Nurese Externships Can Hurt your Nursing Career!

llg, PhD, RN · Jul 9, 2013

I think that VERY FEW employers would hold the fact that you worked somewhere else as a student against you. Also, it should be fairly easy to explain why you are seeking to work as an RN elsewhere after you graduate. A simple statement that you really appreciate all that you learned as an extern at XYZ facility, but that you have chosen another path for your nursing career would suffice. Another easy explanation to give is that your externship offered an opportunity that was not available elsewhere at the time ... or that the facility was particularly convenient to your home or for your schedule, etc. There are a lot of easy explanations you could give for that.

Of course ... if you don't do very good job as an extern and develop a negative reputation, they could give you a negative job evaluation/recommendation ... and yes, that could hurt your chances elsewhere.

Finally, if the particular extern program is a bad one ... abusive, bad work environment, doesn't provide an opportunity to learn, facility with bad reputation, etc. well then, yes of course, it could be a negative way to start your career.

But for most people, the positives outweigh the negatives -- assuming it is a decent extern program, of course.

cincin1222 · Jul 9, 2013

Thank you for your input, I was having a very hard time coming with reasons why, because I had a couple of employers even within the same company actually asking why the current facility did not hire on so I wanted to know how do I go about explaining that.

hofamb · Jul 9, 2013

My externship absolutely got me my current position-in a different health system. I just had to explain why that externship prepared my to become a RN. Without it, I don't think I would have even been remotely considered for this position.

cincin1222 · Jul 9, 2013

My externship absolutely got me my current position-in a different health system. I just had to explain why that externship prepared my to become a RN. Without it, I don't think I would have even been remotely considered for this position.

OK great I guess it can work for some

MrChicagoRN, RN · Jul 9, 2013

Thank you for your input, I was having a very hard time coming with reasons why, because I had a couple of employers even within the same company actually asking why the current facility did not hire on so I wanted to know how do I go about explaining that.

I always had more CNA (nursing students), then I had future openings.

Would itbe truthful to say they hire more external than they an absorb as RN?

**NICU Guy, BSN, RN** · Jul 9, 2013

Externships (student nurse associates, patient intern) are jobs in a hospital while in nursing school. Most hospitals like to hire new grads that are currently employees working as a (insert student nurse job title) because they are a known quantity in the hospital. Other hospitals are not going to look at you negatively. More than likely the job that you were doing while in nursing school could have been filled with a non-nursing student but they set aside those jobs to allow you to get exposure to nursing at a hospital in the hopes that they can keep you as an RN. If you got an externship in ICU at hospital A and then applied for a job as an RN at Hospital B, even though your work experience wasn't at Hospital B, your ICU knowledge that you gained is an asset to Hospital B over experience as a cna at a nursing home. But, like a previous poster said, if you did not do a good job in your externship and they didn't hire you then that is a problem for Hospital B.

Also, if they have 10 students graduating in May and they have only 5 slots for new grads in June, then the other 5 students have to find jobs at other hospitals. They may have been excellent workers, but the other 5 had experience in the unit that they got RN jobs in while working as an student. For example, if I am working in surgery while in nursing school and when I graduate there is an opening for a new grad in surgery. More than likely they will hire me over a student working on a med-surg floor and the reverse is true also.

SummitRN, BSN, RN · Jul 11, 2013

My externship is directly responsible for my current employment.

OP, if your cover letters and resume are written with she same usage and sentence structure as your post, I strongly suggest having a someone do some editing.

cincin1222 · Jul 11, 2013

My externship is directly responsible for my current employment.
OP, if your cover letters and resume are written with she same usage and sentence structure as your post, I strongly suggest having a someone do some editing.

Thank you for your opinion,

I do believe I need some help with my writing, since English is my second language however regarding my post I was writing using a tablet with a lot of emotions. But I went ahead and changed my cover letter and resume around and had someone dissect it. And I will make sure I enrolled in a writing class

Thank you again for your honesty,

TBlase · Jul 12, 2013

My externship is directly responsible for my current employment.
OP, if your cover letters and resume are written with she same usage and sentence structure as your post, I strongly suggest having a someone do some editing.

Even though my writings in here may be casual and ofttimes spelt wrong (I hate reading glasses), your point is valid. I read through some of the resumes posted in this site, and they rather shock me with grammatical errors, and the like. Any online editing program would easily prevent most of the errors I am seeing in those reseumes. I don't get it. But then again, watching the TM trial today, a lawyer on TV used the word (very clearly enunciated, no mistake) 'supposably'. Another of them said 'libary'. Perhaps most people don't recognize this stuff anymore, so it doesn't even matter?

HouTx, BSN, MSN, EdD · Jul 12, 2013

I have a great deal of sympathy for the OP's predicament, but feel that some clarification is in order.

Hospitals, like other businesses, need to maintain a very tight control on their labor budgets - especially in light of the continuing cuts to reimbursement. The number of positions (jobs) is based upon the amount of work that must be done. If there are no jobs available, then they cannot hire anyone. In many hospitals, managers have to 'justify' hiring any new staff even if it is just to fill a position for someone who resigned. It's not an easy process. So, if there are no jobs available when new grads complete their internship, there are very few options available. Some organizations offer PRN or float pool positions until a permanent job opens up but this is not always possible.

Instead of throwing rocks at organizations that do not automatically employ all their nurse interns/residents, we should applaud them for making the effort - continuing to sponsor such an expensive program - even though they are not directly benefiting from it.

MLB4 · Jul 14, 2013

Almost all of the new grad RNs I know who have held nurse extern positions have been offered positions, whether for their hospital or for another. I was told by 2 different hiring managers that they are hesitant to hire New Grad RNs (especially in an ICU/IMCU setting) who have not held an extern job. Extern positions help teach time management, prioritization, etc. I am very thankful for my opportunity as an extern, and I know many of my fellow new grads are as well. As a previous poster said, many hospitals just do not have the positions available.. For instance, with my facility - there was only 1 position open on our unit for a new graduate RN and they're 4 of us that are new grads. It's tough out there and every little bit of experience helps! Best of luck in your endeavors!