Student Nurse Extern I - Vascular and Wound Center

UNC Health•Chapel Hill, NC

14d•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 professional role socialization. The Student Nurse Extern I is enrolled in an accredited School of Nursing and serves as a member of the patient care team, partnering with an RN within the Nursing Assistant I scope of practice. The extern applies concepts learned in their nursing program while providing 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 care setting. All work is performed under the direct supervision of a registered nurse or provider. The extern reports to the assigned department’s Patient Services Manager or designated Education Leader and works under the direct supervision of an assigned RN partner, who supports learning and development in nursing care activities across complex and non-complex situations.

Requirements

High school diploma or GED; a higher-level degree may satisfy this requirement.
Current enrollment in an accredited prelicensure nursing program, with anticipated graduation within 12 months of the start of the externship.
Listing as a Nursing Assistant I with the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services.
Basic Life Support (BLS) certification.
Fluent 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, including pushing or pulling patients on beds or stretchers and assisting with lateral transfers.
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 during admission, orientation to the hospital, clinic, or home health experience, and discharge.
Provide care and treatments specified in the plan of care, including measuring vital signs, height and weight; collecting specimens; performing skin preps or scrubs, catheter care, capillary blood glucose checks, and simple wound care; assisting with 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 the work area, changing linens, restocking supplies, cleaning or sterilizing instruments, transporting patients, supplies, and 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 and therapy, informal support therapy, verbal de-escalation, physical management of aggressive or out-of-control patients, age-appropriate play for children, and monitoring of therapeutic milieu activities to help meet patients' emotional and safety needs.