks, simple wound care, range-of-motion exercises, postural drainage, and supportive patient and family interactions.
Provide direct personal care for routine activities of daily living, including bathing, dressing, feeding, and assisting with ambulation.
Provide indirect patient and unit care, including cleaning work areas, changing linens, restocking supplies, cleaning or sterilizing instruments, transporting patients, supplies, or specimens, assisting with orientation of new employees and students, and performing routine clerical functions.
Reinforce routine teaching provided by a registered nurse or provider and document patient understanding of instructions.
Assist providers and other healthcare providers with routine examinations and procedures, and obtain equipment and supplies during emergency situations.
In psychiatric settings, assist with reality orientation, behavior modification plans or therapy, informal support therapy, verbal de-escalation, physical management of aggressive or out-of-control patients, age-appropriate play for children, and monitoring therapeutic milieu activities to support patients' emotional and safety needs.