Nursing internship/externship questions!

[murph28]

Hey everyone! I was wondering what the general opinion is on nursing internships/externships. I'm currently in my second semester of nursing school but I have no experience other than clinical. I'm thinking an externship or internship would be a good way to get some exposure on different situations. Any advice on the general idea of intern/externships? How do I go about finding/applying for one and when is the best time during (or after) school to do something like this? Any advice is appreciated!

[lilnursey'15]

An Extern position is for students currently in nursing school. They pretty much take on a PCT/CNA role. Also with the title of Extern the nurses may allow you to take on actual nursing tasks with their supervision. It is a really good job to get as a nursing student because most of the time they can progress to being an intern after graduation.

An intern is what you are after graduating and taking the NCLEX. You are a graduate nurse and the hospital will train you to become part of their nursing staff.

Start looking at your local hospitals now for extern positions. Some also post summer extern positions which are a great learning experience. Post grad job hunting sounds really tough right now, so with the connections you can make as an extern I'd say go for it :)

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