Effect of a summer externship program on undergraduate nursing students' work readiness: a quasi-experimental study

The diverse ways in which externship programs influence undergraduate students highlight the need for more comprehensive studies to clarify their impact on key dimensions of work readiness, including organizational acumen, personal work characteristics, social intelligence, and work competence. This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of a summer externship program on undergraduate nursing students' work readiness. The study was guided by Bandura's social cognitive career theory and Meleis transition theory.

This study employed a quasi-experimental, single-group pre-post design. This study was reported according to the Transparent Reporting of Evaluations with Nonrandomized Designs guidelines (TREND). Participants were recruited from six healthcare facilities located in central Saudi Arabia. The intervention consisted of a 2 to 4 week summer externship (minimum 50 h) in acute care units, where students practiced direct patient care, documentation, and clinical decision-making under registered nurse supervision. Data were collected using the Work Readiness Scale and analyzed with the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS).

A total of 234 undergraduate nursing students enrolled in the externship program, of whom 175 (74.8%) completed both pre- and post-program questionnaires. Overall work readiness increased significantly from pre-program (M = 346.5, SD ± 55.1) to post-program (M = 367.0, SD ± 65.9, p < .001). The majority of participants (92.6%) expressed overall satisfaction with the program, acknowledged substantial support from their assigned health facilities (87.4%), and perceived the externship as having a significant positive impact on the community (86%). Significant differences in work readiness scores were found based on the perceived impact of the program on the community (f = 5.513, p < .005) and motivation to join the externship program (f = 8.527, p < .001). At post-program, significant improvements were observed in work competence, organizational acumen, and personal work characteristics (all p < .001), whereas no significant change was found in social intelligence (p = .673).

The externship program significantly improved nursing students' overall work readiness and key dimensions, supporting its value in facilitating the transition from academic learning to clinical practice. The findings highlight important student-level variables for the design of future externship nursing programs aimed at facilitating students' transition to real-world nursing practice.

Not applicable.