Student Nurse Extern I - General Medicine Resident Clinic

UNC Health•Chapel Hill, NC

4d•Onsite

About The Position

The Student Nurse Externship runs from May 24 through July 31, 2027, and provides prelicensure nursing students with an immersive clinical experience to strengthen foundational nursing education and support role socialization. The Student Nurse Extern I (SNE I) is intended for students enrolled in an accredited School of Nursing and functions as a member of the patient care team, partnering with an RN within the Nursing Assistant I scope of practice. The externship is not an extension of school clinicals; skills performed as a student under a clinical instructor’s supervision—including IV or oral medication administration, assessment, documentation, and NGT or Foley insertion—are not permitted. The SNE I applies concepts learned in the nursing program to provide technically skilled care in the assigned department and gains experience working with RNs in healthcare settings. The position provides routine direct and indirect patient care in a hospital, clinic, or home health setting. All work is performed under the direct supervision of a registered nurse or provider. The assigned department’s Patient Services Manager or designated Education Leader is the reporting contact, and an assigned RN partner directly supervises the extern and supports learning in complex and non-complex situations.

Requirements

Current enrollment in an accredited prelicensure nursing program, with anticipated graduation within 12 months of the start of the externship.
High school diploma or GED; a higher-level degree may satisfy this requirement.
Listed as a Nursing Assistant I with the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services.
Basic Life Support (BLS) certification.
Fluency in verbal and written English.
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.
Patient care providers may be required to kneel, bend, squat, and perform CPR.

Responsibilities

Observe, collect, and document patient information obtained while providing care, and promptly report significant changes in a patient’s condition to a registered nurse or provider.
Participate in identifying and reporting patient safety issues collaboratively.
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 measuring vital signs, height, and weight; collecting specimens; skin preparation; catheter care; capillary blood glucose checks; simple wound care; range-of-motion exercises; postural drainage; and supportive one-to-one patient and family interactions.
Provide personal care for routine activities of daily living, including bathing, dressing, feeding, and assisting with ambulation.
Provide indirect 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 the patient’s understanding of instructions.
Assist providers and other healthcare providers with routine examinations and procedures, and procure equipment and supplies during emergencies.
In psychiatric settings, support reality orientation, participate in behavior modification plans or therapy, provide informal support to patients and families, verbally de-escalate potentially aggressive patients, assist with physical management of aggressive or out-of-control patients, facilitate age-appropriate play for children, and monitor therapeutic milieu activities to support patients’ emotional and safety needs.