Nurse Extern - Acute Care General Surgery

UNC Health; Raleigh (NC); On-site; USD 20,000 - 29,000; Full time

Job summary

UNC Health's Student Nurse Externship Program at UNC Rex Hospital in Raleigh offers rising senior ADN/BSN students a 10-week, paid summer experience to gain hands-on clinical skills and deepen understanding of hospital-based nursing. Participants work alongside RNs in general surgery units, practicing direct patient care, documentation, and safety protocols in a real-world setting.

This externship emphasizes professional socialization, critical thinking, and teamwork, helping students transition

Qualifications

• Fluent in English, both written and spoken.
• Ability to organize and prioritize patient care tasks.
• Basic computer skills for charting and documentation.
• Lift and move patients and equipment up to 40-50 lbs.
• Ability to stand/walk frequently throughout shifts.
• CPR certification or willingness to obtain.

Responsibilities

• Observe and document patient information; report changes to RN.
• Assist patients and families during admission, orientation, and discharge.
• Provide routine direct patient care and support activities per plan of care.
• Maintain a clean, stocked, and safe clinical area.
• Support teaching and assist in examinations and procedures as needed.

Skills

Fluent English

Organizational skills

Basic computer skills

Lift 40-50 lbs

Standing

Walking

CPR

Education

High school diploma or GED

Enrollment in accredited prelicensure nursing program with anticipated graduation within 12 months

Job description

Description

Student Nurse Externship Program

Launch Your Nursing Career with Hands-On Experience!

Ready to take your nursing education to the next level? Our 10-week, paid summer Student Nurse Externship Program offers rising senior ADN and BSN nursing students an exciting opportunity to gain valuable hands‑on clinical experience, strengthen nursing skills, and explore the dynamic world of hospital‑based care.This immersive experience allows you to build confidence, sharpen your clinical judgment, and develop the skills needed to transition from nursing student to professional nurse.

Invest in your future, expand your experience, and take the next step toward becoming the nurse you aspire to be!

7 West Acute Care General Surgery

The Acute Care General Surgery unit at UNC Rex Hospital is a 30-bed unit averaging a 1:5 nursing ratio and specializes in colorectal and urology services. This unit delivers compassionate, patient‑centered care for those recovering from routine to complex surgical procedures such asadvanced colorectal and urologic procedures andpost‑operative patients following the Enhanced Recovery After Surgery (ERAS) pathway.This unit is staffed with a diverse, multi‑cultural team that values collaboration, inclusivity and mutual respect in addition to being experts in providing patient‑centered care while working alongside dynamic surgeons performing a wide variety of procedures.

Advance Your Skills. Strengthen Your Expertise. Make a Difference!

Your passion belongs at UNC Health. Join more than 56,000 teammates working together to improve the health and well‑being of the communities we serve across North Carolina.

Summary:Thegoal of the Student Nurse Externship experience is to provideprelicensure nursing students with an immersive experience to enhancetheirfoundational nursing education and role socialization within a clinicalsetting. The Student Nurse Extern I (SNE I) position is intended for nursingstudents enrolled in an accredited School of Nursing to function as a member ofthe patient care team.. The SNE I will work with their RN partner as a partnerin practice within their Nursing Assistant I scope of practice.

The Student Nurse Extern I demonstrates the ability to learn and apply the concepts they have been taught in their nursing program to provide technically skilled care in their assigned department. This position provides the chance to work with RNs in a variety of healthcare settings, earning valuable experience that will enhance nursing knowledge and prepare the incumbent for a profession as a registered nurse.

The SNE I reports to the assigned department’s Patient Services Manager or designated Education Leader and works under the direct supervision of an assigned RN partner. The RN partner facilitates and supports learning experiences to enable the SNE to proficiently perform nursing care activities in both complex and non‑complex situations. Provides routine direct and indirect patient care in a hospital, clinic, or home health care setting. All work performed is under the direct supervision of a registered nurse or provider.

Responsibilities:

• Observes, collects, and documents patient information obtained while providing care and promptly report significant changes in the patient's condition to a registered nurse or provider. Participates in the collaborative identification and reporting of patient safety issues.
• Provides assistance to patients and their families during admission to the clinical area, orientation to the hospital/clinic/home health experience, and discharge
• Provides care/ treatments to patients as outlined in plan of care including, but not limited to, the measurement of vital signs, height and weight, specimen collection, skin preps/scrubs, catheter care, capillary blood glucose checks, simple wound care, range of motion exercises, postural drainage, and supportive 1:1 patient and family interactions.
• Provides direct personal care to patients as outlined in plan of care for routine activities of daily living such as bathing, dressing, feeding and assisting with ambulation.
• Provides indirect care to patients and assigned area to include, but not limited to, cleaning the work area, changing linens, re‑stocking supplies, cleaning/sterilizing instruments, transporting patients/ supplies/ specimens, assisting in the orientation of new employees and students, and some routine clerical functions.
• Reinforces routine teaching given to patients by the registered nurse or provider and document patient understanding of instructions.
• Assist providers and other health care providers with routine examinations and procedures, as well as procurement of equipment and supplies during emergency situations.
• In the psychiatric setting, aids patients in reality orientation, participates in behavior modification plans/therapy, provides informal support therapy to patients/families, provides verbal de‑escalation of potentially aggressive patients, aids in the physical management of aggressive/out‑of‑control patients, facilitates age appropriate play for children, and monitors the therapeutic milieu activities on assigned unit to ensure that emotional and safety needs of patients are met.

Other Information

Education Requirements:

• High school diploma or GED required; higher‑level degree may satisfy this requirement.
• Current enrollment in an accredited prelicensure nursing program with anticipated graduation within 12 months time from the start of student nurse externship.

Licensure/Certification Requirements:

• Listed as Nursing Assistant I with the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services.
• Basic Life Support (BLS) certification.

Professional Experience Requirements:

• None required.

Knowledge/Skills/and Abilities Requirements:

• Fluent in verbal and written English language.
• Ability to organize and prioritize assignments in the delivery of patient care. Attainment and maintenance of unit‑specific competencies.
• Basic computer skills.
• Lift and carry 40-50 lbs. Examples: Push/pull patients on a bed, stretcher (requires 29 lbs. push force), lateral transfers up to 50 lbs. of the patient's weight.
• Frequent to continuous standing/walking.
• Patient care providers may be required to perform activities specific to their role including kneeling, bending, squatting, and performing CPR.

Job Details

Legal Employer: NCHEALTH

Entity: UNC REX Healthcare

Organization Unit: Med Surg Nursing Overhead

Work Type: Temporary Full Time

Standard Hours Per Week: 40.00

Salary Range:$18.00 per hour

Pay offers are determined by experience and internal equity

Work Assignment Type: Onsite

Work Schedule: Variable

Location of Job: US:NC:Raleigh

Exempt From Overtime: Exempt: No

This position is employed by NC Health (Rex Healthcare, Inc., d/b/a NC Health), a private, fully‑owned subsidiary of UNC Heath Care System. This is not a State employed position.

Qualified applicants will be considered without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, genetic information, disability, status as a protected veteran or political affiliation.

UNC Health makes reasonable accommodations for applicants' and employees' religious practices and beliefs, as well as applicants and employees with disabilities.