New RN/inexperienced nurse considering nurse externship

[MarshaRabbit]

Hello everybody!

I am a new RN in a bridge program to become an ACNP. I am a part-time student, and seeking part-time employment as an RN in a hospital setting- preferably in critical or emergency care. As you already know, finding part time employment as a new RN in a hospital setting is very challenging!

I really want to get my foot in the door, but my applications are being immediately rejected by the recruitment teams due to the combination of being a new nurse + needing part time employment around my school schedule.

I am thinking my best shot is to become a nurse extern to get oriented, and get some support from the nurses on the unit for becoming a part-time RN.

Does anyone have any experience or thoughts on this?

Thanks in advance for anyone who takes the time to respond. You guys are the best.

[/username, BSN, RN]

Ahhhh, you dint just go there. Yet, you did. Be prepared because you just fired the opening salvo.

So unfortunate that you're buying into that as a brand new, inexperienced nurse. Accepting old wives' tales and professional stereotypes without question is not attractive quality. And it's not a quality that lends itself well to advanced practice.

But my FEELINGS!

[MarshaRabbit]

Yep I got em. Not ashamed to be open and honest.

[/username, BSN, RN]

Hearing something you do not like is not NETY.

[MarshaRabbit]

I see what you mean. Although suggesting I am in my program because my tuition check cleared is rude and inaccurate as I have worked very hard to be where I am. I feel much better now that you have resorted to openly mocking me. Y'all have a good night I'm done with unproductive internet banter (this time I mean it lol).

[Julius Seizure]

I see what you mean. Although suggesting I am in my program because my tuition check cleared is rude and inaccurate as I have worked very hard to be where I am. I feel much better now that you have resorted to openly mocking me. Y'all have a good night I'm done with unproductive internet banter (this time I mean it lol).

I don't think the comment about the tuition check is meant to imply anything about your skills or effort. It's more of an expression of disappointment at the low bar that has been set for schools. You could very well be leaping WAY over the bar.....its just that the bar is too low. I don't think that poster was trying to imply something about YOU so much as about the state of nursing education.

Anyway, back to your question, if you are still here: There is nothing wrong with applying to the extern position, if they will accept you (since you are already licensed). Those jobs are generally meant for people who want to work there as RNs afterwards, so you fit that. However, it might not fix your issue of needing part time work. Do you still need to be part-time when you transition from extern to official RN position? They might still only offer you full-time or nothing. That would be my main concern with your plan.

I agree with the poster who said that the SNF would be valuable experience as well. If it comes down to that option being the one that works, don't feel like you are missing out. I think they are both good ways to get experience.

[cleback]

I was a nurse extern in nursing school. It was 8 weeks of full time work 1:1 with an RN. I see two problems with that plan:

1) You're already licensed

2) You still could only be part-time

The hospital may be still reluctant to hire you if you do not plan on working as an RN for long before becoming an NP. This may be especially true if they have tuition reimbursement.

Honestly, you will gain more critical thinking skills in the SNF. As an extern, if they even allow licensed nurses to be one, you would just be following the lead of your preceptor. No independent thinking required.

If you want to network with the hospital, pursue your np clinical there. That, or you may volunteer. Or apply once you have more experience or are able to work the hours needed.

Another idea is maybe ask your school if you could take a leave of absence for a semester or year. You could then be available to work full time at the hospital for at least a while. Good luck.

[MarshaRabbit]

Julius thank you so much for bringing this back around. You're right I may have been a *tad* defensive I think it was the accumulative result of the negative comments throughout the thread. It is actually good for me to hear the general dissent people wouldn't usually say in person, gives me an idea of how much more uphill I will have to climb to gain the confidence of others. So, good deal.

I do still need part-time work when the externship ends, and I thank you kindly for bringing that up because I hadn't considered they still might not hire me because of the part time situation. They are hiring part-time positions, but perhaps they would be more reluctant still because I need more full-time training. I think my best chance in that endeavor is to gain the confidence of the nursing team, and if I am successful they will advocate for me to be hired.

Thanks, getting excited about the SNF! There is a really great one hiring near by too; I finished a 3-hour application with them last night (hey at least I know they care enough to assess my personality... over, and over, and over lol).

