Student Nurse Extern I - Endocrinology Clinic at Eastowne

UNC Health•Chapel Hill, NC

3d•Onsite

About The Position

The Student Nurse Extern I (SNE I) is a temporary, onsite role in UNC Hospitals Outpatient Center at Eastowne’s Endocrinology Clinic. The externship runs May 24 through July 31, 2027, and is designed to give prelicensure nursing students an immersive clinical experience that complements their foundational nursing education and supports professional role socialization. The clinic evaluates and treats conditions related to hormone-producing glands, including diabetes, thyroid disease, osteoporosis, parathyroid, adrenal and pituitary disorders, and endocrine tumors or cancers; it also provides gender-affirming hormone therapy for transgender and non-binary adults. The SNE I functions as a member of the patient care team and works with an assigned RN partner within the Nursing Assistant I scope of practice. The role provides routine direct and indirect patient care in a clinic setting 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. The RN partner supports learning experiences and helps the extern develop proficiency in nursing care activities in complex and non-complex situations. This 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 under a school clinical instructor’s supervision are not permitted. The program is scheduled for 24 to 40 standard hours per week on a day schedule. Compensation is $18.00 per hour. The position requires current enrollment in an accredited prelicensure nursing program and anticipated graduation within 12 months of the externship start date. Applicants must be listed as a Nursing Assistant I in North Carolina and hold Basic Life Support certification. No prior professional experience is required.

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.
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.
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 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 collaboratively identifying and reporting patient safety issues.
Assist patients and families during admission to the clinical area, 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; skin preparations 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 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 patient understanding of instructions.
Assist providers and other health care providers with routine examinations and procedures, and obtain equipment and supplies during emergency situations.
In psychiatric settings, support reality orientation and 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 help meet patients’ emotional and safety needs.