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Nurse extern vs internship

The differences between nurse externs and interns can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 1-2 years to become both a nurse extern and an internship. Additionally, a nurse extern has an average salary of $37,156, which is higher than the $35,254 average annual salary of an internship.

The top three skills for a nurse extern include patients, vital signs and CPR. The most important skills for an internship are powerpoint, financial statements, and C++.

Nurse extern vs internship overview

Nurse ExternInternship
Yearly salary$37,156$35,254
Hourly rate$17.86$16.95
Growth rate6%-5%
Number of jobs569,18051,064
Job satisfaction--
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 53%Bachelor's Degree, 68%
Average age4447
Years of experience22

What does a nurse extern do?

The job of a nurse extern is to assist the mentor nurse in their nursing duties. They help the mentor nurse in various medical procedures such as administering medications or starting intravenous therapies. They provide or help with personal patient care, including changing bed linens, oral hygiene, and bathing. Nurse externships typically have different requirements that include having finished nursing school, completing a clinical nursing course before the training, and being registered in a nursing program.

What does an internship do?

Interns are trainees who are engaged by a company to work for them for a brief period. Interns usually use this opportunity to gain actual work experience, fulfill university or college requirements, and ensure that they are working towards the right career path for them. They sign on for a fixed amount of time. The responsibilities of interns depend on the company and the department that handles them. They do a variety of tasks that exposes them to the type of work that the company is engaged in and to the different aspects of the professional world.

Nurse extern vs internship salary

Nurse externs and interns have different pay scales, as shown below.

Nurse ExternInternship
Average salary$37,156$35,254
Salary rangeBetween $29,000 And $47,000Between $24,000 And $49,000
Highest paying CityHuntington Park, CASan Francisco, CA
Highest paying stateHawaiiAlaska
Best paying companyMenorah Medical CenterQorvo
Best paying industryHealth CareTelecommunication

Differences between nurse extern and internship education

There are a few differences between a nurse extern and an internship in terms of educational background:

Nurse ExternInternship
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 53%Bachelor's Degree, 68%
Most common majorNursingBusiness
Most common collegeEmory UniversityWestern Carolina University

Nurse extern vs internship demographics

Here are the differences between nurse externs' and interns' demographics:

Nurse ExternInternship
Average age4447
Gender ratioMale, 14.3% Female, 85.7%Male, 42.0% Female, 58.0%
Race ratioBlack or African American, 11.5% Unknown, 4.3% Hispanic or Latino, 8.9% Asian, 9.9% White, 64.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4%Black or African American, 9.8% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 18.1% Asian, 10.3% White, 56.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.0%
LGBT Percentage9%6%

Differences between nurse extern and internship duties and responsibilities

Nurse extern example responsibilities.

  • Organize and manage regular clinics involving external physicians, including ophthalmology, ENT, Med/Surg, orthopedics, and podiatry professionals.
  • Assist patients with activities of daily living, obtain vital signs and assessments, and perform 12 lead EKG's.
  • Perform initial assessments on patients in outpatient oncology clinic; recording vital signs, significant medical history and chief complaints.
  • Shadow to adult medical-surgical nurse staff- head-to-toe assessment, assist with medication administration, computer charting with co-signor, and telemetry monitoring
  • Obtain ACLS, to ensure patients receive the best quality of care.
  • Obtain ACLS certification and then float to all critical care areas as needed.
  • Show more

Internship example responsibilities.

  • Lead enrollment process efficiently through securing proper registration forms, official transcripts, immunization records, and IEP documentation as needed.
  • Manage all company financial transactions through QuickBooks.
  • Design PHP application to automate schedule updating process.
  • Manage a web-base graphical interface that utilize a SQL database to better track fabrication lab operations.
  • Organize online recipe content through the blog, design flyers for it and spread the contest word through twitter and blog.
  • Develop sponsored post strategy for LinkedIn and Facebook.
  • Show more

Nurse extern vs internship skills

Common nurse extern skills
  • Patients, 39%
  • Vital Signs, 11%
  • CPR, 4%
  • Direct Patient Care, 4%
  • Direct Supervision, 4%
  • Patient Care, 3%
Common internship skills
  • PowerPoint, 10%
  • Financial Statements, 6%
  • C++, 5%
  • Mental Health, 5%
  • Data Analysis, 4%
  • Facebook, 4%

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