Explorers are learning outside of the classroom in top-notch internships. Here, students share what it’s like working in a role that’s a step toward a future career. 

Amy Madrid, ’23
Nursing major 
Internship: Nurse intern at IBC Foundation at the Children’s Health Center of VNA Community Services, Inc.  

What interested you in this internship: “I wanted to gain experience by caring for children in an outpatient community clinic. This internship provided an opportunity for me to explore the different avenues of nursing. I chose this opportunity to get the experience and confidence in both non-traditional and traditional roles of nursing.” 

Primary duties: “My primary duties were taking vital signs, preparing each pediatric patient for the nurse practitioner by determining the appropriate assessment questions based on age and needs, charting necessary patient information, learning and observing under the nurses and nurse practitioners in assessments, administering vaccines, and performing urine analyses.” 

Favorite part: “The many interactions I had with children of every stage of development was my favorite. Getting to see children in the clinic and following up with them throughout their development was challenging, but exciting. These interactions gave me the chance to test my skills when performing my duties.” 

Biggest challenge: “The outpatient setting. Being a nursing student who attends clinicals that are inpatient, it was challenging to see eight to 16 different patients a day in the clinic. However, it gave me the ability to manage my time between patients, practice my communication skills with each patient and family, and have leadership and delegating skills when working with the clinic staff.” 

Takeaways: “I have gained valuable experience in my internship, such as communicating with patients and their families, delegating tasks among clinic staff, developing leadership qualities, advocating for children, being culturally competent, and developing skills in various duties. These qualities are what I want to take back to La Salle and into my professional job search. They are important because they showed me how to be passionate about nursing. My internship experience has also shown me the outpatient/primary care, public health, and pediatric avenues of nursing, which can provide helpful insight in my future professional job search.”