Should I get an internship? Help!

I don't think there's anyone here not going to suggest you go for it ... so ... go for it.

I think it would be very helpful and worth it. Many people work or have extra obligations during nursing school, and I think most people could handle a one-day-a-week thing just fine.

I think the other people I spoke to really worried me, when they acted like taking on some sort of internship would take away precious hours I would need to pass their program. I started thinking that maybe nursing school was ten times harder than I had previously anticipated. I was just wondering if people who had already started their program thought that they never had enough time already, and if this was something they thought might harm more than help - especially starting out.

Why don't you start the nursing program first, see how it goes, and then decide whether you can handle doing an internship?

Each summer we get to do an internship at my hospital. So far I have done one in cardiac stepdown and now in the ICU, where I am going to work once I am out of school. I have learned more in those few months about being a nurse than I ever could in school. I say go for it

Usually you can't get hired as a nurse intern or extern until you have done a semester or two in the nursing program. They aren't going to let you shadow a nurse before then. Also it depends on how the hospitals in your area work. Here the hospitals have externship programs and you have to meet certain requirements like having certain nursing classes completed, having a certain GPA and no C grades. For the most part externships are only for the summer and most students don't take on full externships until their last year or semester in nursing school and if you do that you do they don't work around your schedule, sometimes you can get the overnight shift ect.

You can also become a CNA, SOME states will allow this after your first semester in school, some will require a seperate CNA course for certification.

However even getting hired as an internship won't guarantee you a job in the hospital. My friend was a nurse extern for the final year in nursing school and also volunteered and she still wasn't offered a job, not because they didn't want her but because they didn't have openings. Having an opening for a intern doesn't mean they'll have an opening for an RN. They can only give you a job if it's there, not create one for you.

The only externships I've seen require the student to have completed a semester or two of clinical courses. But if you have one that doesn't require it, I'd do it. People work and go to nursing school all the time and many of them have children. If you have no other obligations, I think you can do it.

If you can't get into the externship, you could always volunteer at the hospital that way you can get some patient interaction experience.

I don't know about everywhere but the only internships I have heard of, or that I or my classmates did were summer internships; not during school. They were actually paid internships and I would absolutely recommend doing it. You get to see the "real world" of nursing. Also you can try out an area of nursing to see if you like it. I did psych, which I enjoyed, but not where chose to work. However, I still use skills I learned in that summer in my practice now. The internship positions had many applicants and it was competetive to get in, so start thinking about it early.

At some point GET AN INTERNSHIP... you have no idea how much this will help you in finding a job....I regret I didn't have one (not that I didn't try)...it would have helped a lot!!!!!!!!!

I am doing an internship right now and I say YES!! It is the best thing I have ever done for myself!

I am currently working in an externship position and it is worth it. The other externs that I know of that have graduated have been offered positions in the same hospital (where the grad wanted to work).

We did have to have two different Med-Surg classes completed though with a grade of B or above and these are highly sought after positions (very competitive to get into). Good luck but if you can get in, it's the way to go!