title: Early exposure to geriatric nursing through an externship program.
abstract: The Summer Geriatric Extern Program was developed in 2004 to provide nursing students between the junior and senior year an opportunity to learn more about careers in geriatric nursing.This full-time, eight-week commitment provides students with a stipend and a faculty mentor in their area of interest. Of the 24 externs since the inception of the program, seven have enrolled in graduate programs. The findings suggest that the summer geriatric externship program is effective in developing interest in a geriatric nursing career and providing exposure to nursing research and other aspects of the faculty role.
authors.affiliation: College of Nursing, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences John A. Hartford Center of Geriatric Nursing Excellence, USA. esouder@uams.edu
authors.forename: Elaine
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Souder
authors.forename: Claudia J
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Beverly
authors.forename: Stephanie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kitch
authors.forename: Sandie A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Lubin
mesh_terms: D057179:Advanced Practice Nursing; D000368:Aged; D001131:Arkansas; D004508:Education, Nursing, Baccalaureate; D005851:Geriatric Nursing / Q000193:education*; D006801:Humans; D007397:Internship, Nonmedical / Q000458:organization & administration; D015397:Program Evaluation