Student Nurse Extern- 6 East Medical-Surgical Flex Unit

UNC Health•Raleigh, NC

1d•Onsite

About The Position

The 10-week paid summer Student Nurse Externship Program offers rising senior ADN and BSN nursing students hands-on clinical experience in hospital-based care. The Student Nurse Extern I (SNE I) role is intended for students enrolled in an accredited prelicensure nursing program and provides an immersive experience to strengthen foundational nursing education and support role socialization in a clinical setting. Externs work as members of the patient care team and partner with an RN within the Nursing Assistant I scope of practice, applying concepts learned in their nursing program to provide technically skilled care. The role provides experience working with RNs in healthcare settings and is designed to build nursing knowledge and prepare students for a future career as registered nurses. The position is assigned to 6 East, a 31-bed medical-surgical flex unit caring for medical patients and surgical overflow, including Neuro Spine, Urology, ENT, and General Surgery patients. The SNE I provides routine direct and indirect patient care under the direct supervision of a registered nurse or provider. The assigned RN partner supports learning experiences and helps the extern perform nursing care activities in complex and non-complex situations. The position reports to the assigned department’s Patient Services Manager or designated Education Leader. The work is onsite in Raleigh, North Carolina, for a temporary summer assignment from May 24 through July 31, with a variable full-time schedule of 40 hours per week.

Requirements

High school diploma or GED.
Current enrollment 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 verbal and written English-language skills.
Ability to organize and prioritize assignments in the delivery of patient care.
Attain and maintain unit-specific competencies.
Basic computer skills.
Ability to lift and carry 40–50 pounds; examples include pushing or pulling patients on a bed or stretcher (29 pounds of push force) and lateral transfers involving up to 50 pounds of the patient's weight.
Frequent to continuous standing and walking; role-specific activities may also require kneeling, bending, squatting, and performing CPR.

Responsibilities

Observe, collect, and document patient information while providing care, promptly report significant changes in a patient's condition to a registered nurse or provider, and participate in identifying and reporting patient safety issues.
Assist patients and families during admission, orientation to the hospital, clinic, or home health experience, and discharge.
Provide care and treatments according to the plan of care, including measuring vital signs, height and weight; collecting specimens; performing skin preparations, catheter care, capillary blood glucose checks, simple wound care, range-of-motion exercises, and postural drainage; and providing supportive one-to-one patient and family interactions.
Provide direct personal care for routine activities of daily living, including bathing, dressing, feeding, and assisting with ambulation.
Provide indirect care by 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 the patient's 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 patients, age-appropriate play for children, and monitoring therapeutic milieu activities to support patients' emotional and safety needs.