Rozina Aziz Gaining clinical experience as part of your nursing nurse is essential and often mandated by nursing programs. Through an externship program, which places skills in hospital situations with actual patients, you can get a degree or certification in nursing while getting this practical experience..
Learning more about the role of a nurse extern will help you hone valuable transferable skills, like those for communicating with patients and interacting with other medical skills. In this article, we will look at what a nurse extern is, their duties, places of employment, and salary to help you decide if taking one on board would be beneficial.
What is a Nurse Extern?
A nurse extern is a student in the nursing profession who works in clinics, doctor’s offices, and other medical settings to get work experience and enhance their study. Healthcare labor performed by students is compensated, though at a lower rate than that of licensed nurses with greater experience and a degree or certification.
To guarantee that every patient receives high-quality healthcare, nurse externs offer direct assistance, deliver actual health services, and act as patient supporters. The experience you get as a nurse extern could help you land a job once you graduate from nursing school, or it could lead to a job offer from the facility where you conduct your externship.
What are the job responsibilities of an extern nurse?
The extern’s nurse is to assist the mentor nurse as needed. They assist the senior nurse in performing various tasks, such as drug administration and initiating intravenous therapy. Changing bed sheets, assisting with dental care and bathing, and providing general support are all duties a patient care provider has.
One must have graduated from nursing school, completed a clinical nursing course before the training, and be registered in a nursing program to participate in an externship as a nurse.
In many cases, nurse practicum students perform duties like nursing assistants. Functions include
- Keeping a record of and checking on vital signs
- Collection of blood
- To carry out a catheterization procedure
- Treatment of minor cuts and scrapes
- Collecting samples from patients for laboratory analysis
- Administering treatment through an intravenous line (IV)
- Keeping tabs on what a patient eats and how much
- Exercise, physiotherapy and occupational therapy help patients regain mobility and independence.
- Working in a lab under the supervision
- Notes transcription
- Using Dialysis Machines
- Working in concert with senior nurses, medical professionals, and other nurse externs
- Educating patients and their loved ones on what to expect during operations and how to use medical jargon
- Health data, medical records, and billing details are documented in electronic form.
During your time as a nurse extern, you will be able to put your classroom knowledge into practice, gain confidence in your talents, and hone soft skills like communication, time management, and interpersonal skills with patients and other medical professionals.
Where is a nurse extern able to work?
A nurse extern’s usual workplace is a medical facility. Night shifts, weekend shifts, and holiday shifts are common to provide care for patients around the clock.
You could work at a hospice, caring for people with terminal illnesses or lifelong disabilities, or in an urgent care setting, dealing with patients who are bleeding, having trouble breathing, breaking bones, or have suffered burns.
As a nursing extern, you have the option of working in a variety of other medical settings, such as
- Community health centers
- Medical care centers
- Rehabilitation centres
- Cancer hospitals
- blood banks
- Institutions providing dialysis services
- Health maintenance organizations
- The medical community, specifically hospitals and clinics
As an extern nurse, you could work part-time or full-time, depending on what your school and the place you’re interning at require. Some common patterns for externships in the nursing profession include shifts of 10 or 12 hours with alternating days off.
While many hospitals will hire nursing students working toward an associate’s or bachelor’s degree, some have stricter requirements for the number of years of training and the minimum grade point average before hiring you. Before applying for an externship, it is a good idea to research the prerequisites at the institutions where you would like to work.
What competencies are needed for nursing externs?
There is value in having both technical and interpersonal skills in a nurse extern. Some potential skills for improvement are listed below.
Ethics:
Integrity on the part of an extern nurse is just as important as following the rules and regulations set forth by the nursing board or government agencies to ensure the safety of their patients.
Consistent physical exertion:
As an extern nurse, you should expect to spend a lot of time on your feet, occasionally lift and transfer patients and transport medical equipment.