[MarshaRabbit]

Thank you Cleback! I'm getting excited about the SNF, and going to apply to the nurse externship as well. I can discuss many of these things in the interview, should I obtain one, and see what the hospital's viewpoint on all this is. Great ideas (unfortunately my clinical site only hires new nurses full time, but you bet I'm shaking hands with everyone I meet lol).

[Ruby Vee, BSN]

I am attempting to gain nursing experience; that is the purpose of this thread. Please read my comments above.

You need some experience. Part time experience as a nursing extern is not a solid five years of experience at the bedside, which would be ideal. You don't know what you don't know.

[Ruby Vee, BSN]

I do want to work with them after the externship, very much! That is literally why I'm considering the externship, which is more than a 50% pay-cut from other positions available to me at SNFs- I'm trying to get my foot in the door at a hospital that has a strong nursing team. I think there may be some confusion here between nurse externships (basically CNA work with an RN preceptor) and nurse residencies (a more long-term nurse training program for new RNs). Lol I hear you when you say it's not without critics, unfortunately this thread is turning into an expression of that.

When you're working as a CNA with an RN preceptor, you are expected to work as a CNA. You may get to see some cool nursey stuff if everyone has time to show it to you, but you're employed as a CNA. You won't get nursing experience, and you won't be involved in the cool nursey stuff. And you won't be getting NURSING experience, which is what the others (me included) are telling you you need to have. But I'm questioning whether you CAN work as a CNA since you say you're licensed as an RN. You would be held to the nursing standard, even though you wouldn't be trained as a nurse in the setting.

The reason that there are critics for your educational choice is that new NPs with no bedside experience who don't know what they don't know are dangerous in the acute care setting, particularly when they clash with the experienced nurses who DO know what they don't know and refuse to listen to that experience. You've already made your choice to pursue an NP without the clinical experience to overcome the deficits in the program. I sincerely hope that once you graduate and become an NP you start in a program with a VERY long orientation and that you not only listen to the experienced nurses but you seek them out, pick their brains and respect their knowledge.

[Ruby Vee, BSN]

Thanks double helix, you are correct in that the SNF would be better nursing experience than a nurse externship, but thank you for the reminder that SNF experience is indeed highly valuable. I guess really what I am wondering is if a nurse externship might improve my chances at getting hired on at a particular hospital so I can transition into a more applicable RN experience. I'm thinking it would, and wondering if anyone has any specific input on that.

For those who are commenting on new nurses directly entering NP school-

I'm going to refrain from defending my educational path (not the purpose of this thread) other than stating that my institution produces safe and competent NPs. This is how I was able to get to where I am, certainly no changing that now. I will continue to learn from more experienced RNs my whole life; I have all the respect in the world for nurses and nursing in general. I love this field and am so fortunate to be a part of it.

Anyone have any thoughts or experience regarding a nurse internship transitioning into an RN position?

In my experience with nurse externships, you won't qualify for one. They're looking for nursing students who can work as a CNA on the unit, getting to know the unit and the staff and being evaluated all the time for potential hire to that unit. New grad residencies are looking for nurses who will work full time and stay on in that unit AT THE BEDSIDE after they've been given the extra training and mentoring of the residency program.

[Ruby Vee, BSN]

Starting to feel a little discouraged.. As a reminder, I am a new nurse and just as valid as you were when you first started out. Sometimes you have a choice to either build up or tear down up and coming nurses, and I'm disappointed that some of you chose the latter.

I hope you will remember that choice in the future, and how you felt when you were first starting out. I'm grateful that my local nursing community is supportive.

Good practice for the whole "nurses eat their young" thing though.

You are a new nurse who is not actually planning to work as a new nurse because you're on a route to be an NP. You haven't done the appropriate research and won't have the appropriate clinical experience before becoming an NP. So no, you are not just as valid as anyone else when they first started out. You've made a very controversial choice -- surely you're not expecting that if you bring such a choice to this forum posters will refrain from posting their educated and valid opinions about that choice. The choice to "build up or tear down up and coming nurses" does not apply in your situation because you have stated that you have no intention of actually BEING a nurse. You're hoping to get nursing experience by working as a CNA.

Throwing the NETY accusation because you're not getting rainbows blown up your skirt is short sighted, immature, inaccurate and a bozo move.