Article

Apply Your Book Knowledge With a Nurse Externship
Michele E. Gaguski, MSN, RN, AOCN^®, APN-C
Oncology Clinical Nurse Specialist, Ocean Medical Center, Brick, NJ

Feel the need to spice up your clinical skills? Want to know more about what a nurse at the bedside really does? Ever wonder how you will apply your book knowledge to the clinical area? Want to see what administering chemotherapy is all about? Exactly what happens when a patient receives radiation therapy? These questions and many more may be answered through participation in a nurse externship program.

A nurse externship is a program that pairs an experienced nurse with a student nurse who has completed at least two upper-level nursing courses, to focus on clinical and leadership skills in a supportive and focused environment. No grades are given for the extern experience, and many student nurses appreciate the lack of pressure in the learning environment. Moreover, some nurse externships pay salaries to the participants. The externship experience provides an opportunity for students to see up close what an oncology nurse does using a structured preceptorship.

The program’s focus is centered on building clinical skills to coincide with the knowledge taught in school. Externs are exposed to as many clinical experiences as possible throughout their externship. For example, if a nurse preceptor is assisting a physician with a bone marrow biopsy or central line placement, a nurse extern is positioned in the room to visualize and learn the skills of these procedures first hand. Furthermore, the nurse extern is exposed to learning the poignant points of patient education related to these procedures. The nurse extern can see the oncology nurse in action and allow him- or herself to be open to learning about real life on an oncology unit.

The role of a nurse extern is to function under the direction of a nurse preceptor and build on previous knowledge coupled with direct clinical application. After nurse extern training is completed successfully, nurse externs can function as nursing assistants and perform such tasks as daily hygiene care, history taking, vital signs, and ostomy care. In addition, under the guidance of their preceptors, nurse externs participate in interdisciplinary rounds and collaborate with other members of the healthcare team to plan patient care. This experience is invaluable to nurse externs, giving them the opportunity to incorporate the importance of teamwork to adequately meet the needs of patients with cancer. This experience allows nurse externs to interact with the many different disciplines that work together to develop the plan of care.

A nurse externship gives student nurses 8–10 weeks of clinical time to experience the world of oncology nursing. Given the often-limited time of oncology content in academic nursing curriculums, an externship program may fulfill a student’s desire to learn more about the field of oncology and oncology nursing. Nurse externs work side by side with their preceptors for a specified period of time each week. Together, they determine goals, discuss current trends in practice, attend educational offerings, and seek out interesting clinical experiences. It also provides an opportunity for a preceptor to shape and fashion a student’s professionalism and clinical confidence. It provides time for the student and preceptor to reflect on their practice, challenges them to think critically, and builds mentoring behaviors. Finally, it serves institutions well to develop such educational programs to lead students into their nursing workforce as a recruitment and retention strategy.

Nurse externships hold many opportunities for professional growth and development: education, mentorship, research, motivation, clinical expertise, camaraderie, and networking. If you think these descriptors would help to make you the best nurse possible, then go see for yourself what all the excitement is about. Call your local medical center and ask if they offer a nurse externship program, and start applying your book knowledge today!