The Almighty Externship

     

     I am currently in the process of applying for an externship. An externship is like an internship but for nursing students. How it works is a hospital offers the program for a certain amount of weeks (usually 6-8 but may vary more or less) and you get a nurse preceptor that you shadow during their 12 hr shift, usually 3 times a week but it depends on the hospital's program. So far the programs I've seen target junior nursing student about to enter their senior year in a BSN program. This is a great oppurtunity because it gives you a taste of the nursing world before you graduate and allows you to get hands-on experience that you wouldn't get in clinicals. It also looks great on a resume and it won't necessarily guarantee you a job but it definitely helps if you do one. I am hoping and dreaming that I get one because it would be really great. One thing about this process, just like any application process, is the wait. I think the actual waiting to hear back from places for an interview could possibly kill me. I have applied to so many hospitals at this point that it's a little ridiculous. I wouldn't be surprised if there was a circulating flyer with my name and picture on it, known as the "serial applicant." So far, I have heard back from Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx. It's a little ironic because the lady sent me back my application because it was incomplete. Why was it incomplete you ask? Because my essay that should have been 250 words was only 227 and I needed to "expound my thoughts more" according to her. -__-. So of course, she'd want to interview me first lol, but hey it's something right. My goal though is the North Shore Long Island Jewish Health System, specifically Long Island Jewish Medical Center, or New York Presbyterian Hospital, specifically Weill Cornell. If I could get any of those than my life would be made. They, however, are the ones that are taking forever to put up their application. I literally check their career websites at least 10 times a day, and that's before I even leave the house. Yes, I know, I probably sound like a stalker but I really want a chance with these places so I'm going to stick to these sites like glue everyday until they put up those applications. Hopefully I can get one otherwise I'll probably end up writing these posts from inside a psych ward because I freaked out so bad. If you haven't already guessed I tend to be a littlle dramatic at times, but what can I say I'm a work in progress...