Externship

How do I go about getting an externship? Do I just contact the hospitals that I'm interested in?

Also, is it possible to get an externship during the school year and not the summer?

I'm a first year RN student so I have to wait another before I can begin an externship? Is there any other way I can get my foot in a hospital before graudation?

Thank you

Most places will have postings on their websites if they are hiring Externs. When I was an Extern you had to work a certain amount of hours a pay period to stay in the program. Externships are very competitive and few and far in between. Good luck! I only secured mine because I was a CNA on the floor where the Externship opened.

You want a foot in the door? Look into becoming a CNA, great experience. You tend to learn a lot of skills that usually take you a long time to really get down in Nursing school. I cherish my time as a CNA, I learned 10 times the skills during my time as a CNA vs Extern.

Personally I think all Nursing students should have to be a CNA for a period of time.

I am currently an extern and I am so thankful for the awesome opportunity! I heard about the externship because I was working in the hospital as a CNA (another great way to get your foot in the door and get valuable learning) and I heard about it before it was posted. I contacted the nurse recruiter, HR, and the head of the ED (the area I wanted for my externship) and asked what I needed to do and continued to harass them! :chuckle And it worked! I got the externship for the summer and this fall (my final semester). As Bug Out stated above, they are very competitive so you really have to be aggressive. And where I am, externship positions are paid for by the state and they also pay for tuition and books, providing you work in the state full-time for 2 years upon graduation. As for getting an externship but not doing it during the summer, I would say that the summer is the best time to do an externship because you don't have school stressing you out so you can focus on the externship, plus you are usually allowed to do up to 40 hours/week when school is not in session. And if you get an externship for say, spring semester and you want to drop it for the summer, chances are, they won't take you back on for the fall. Good luck!