Empathy:
Understanding what your patients are going through and how they are adjusting to medical trauma is essential for developing empathy for them. Building rapport and trust with patients, their loved ones, and colleagues in the medical field is another benefit of displaying compassion.
Teamwork:
When caring for patients, you must frequently collaborate with other medical professionals such as doctors, social workers, anesthesiologists, and nursing assistants. A cooperative mindset can ease workplace pressures and improve the quality of care provided to patients.
Mathematics:
If you’re an extern nurse, you might take a patient’s blood pressure, draw blood, or record prescription dosages. You probably only have a few advanced math skills but regularly utilize standard calculations, formulas, ratios, and conversion rates.
Applying in-depth thought and careful observation:
To evaluate a patient’s state and spot problems before they get more serious, you frequently observe them as they go through medical ordeals. Listening to patients, seeing symptoms, and discussing medical problems require a keen ear, strong critical thinking skills, and open communication.
Ability to communicate and interact with others:
You interact with patients, their families, doctors, and other staff members daily, so you must convey information effectively and build rapport with these skills. Successful professionals can convey life-and-death information in a way that is clear, accessible, and compassionate.
What are the Responsibilities of a Nurse Extern?
Here are some sample bullet points that can be used as examples of duties listed on nurse extern resumes.
- Plan and oversee ongoing clinics with visiting specialists in ophthalmology, otolaryngology, medicine and surgery, orthopedics, and podiatry.
- Help patients with ADLs, take vitals, conduct assessments, and use a 12-lead electrocardiogram machine.
- Assess new patients at an outpatient oncology clinic by taking their vitals, reviewing their medical histories, and listening to their main concerns.
- Head-to-toe examination, medication assistance, computer charting with a co-signor, and telemetry monitoring are just some of the duties that a “shadow nurse” in the adult medical-surgical field is responsible for.
- Get your ACLS certification to give your patients the best care possible.
- Become certified in advanced cardiac life support, and then volunteer for work in an acute care setting.
- EKGs, CPR, suturing, wound care, Foley care and insertion, and supply stocking are all duties that need to be completed.
- Assist patients with activities of daily living (ADLs), move them around the facility, get them where they need to go and keep an eye on them while they’re in transit.
- Focus on patients in the neuro-intensive care unit.
- Show patients, you care by talking to them.
- Catheter insertion and antimicrobial surgical prep for operative patients.
- EKG and telemetry monitoring allow you to use your critical thinking skills and anticipate your patients’ requirements.
- Ensure that patients subject to restraints and isolation are being monitored by established standards in the field of behavioral health.
- Keep meticulous medication records and lend a hand during CPR for seriously unwell patients.
- Administer cancer treatment, including infusion management and patient education for new cancer patients.
Why Are Externships Beneficial For Nurses?
Experience in the real world:
You can acquire nursing concepts and procedures by attending classes or reading relevant texts. On the other hand, life in the real world is rather different. You need to broaden your horizons and learn about people from other backgrounds.
Although it’s easy to assume that this phrase applies to patients, it encompasses everyone you’ll interact with throughout your employment, from the janitor and volunteer at the front desk to the technician and fellow nurse on the floor and the doctor in the next room.
Blood and urine sample collection are two areas that may be covered in detail during nursing externships. Although you won’t be able to administer shots or start IV lines without a license, you’ll be able to assist with these procedures for real patients.
As a bonus, you could watch patients from when they are in until they are ready to leave the facility for good. These are just some of the many invaluable lessons a nursing student can take away from school.
Multiple job functions are experienced:
You study several approaches to patient care and how to implement them in the classroom. However, hospitals and clinics offer a wide range of services, each of which requires a unique protocol to provide optimal patient care.
For instance, the method used to draw blood from a preterm infant may vary greatly from that used for older children and adults. A nursing externship can be a great way to gain experience in various hospital departments.
