Student Nurse Extern- 3 East - Acute Care Medicine

UNC Health•Raleigh, NC

1d•Onsite

About The Position

The Student Nurse Externship Program is a ten-week, paid summer program for rising senior ADN and BSN nursing students to gain hands-on clinical experience and develop nursing skills before graduation. The Student Nurse Extern I (SNE I) is a prelicensure nursing student enrolled in an accredited School of Nursing who functions as a member of the patient care team within the Nursing Assistant I scope of practice. The role applies concepts learned in nursing school to provide technically skilled care in an assigned department and offers experience working with registered nurses in a hospital, clinic, or home health setting. The extern works with an assigned RN partner, who directly supervises the work and supports learning in complex and non-complex situations. The SNE I reports to the assigned department’s Patient Services Manager or designated Education Leader. The position provides routine direct and indirect patient care, with all work performed under the direct supervision of a registered nurse or provider. The assignment is on 3 East – Acute Care Medicine, a 28-bed unit that supports patient throughput from the UNC REX Emergency Department. The unit cares for patients with a range of medical diagnoses who are expected to be medically stable for discharge within 24 to 72 hours. The team emphasizes holistic, collaborative, patient-centered care, teamwork, and professional growth.

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 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, including pushing or pulling patients on a bed or stretcher and performing lateral transfers.
Frequent to continuous standing and walking.
Ability to perform role-specific activities that may include kneeling, bending, squatting, and 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 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 preparations and scrubs; catheter care; capillary blood glucose checks; simple wound care; range-of-motion exercises; postural drainage; and supportive one-to-one interactions with patients and families.
Provide personal care for routine activities of daily living, such as bathing, dressing, feeding, and assisting patients with ambulation.
Provide indirect care for patients and the assigned area, including cleaning work areas, 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 patients, age-appropriate play for children, and monitoring of therapeutic milieu activities to support patients' emotional and safety needs.