Student Nurse Extern- 3 East - Acute Care Medicine

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

Job summary

UNC Health in Raleigh, NC, is offering a ten-week Student Nurse Externship for rising senior ADN and BSN students. Externs work with RNs in a hospital setting, gaining hands-on patient care experience and exposure to multiple specialties.

This paid summer externship emphasizes teamwork, safety, and professional growth as you progress toward nursing licensure. The position is located in 3 East - Acute Care Medicine at UNC Rex Healthcare, Raleigh, with a 40-hour work week and dates May 24–July 31.

Qualifications

• High School Diploma or GED required.
• Currently enrolled in an accredited prelicensure nursing program with expected graduation within 12 months.
• Must be fluent in English (verbal and written).
• Ability to lift and move up to 40–50 lbs and stand for long periods.
• Basic computer skills and documentation in a healthcare setting.

Responsibilities

• Observes, collects, and documents patient information, reporting changes to a nurse or provider.
• Assists patients and families during admission, orientation, and discharge.
• Provides care/treatments per plan of care, including vital signs, measurements, specimens, wound care, and ROM exercises.
• Provides direct personal care for activities of daily living such as bathing, dressing, feeding and ambulation.
• Provides indirect care: cleaning, restocking supplies, transporting, and orienting new staff.
• Performs routine clerical tasks and documentation as required.
• Collaborates with interdisciplinary healthcare team to ensure comprehensive patient care.
• Identifies areas for improvement and suggests solutions to enhance patient care processes.
• Reinforces patient teaching and documents understanding.
• Assists providers with routine examinations and procedures, and procures equipment during emergencies.
• In psychiatric settings, supports therapy, de-escalation, and therapeutic milieu activities.

Skills

English fluency

Organizational skills

Basic computer skills

Physical stamina

CPR certification

Education

High School Diploma/GED

Prelicensure nursing program enrollment

Job description

Student Nurse Externship Program

Program Overview: Looking to gain hands‑on clinical experience and build your nursing skills before graduation? Our ten‑week, paid summer externship program is the perfect opportunity for rising senior ADN and BSN nursing students. As a Student Nurse Extern, you'll work alongside experienced Registered Nurses in a dynamic hospital setting, participating in patient care and observing various specialties.

Become part of an inclusive organization with over 40,000 diverse employees, whose mission is to improve the health and well‑being of the unique communities we serve.

3 East - Acute Care Medicine- is a 28 bed unit created to help facilitate throughput for the UNC REX Emergency Department. Our patients are admitted with a wide variety of medical diagnoses including but not limited to TIA, falls, syncope, nausea and vomiting, cellulitis, anemia and flu. Patients admitted to 3 East should be medically stable for discharge within 24 to 72 hours from admission. Our attending providers are within the UNC REX Hospitalist group. Our team provides holistic, collaborative, patient-centered care.

The staff on 3 East is dedicated not only to exceptional patient care but to the care of one another. Being observant of co-workers and stepping in when needed reflects our focus on teamwork and supporting each other. 3 East Leadership and the entire UNC REX Healthcare team supports a positive environment with professional growth opportunities to advance up the clinical ladder.

Summary:

The goal of the Student Nurse Externship experience is to provide prelicensure nursing students with an immersive experience to enhance their foundational nursing education and role socialization within a clinical setting. The Student Nurse Extern I (SNE I) position is intended for nursing students enrolled in an accredited School of Nursing to function as a member of the patient care team. The SNE I will work with their RN partner as a partner in 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.
• Provides routine clerical functions such as documentation, record keeping, and any additional administrative tasks as required.
• Provides collaborative care with interdisciplinary healthcare team members to ensure comprehensive patient care.
• Identifies potential areas for improvement and suggests solutions to enhance patient care processes.
• 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/GED
• 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: Intermediate and ICU Nursing Overhead

Work Type: Temporary Full Time

Standard Hours Per Week: 40.00

Salary:$18.00

Pay offers are determined by experience and internal equity

Work Assignment Type: Onsite

Work Schedule: Variable (Dates- May 24-July 31)

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 their race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, or status as a protected veteran.
UNC Health makes reasonable accommodations for applicants' and employees' religious practices and beliefs, as well as applicants and employees with disabilities. All interested applicants are invited to apply for career opportunities. Please email [e-mail] if you need a reasonable accommodation to search and/or to apply for a career opportunity.