Externships worth it in long run?

[akmt]

Hi,

I'm a Junior in nursing school and graduate May 2012 and have already had an internship over the summer with an occupational health nurse.I learned soo much:D What my question is for people who maybe nurses managers or nurses who have externed before... does externing really give you a leg up?

In my state (Alaska) there are no formal nurse externships at any of the hospitals so it's not like I can extern at a hospital I will work at. But I think the skills learned and things of that nature would be really beneficial but does it help when it comes to getting hired at a hospital after you graduate even though you did your extern somewhere else?

If anyone has any insights I would really like to hear them!

Thanks!

[klone, MSN, RN]

I'm confused--in my area an externship is a clinical placement after graduation. A preceptorship is clinical hours before graduation. What do you mean by externship OP?

Where I come from, an externship is a paid position that one gets at a hospital, usually during the final year of nursing school. They work one-on-one with an RN, shadowing them, learning the job, and doing limited RN tasks (although in AZ, externs were not allowed to do anything with IVs or medications).

When I was an extern, I started the summer before my last year of nursing school, and I worked 1-2 shifts a week as an extern, in addition to going to school. I basically got an entire year of paid training prior to graduation, and when I did graduate and pass the NCLEX, I was hired on as a new grad and was pretty much able to hit the ground running.

[MattiesMama]

OK, not to hijack the thread but I have a question-how exactly do you land an externship? I am a new-grad LPN and going for my RN through Excelcior, and I really want to land one as there are no LPN jobs in my area (especially for new grads with no experience) and I think the experience would be really valuable.

[klone, MSN, RN]

OK, not to hijack the thread but I have a question-how exactly do you land an externship? I am a new-grad LPN and going for my RN through Excelcior, and I really want to land one as there are no LPN jobs in my area (especially for new grads with no experience) and I think the experience would be really valuable.

It's a program offered through some hospitals. With budget cuts, they're a lot harder to find now, compared to 5 years ago. I know the hospital I did my externship through, no longer offers the externship program.