Student Nurse Extern Program Summer 2026

For the Student Nurse Externship Program we are seeking nursing students that have an expected graduation date of August 2027 December 2027 or Spring 2028.

Please note - If you have an expected graduation date in August 2026 December 2026 or Spring 2027 consider applying to our Student Nurse Internship instead.

The Student Nurse Extern reflects the mission vision and values of NM adheres to the organizations Code of Ethics and Corporate Compliance Program and complies with all relevant policies procedures guidelines and all other regulatory and accreditation standards.

Northwestern Medicines Nurse Externship Program allows nursing students the opportunity to gain experience in a variety of nursing work environments.

The Student Nurse Extern assists in the delivery of both direct and indirect nursing care as a Patient Care Technician (PCT) under the direction and supervision of a Registered Nurse within the scope of practice of unlicensed assistive personnel and performs tasks for patients activities of daily living to promote comfort and safety assists RNs with the collection of patient data and performs selected procedures.

Program Dates (mandatory minimum of a full-time 8-week commitment):

• Application Due Date: January 16 2026
• Candidate Screening: January - March 2026
• Program Start Date: May 27 2026
• Program End Date: July 21 2026

Hours:

Your hours will be scheduled with your Patient Care Manager which may include:

• Day or Night Shift
• Full time schedule - 8 or 12 hour shifts
• Some Weekend shifts
• No holidays or overtime

Additional Details:

Locations participating in the 2024 SNE program are as follows:

• Central DuPage Hospital (Winfield IL)
• Delnor Hospital (Geneva IL)
• Huntley Hospital (Huntley IL)
• Kishwaukee Hospital (DeKalb IL)
• Lake Forest Hospital (Lake Forest IL)
• Marianjoy Rehabilitation Hospital (Wheaton IL)
• McHenry Hospital (McHenry IL)
• Palos Hospital (Palos Heights IL)
• Valley West Hospital (Sandwich IL)
• Woodstock Hospital (Woodstock IL)

Tentative units participating in the 2026 SNI program are as follows; be sure to select your desired units in the application in order of preference. (We cannot guarantee a match however this is taken into consideration):

• Behavioral/Mental Health
• Cardiac
• Emergency Department
• Float Pool
• General Surgery
• ICU
• MedSurg
• Neuro
• NICU
• Observation
• Oncology
• Ortho
• Pediatrics (limited locations)           
• Perioperative Services (Operating Room Pre/Post)
• Rehabilitation
• Telemetry
• Womens Health (L&D Mother/Baby Postpartum)

Qualifications :

Required:

• Nursing students from an accredited nursing school that includes minimally the successful completion of Fundamentals of Nursing Clinical with clinical rotation.
  • You must provide written documentation of successful completion OR the successful completion of an accredited Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) program.
• Graduation date of August 2027 December 2027 or Spring 2028.
• Qualified candidates must have a valid American Heart Association Basic Life Support for Healthcare certification.
• Reliable flexible and punctual with schedules

Required Documentation for Application Submission to be Uploaded:

• Resume

*Please note to be considered for this role you must submit all attachments at the time of your application submission.  When you apply you may log back into your application to attach additional and/or optional attachments such as letters of recommendation cover letters etc. You can navigate to the upload section and press the sign to submit these additional attachments if desired.

For any questions or difficulties please email  

Additional Information :

Northwestern Medicine is an equal opportunity employer (disability VETS) and does not discriminate in hiring or employment on the basis of age sex race color religion national origin gender identity veteran status disability sexual orientation or any other protected status.

Background Check

Northwestern Medicine conducts a background check that includes criminal history on newly hired team members and at times internal transfers. If you are offered a position with us you will be required to complete an authorization and disclosure form that gives Northwestern Medicine permission to run the background check.  Results are evaluated on a case-by-case basis and we follow all local state and federal laws including the Illinois Health Care Worker Background Check Act.

Benefits

We offer a wide range of benefits that provide employees with tools and resources to improve their physical emotional and financial well-being while providing protection for unexpected life events. Please visit our Benefits section to learn more.

Sign-on Bonus Eligibility: Internal employees and rehires who left Northwestern Medicine within 1 year are not eligible for the sign on bonus. Exception: New graduate internal employees seeking their first licensed clinical position at NM may be eligible depending upon the job family. 

Remote Work :

No

Employment Type :

Intern