The COVID-19 pandemic has placed significant strain on Ontario’s health-care system, including highlighting a growing demand for nurses. To help address the regional nursing shortage, nursing students at McMaster University are joining the frontlines of Hamilton’s two hospital systems through a paid externship program.
The program helps nursing students build both hard and soft skills, such as patient interaction, taking blood pressure and recording patient charts, while helping fill vital roles within community hospitals.
The students are contributing to care planning and helping patients and families, which has allowed nursing staff to complete other critical, more specialized tasks across emergency and urgent care departments.
The placement offers students a pathway to full-time work after graduation. Since the start of the program in 2021, 25 students received a full-time position after completing their externship.
For more information, visit McMaster University.
