What One Summer Can Do: Inside Memorial Health’s Nurse Intern Program

Charla Warren, MSN, RN, was a college student studying nursing and working as a phlebotomist when she walked onto a unit at Springfield Memorial Hospital as a summer nurse intern in 2010. She was nervous, eager and not entirely sure what to expect. Fifteen years later, she runs the program that started her nursing career.

Abbi Pruitt, RN, had a similar experience. She came to the Summer Nurse Intern Program in 2016 unsure where her career would take her. Today she manages the 2G unit at SMH and considers the internship one of the best recruiting tools Memorial Health has for new graduate nurses.

Perfect Timing

The Summer Nurse Intern Program has been part of Springfield Memorial Hospital since 2006 before expanding to other Memorial Health hospitals. It targets pre-licensure nursing students in the summer before their final semester or year of school – a pivotal window when students are knowledgeable enough to contribute meaningfully but still need space to build confidence.

The seven-week, paid program pairs each intern one-on-one with a preceptor, a practicing nurse who becomes their guide and real-world connection. Interns follow their preceptor’s schedule and focus on core nursing skills: patient assessment, communication with ancillary teams and the rhythms of a hospital unit impossible to reproduce in a classroom.

“You will learn so much just being in a hospital for that many hours each week,” Charla says. “That is invaluable experience.”

Recruitment and Retention Gains

The numbers tell part of the story. Roughly 55 to 60 percent of Memorial Health interns are recruited into registered nurse positions after graduation. Of those, 75 to 80 percent are still with the organization at the end of year one and year two.

By the time an intern finishes the program and returns as a new graduate, they already know the charting systems, the shift report process and the unit culture. They’ve built relationships and understand from real experience what it means to be a bedside nurse at Memorial Health.

“I find they transition into practice faster than others,” Abbi says. “They already have insight. They are ahead of the game.”

The Preceptor Relationship

For both Charla and Abbi, the most important part of the internship wasn’t a skill or a procedure, it was a person.

Charla’s preceptor became a lifeline during her final year of school, connecting classroom concepts to real patients. Abbi still remembers the encouraging message her preceptor sent the day before she sat for her nursing boards.

The bond runs both ways. Abbi recently encouraged a nurse who was about a year out of school to take on an intern, even though that nurse worried she was too new. After the summer, she came back with a different perspective.

“She said it felt like such an opportunity to grow her own confidence,” Abbi recalls. “She had so much to offer. She just didn’t realize it.”

Program Growth

What started at Springfield Memorial Hospital now spans all five Memorial Health hospitals in Springfield, Jacksonville, Decatur, Lincoln and Taylorville. This year, 95 interns participated, double the number from previous years.

Charla leads a system-wide steering committee that includes chief nursing officers from each hospital. The group reviews intern and preceptor surveys each year and uses smaller debrief sessions to identify what’s working and what needs to change. One result of that listening: a nurse extern role that lets interns continue developing advanced clinical skills like IV placement and catheter care after the seven-week program ends. About 85 percent of interns accept extern positions.

A Career That Begins With One Summer

For nursing students weighing their options, the Summer Nurse Intern Program offers something genuinely hard to find: a high-support environment to grow into the nurse you want to be.

“We want to empower them to ask questions, to be patient with themselves,” Charla says. “We’re here to help them know they have a team behind them.”

Applications for the Memorial Health Summer Nurse Intern Program open in late August. For more information, contact your school of nursing or visit Memorial Health online.