My Externship at NYULMC

by Michelle Bandigan

I had first heard of the Student Nurse Externship at New York University Langone Medical Center during my sophomore year. One of my upperclassmen friends told me to look into externships and internships for my summer before senior year. At the time it seemed so far away, I mean I was only a sophomore and was just beginning my nursing clinical classes. However, I decided to begin looking into to it so that I at least am aware of what these externships were looking for.

As junior year began, I started to get my applications ready. NYULMC student nurse externship required at least a 3.5 GPA, at least one Medical-Surgical clinical, 2 clinical recommendations, a transcript, and a resume. Thankfully, Career Services at Felician was very helpful. They were able to sit with me and work through my resume and make sure I had all of the requirements in place. They also helped me prepare cover letters.

I spent my fall semester of my junior year getting all of the paperwork together. From preparing my resume and writing cover letters to meeting with professors for recommendations while in between managing my academics and keeping up my GPA, it kept me very busy. I had made sure all of my paperwork from school was completed by early December. I sent out all of the applications early January. In addition to NYU, I had applied to Mount Sinai, Staten Island University Hospital, and NYU Hospital of Joint Diseases. NYULMC had a deadline of mid-February, however they began sending out letters before that date. Soon enough, I received an email from the nursing recruitment office of NYU at the end of February.

I had my interview at NYU towards the end of March. I was in a conference room with 11 other externs. The funny thing was we all believed that we were in the still application process and did not know that we were already hired. The nurse recruiter told all of us that we were hired and that the interview referred to interviewing at our prospective units. I had interviewed for the Day Surgery Post-Anesthesia unit, also known as the recovery room.

I began my externship on June 6th with a two-week orientation. The first two days of orientation were spent in an auditorium reviewing basic nursing skills. Upon stepping foot onto the unit, I was put to work. I was paired with a nurse each day that I worked. I worked Monday through Friday and I worked 8-hour shifts. Day Surgery patients consisted of a mix. Many of the patients that we had had procedures such as mastectomies, reconstructive surgeries, cataracts, tonsillectomies, thyroidectomies, GYN procedures, and many others. For our pediatric patients, they underwent procedures such as cleft lip repairs and hernia repairs. Patients who undergo colonoscopies, endoscopies, and biopsies also end up on our floor to recover and be discharge. Most of our patients get discharged home from our unit, yet there are patients who are transferred to other floors to stay.

During my time at that unit, I was able to perform and observe many things. My role was a mixture of student nurse, patient care technician, and registered nurse. I was able to take report from anesthesia upon transfer of the patient from the OR to PACU. I also charted vital signs and assessments on the patient’s chart. Other activities that I performed were the morning equipment and supply inventories, emptying Hemovacs and Jackson-Pratt drains, getting vital signs, helping set up the patients upon arriving to the recovery room, providing discharge instructions, and assisting with basic patient care such as providing post-op nutrition and warm blankets.

The entire nursing staff was amazing to work with. They were all so willing to teach me and get me involved. Every learning opportunity that came along whether it was as simple as emptying a Hemovac, they called me over so that I can do it. I was even able to watch a procedure in the Day Surgery operating room. I had learned so much during the two months that I was there. It was an amazing learning experience that I am very grateful for having.