Furthermore, a nursing student can gain valuable experience in various healthcare settings, including hospitals, clinics, clinics, laboratories, and other nursing homes, by participating in an extern. These options will give you exposure to various medical fields from which to draw inspiration and ultimately make an informed career decision.
Increase your professionalism in the workplace:
A career in nursing will put you in close contact with people from all walks of life, which is why you must hone your professional skills. Professionalism is helpful in any profession but is especially crucial in nursing. To begin with, our interactions with patients are often more crucial than our actual treatment.
And in a healthcare setting, nursing is all about working together. Most of your coworkers will probably be pleasant and easy to get along with, but there will always be the occasional jerk. Here is where your professionalism shines, allowing you to carry out your responsibilities despite how you may feel. Even the rare challenging patient falls under this category.
Nursing externships are great for expanding your knowledge of clinical skills. Still, there’s no substitute for actual work experience when learning “soft” skills like patient communication, time management, and professional demeanor. These skills can open doors to better employment and greater professional advancement.
Mentoring and their knowledge and guidance:
An excellent professor can teach medical techniques. However, a mentor with relevant experience can help you acquire the skills you need to succeed in the workplace. By participating in an externship, aspiring nurses can gain hands-on experience while learning from seasoned nurses and other professionals in the field.
You may pick up some expert study advice as well. And if you’re lucky, your mentor will be willing to hang out with you after your shift or project is done so you can ask questions and learn more about your new field and how to approach the job search effectively.
You can expand your professional network during an externship, and in certain cases, you might even land a full-time job through your externship. Finally, if a written performance assessment needs to be supplied, request one from your mentor and inquire how you may improve.
Will I Need to Work for Free During My Externship?
The quick response is “no.” College students can earn money while gaining valuable work experience through paid externships. They should also make a real impact on the organization’s mission and values.
What should a college student expect?
Externship programs allow college students to learn in the real world rather than only from textbooks and classroom lectures. Students will be a part of the daily skills of the hospital and gain experience that will be useful even after they graduate.
This way, pre-licensure nursing education can include real-world experience outside the classroom. Although many universities and colleges advertise internship opportunities, only some allow students to obtain practical experience.
Students must first earn their Registered Nurse or Nurse Practitioner credentials to work in hospitals after graduating from these programs. Other restrictions are placed on some programs, such as the requirement that students complete their internships at the same university where they earned their degrees.
Organizational Preferences for Externships vs. Internships in the Nursing Profession?
Internships and work-study programs help businesses quickly train new employees. It is possible to accomplish this by enlisting students on campus for a short period before they move on to greater things. In addition, businesses will have greater leeway in selecting new employees. For the sake of argument, assume that they require assistance in specialized areas such as accounting or billing.
Interns from nearby universities can be hired over the summer or academic year because of their temporary proximity to the university. Internships and externships are offered so that firms can learn about the perspectives of future nurses on the medical care and administrative parts of running a hospital or healthcare company. The information gathered from this survey will help the company better serve its patients in the future.
How long is a Nursing Externship?
Unlike internships, which might continue for a few months or even a year, externships are often quite brief. However, nursing externships can run anything from one day to eight weeks. Typically, these externships are available during the externship breaks of the fall and winter semesters, while some hospitals provide them year-round.
Similar to volunteer work, externships are typically available to those who are still in school or have recently graduated and are curious about the workforce.
What salary and employment opportunities are available to nurse externs?
A nurse extern can expect to earn a median annual salary of $58,121, as reported by Indeed. This figure, however, is subject to change based on factors such as your level of education, work experience, certifications, geographic area, employer, and personal history. As a nurse extern, you may also be eligible to receive overtime compensation.
As reported by the BLS, more jobs will be available in the healthcare sector in the future. From 2019 to 2029, the need for nurse practitioners is projected to increase by 45%, while the demand for registered nurses (RNs) is projected to increase by 7%. These increases are in response to the aging population in the United States and the importance of preventative medicine.
