Student Nurse Extern I - Pediatric Cardiac Intensive Care Unit

UNC Health•Chapel Hill, NC

1d•Onsite

About The Position

The Student Nurse Extern I (SNE I) role is a temporary, full-time externship for prelicensure nursing students enrolled in an accredited School of Nursing. The program runs May 24 through July 31, 2027, and provides an immersive clinical experience intended to enhance foundational nursing education and support role socialization. The position is based in the Pediatric Cardiac Intensive Care Unit (PCICU), a 13-bed unit within a Level 1 Pediatric Trauma Center that provides specialized care for critically ill infants, children, and adolescents with complex heart conditions. The PCICU team uses a collaborative, interdisciplinary approach and is committed to compassionate, family-centered care. The 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 position provides routine direct and indirect patient care 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 assigned department’s Patient Services Manager or designated Education Leader, while the assigned RN partner supports learning and nursing care activities in complex and non-complex situations. The externship is not an extension of school clinicals; skills such as IV or oral medication administration, assessment, documentation, and NGT or Foley insertion that are performed as a student under a clinical instructor are not permitted. The role requires current enrollment in an accredited prelicensure nursing program, with anticipated graduation within 12 months of the externship start. The position is onsite in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, with a rotating schedule, 36 standard hours per week, and pay of $18.00 per hour.

Requirements

High school diploma or GED.
Current enrollment in an accredited prelicensure nursing program, with anticipated graduation within 12 months from 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.
Fluency 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 pounds; examples include pushing or pulling patients on a bed or stretcher, including a 29-pound 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 need 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 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 outlined in the plan of care, including measuring vital signs, height and weight; collecting specimens; skin preps and scrubs; 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 patients 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 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, support reality orientation, behavior modification plans or therapy, informal support therapy for patients and families, verbal de-escalation, physical management of aggressive patients, age-appropriate play for children, and monitoring of therapeutic milieu activities to help meet patients' emotional and safety needs.