internship with low gpa?

smn2010, BSN, RN · Dec 12, 2009

nursing programs are not all the same. neither are their curriculum requirements. nursing programs that have internships have hourly requirements that can range any where from 100-200+ hours in a semester. that equates to about 1-12 hour shift per week, during a 16 week semester at school. many students intern for 2 or more 12-hour shifts, each week, in to make the most of their internship and gain the valued experience.

keep in mind that an internship is not a requirement to get/apply for a nursing position after you graduate/get your license. unless that is something your state bon requires... the clinical experience you receive during your nursing program should be sufficient for your state bon; however, when you are able to incorporate an internship into your nursing program, the knowledge/skills/abilities attained from the internship experience are an added benefit...it does look nice on your resume. even better if you can elaborate on the internship experience during an interview. internships can help a new grad rn; especially if you are not currently working in the healthcare field.

you do not indicate when you will be graduating. you also have not indicated if your school requires the internship to complete their curriculum. is it your school that requires the 3.0 gpa minimum or is it the medical facility that has the gpa criteria? ...just wondering...

if you have more than 2-3 semester before you graduate i suggest you focus on your courses in order to increase your gpa to the 3.0 or higher level during the upcoming semester. if you work and go to school, it will be hard for you to study (to get the gpa up) while participating in an internship. too many commitments and you run the risk of having your gpa go down even more due to lack of time to study.

if the internship is not a requirement of your curriculum and if you are not able to do increase your gpa to the minimum requirement of 3.0 for internship acceptance before graduation, consider working as a pct/ncp/cna, etc. on a unit at a facility. this, at least, will get your foot in the door of a facility where you can impress the nurse/unit managers while also allowing you to gain come work experience between now and when you graduate.

the nursing program i attended required the nursing instructor to match each students up with an appropriate nurse/unit to complete an internship. we (as students) did not have to apply to any internships being offered in the area.

regarding the other question you asked. you do not have to wait until you get your license in order to start working as a nurse. after you graduate, most states allow new rn graduates to work for 60-90 days after graduate as a "registered nurse applicant" (rna)...this title may vary from state-to-state... but, you must take and pass the nclex-rn, before the 60-90 days are up (whatever the time frame required by your state), in order to continue working as a nurse. check/verify this with your nursing professor or your state board of nursing (bon) to find out the particulars in regards to new nurse graduates.

good luck with school. focus and i am sure you will be able to improve upon your gpa. best of luck with your internship!!! :up:

rn2b10 · Dec 15, 2009

thank you so much for your information! i will be graduating in May 2010, one more semester (yay!). our school did not tell us we need an internship at a hospital to graduate, but we do have clinicals every week.

i was just wondering.. if we didnt start with an internship..when we get a job, will we still get like a training or orientation on how to do things (like how the facility works and how to transition into a nurse by yourself).

nohika · Dec 15, 2009

thank you so much for your information! i will be graduating in May 2010, one more semester (yay!). our school did not tell us we need an internship at a hospital to graduate, but we do have clinicals every week.
i was just wondering.. if we didnt start with an internship..when we get a job, will we still get like a training or orientation on how to do things (like how the facility works and how to transition into a nurse by yourself).

I'm pretty sure you'll still get orientation, etc - I really don't think they'll just shove you off the cliff.

AugustRain · Dec 15, 2009

thank you so much for your information! i will be graduating in May 2010, one more semester (yay!). our school did not tell us we need an internship at a hospital to graduate, but we do have clinicals every week.
i was just wondering.. if we didnt start with an internship..when we get a job, will we still get like a training or orientation on how to do things (like how the facility works and how to transition into a nurse by yourself).

A student internship doesn't take the place of new hire orientation, so yes, as a new nurse, you will get a training period with a preceptor. Orientation is determined by the individual facility, and can vary from several weeks to a year long new grad residency program. This is a good thing to research when applying/interviewing for a position.

I didn't do an internship (my accelerated program didn't allow us time for it) and will be starting off with the same orientation as any other new nurse on my floor.