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23 Ridgeland ADN students participate in summer externship program Pictured are (left to right) Holmes ADN students Mckenna Patridge, Maggie Bloodworth, Rudasia Lee, Tyler Bingham and Hannah Mabry following UMMC’s Preceptor/Student Nurse Extern Recognition Ceremony.
Holmes Community College's Associate Degree Nursing (ADN) program is one of the many nursing schools around the state to participate in the Summer Student Nurse Externship Program. This year, 23 Ridgeland Campus ADN students received externship placements in surrounding area hospitals. Employment sites included Baptist Hospital in Jackson, Baptist Hospital in Yazoo City, Crossgates Merit Health, Mississippi Methodist Rehabilitation Center (MMRC), St. Dominic's Hospital and the University of Mississippi Medical Center (UMMC).
The Holmes students placed at Baptist included Kerri Neely and Cody Collier at the Jackson location and Joseph Guthrie in Yazoo City. Taylor Rice was placed at Crossgates Merit Health, Lyric Richards and Amy Walker worked at MMRC and the St. Dominic's group included Ashleigh Montgomery, Karah Vinzant, Rebecca Strong, Sara Grace Colbert, Amanda Nicholson, Jackson Cooper, Madison Powers, Lauren Coon, Lindsey Kirkland and Lacey White. The students placed at UMMC Mandi Beard, Tyler Bingham, Maggie Bloodworth, Rudasia Lee, Hannah Mabry, Patridge, Mckenna Patridge and Casey Reeves.
Sponsored by the Mississippi Hospital Association Organization for Nurse Executives and the Mississippi Council of Deans and Directors of Schools of Nursing, the externship program has four overall goals:
1. Provide students in nursing with an opportunity to enhance previously learned skills under the supervision of experienced registered nurses in the healthcare setting
2. Assist students of nursing to experience acceptance in a work situation appropriate to their potential as future registered nurses
3. Prepare students to assume responsibilities of full-time employees with respect to performance requirements, policies, and procedures of a health care agency
4. Encourage retention of nursing graduates through provision of supplemental practice experience within the workplace
Placement for externship positions requires a rigorous application and interview process and competition for positions. Student nurse externs must be enrolled in an accredited school of nursing program and the Nurse Externship course, have good academic standing and work a minimum of 320 hours at the assigned facility under the guidance of a clinical registered nurse with a minimum of one year practice.
"The opportunity is a win-win for the student and the facility," said Holmes nursing instructor Tiffany Gordon Cox, Ph.D., RN, MPPA, CNE. "The students learn and experience on-site clinicals while receiving pay for their work. The facilities get to do 'on the job' interviews and introduce themselves to potential employees."
This year, the UMMC held a Preceptor/Student Nurse Extern Recognition Ceremony at the completion of the externship. Holmes alumna Alexis Topik, who graduated from the ADN program in May 2018, served as a speaker for the ceremony. She shared her experiences as a nurse extern at UMMC in the summer of 2017 and how the experience fostered her success in her sophomore year and in acclimating into the nursing profession.
For more information about the Holmes ADN program, contact program director Dr. Alice Austin at aaustin@holmescc.edu.
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