Real-life Experience: Kathleya Matienzo

Kathleya
"The program has given me the confidence to begin my new career."

Getting a Foot in the Door

When Kathleya Matienzo began her nursing externship at Scripps Hospital in Encinitas, she was excited about what the program offered: nursing course credit, paid job experience, and a foot in the door of a future career. When she arrived at Scripps however, she found she wasn't the only one learning something new. "I was the first extern ever on the surgical side--they didn't know what an extern was." While this initial and unexpected experience was stressful, she emphasizes that it made her more independent and taught her the value of being flexible. Now, as Kathleya graduates, she has been offered the opportunity to continue working at the hospital.

Examples of Student Learning Outcomes for Nursing 498

The nursing student will accept supervision from and work cooperatively with other nursing and health care personnel.
The student will convey respect for people as indicated by interpersonal communication, ethical behaviors, and cultural sensitivity.
The student will proficiently perform nursing care activities which, may include the following:
1. Use correct body mechanics in positioning and transfer activities.
2. Demonstrate principles of infection control including medical and surgical asepsis and isolation technique.
3. Document care provided by charting on appropriate forms.
(View the full list of Nursing 498 learning outcomes)

On the job at Scripps

What a Nurse Needs to Know

Externship students agree that the practical experience they gain in the field prepares them invaluably for entering the workforce and starting their new professions.

Nicolette a classmate says, "I feel a lot better about stepping into my career. In the externship, you do what you will be doing as a professional, but you have the backup of being a student." Kathleya adds, "After the third semester of course work, you [a typical nursing student] don't get to practice "med-surg" (medical and surgical nursing) for a year and a half until you go into the field. We had another SDSU nursing grad come in who didn't do the extern program, and she was asking me questions."

In school, nursing students typically study the mechanics of nursing -- patient care, positioning, charting, and so forth. In the field, they learn skills like prioritizing a workload, consulting and working with a team, and demonstrating cultural sensitivity. They also learn about accessing appropriate resources for information, protecting confidentiality, clarifying orders, educating patients and performing a host of other duties that make nursing a demanding and rewarding career.

Better-prepared Graduates

To train new graduates' soft skills and refresh their knowledge of procedures learned many months earlier, hospitals often conduct orientation programs over several months. Externs have a distinct advantage, ". . . . If I had not participated in the program, I think that the duties and responsibilities of the nurse would seem overwhelming. Theory, research and clinical skills are part of the rigid curriculum in our nursing program. The externship program allows you to apply what you have learned at school. It gives you an opportunity to improve clinical and critical thinking skills in a familiar environment."

Evaluating student achievement

Student journals: biweekly email journals describing the student's goals, experiences, problems encountered and their resolution, as well as feelings about their experiences and future needs. "I have heard repeatedly from many of the nurses working in the unit that they wish they would have had this type of program available when they were in school." See a sample student journal.
Employer Evaluation forms: Employers evaluate externs just as they evaluate full-time employees, providing feedback to the student and also the externship coordinator about the student's progress. See a sample evaluation form.
Final paper describing the experience, goals achieved, self-evaluation, and suggestions for improving the experience. "The externship program allows us to learn what it is really like to be a nurse. These are the experiences that can not be learned from a book. These are life experiences that will teach us how to be a nurse in the real world."

Evaluating the Nursing 498 Course

Faculty Coordinator Doris McCarthy holds multiple discussion sessions weekly where Nursing 498 students talk about their experiences at their externship sites around the county. They share difficulties they may have both in these sessions and in their biweekly email journals, and the coordinator works with hospital representatives to improve the program.

Making Nursing 498 Better

Doris McCarthy: "I just met with nurse managers from the different hospitals to discuss the program and orient the preceptors with an understanding of how the program works. In addition, the preceptors have requested feedback from the students on their externship experience. We may come up with student evaluations of hospitals in the future."

Click here for more information about the Nursing 498 externship.