Nursing at Fort Defiance Indian Hospital

U.S.A. Arizona

Published

I was just informed by a friend of mine that FIFTEEN R.N.s just recently quit working at Fort Defiance Indian Hospital Emergency Room this month.

I also heard that if you contract over there, you can make something in the area of about $50 per hour, depending on how you word your contract. Was wanting to know if anyone has worked there or if they know how they run this place, i.e.,why have 15 nurses just suddenly quit working there this month? :uhoh3:

Up Vote Up Vote ×

I work at Fort Defiance in Med/Surg. We officially changed over to Tribal yesterday. I'm sure we are going to need more travelers in the future because of this change.

E.R. and ICU had several nurses leave.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

I was considering contacting the ER director about an independent contract position as $50 per hour is a decent scale and I could do a lot with that kind of money, however, my friend who quit there recently informed me that this place is not a nurse friendly ER and is also a rather hostile work environment. Considering that the 638 conversion may indeed have something to do with 15 Registered Nurses quitting in one department over a 30 day time span, it sounds to me like more of an excuse to bail for those 15 RN's. So I'm going to pass on the opportunity.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

There was more to them leaving besides 638. More changes are coming. Compared to public hospitals this has been by far this less stressful. If one can put up with the "politics" it can be a pretty gravy job.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

Sorry for the hijack....I had a teen foster child that came from that area and his aunt was/is a nurse at that hospital....

Why does changing to tribal mean the RN's are leaving? I confess complete ignorance to this concept!

Up Vote Up Vote ×
:idea: The 638 status or "going tribal" as they say, simply means that they are no longer having to answer to the U.S. Federal government about how they spend their money. They become their own independent corp. :up:They will continue to get Native American government funding, but they are allowed to spend it as they wish as an independent hospital entity, with portions of the funds appropriated as they deem necessary for the different departments up and running at this hospital. What it has to do with people quitting is many of the staff prefer to keep working for the U.S. Government. The 15 staff in the ER however were a mixed group. Some of them had quit because of the hostile ER staff environment :down:and others left because they wanted to retain their federal government benefits, which will go away after 2 years. Under the new system, employees of the 638 independent hospital will pay into a 401 (K) retirement fund. A few of them went on to places like Veterans Administration while others left to the private sector. :nurse:
Up Vote Up Vote ×
:idea: The 638 status or "going tribal" as they say simply means that they are no longer having to answer to the U.S. Federal government about how they spend their money. They become their own independent corp. :up:They will continue to get Native American government funding, but they are allowed to spend it as they wish as an independent hospital entity, with portions of the funds appropriated as they deem necessary for the different departments up and running at this hospital. What it has to do with people quitting is many of the staff prefer to keep working for the U.S. Government. The 15 staff in the ER however were a mixed group. Some of them had quit because of the hostile ER staff environment :down:and others left because they wanted to retain their federal government benefits, which will go away after 2 years. Under the new system, employees of the 638 independent hospital will pay into a 401 (K) retirement fund. A few of them went on to places like Veterans Administration while others left to the private sector. :nurse:[/quote']

Ah, OK thanks, AZ. I appreciate the reply and this is good information to know!

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in ER, Outpatient,.

Can you tell me a little bit more about the ER there? What made it a hostile working environment? What was the pay like? How were you received in the town being that you are not Navajo (If you aren't Navajo). Has this gotten any better? Is the housing nice?

Thanks a gozillion

Up Vote Up Vote ×

Hi:

I worked at Ft. Defiance when the new facility was in the planning stage. My experience was very positive working there. How would I go about finding an open position other than the ER? I also worked in Acoma Indian Hospital and really enjoyed working there especially having a large town so close by.

Georgeann:nurse:

Up Vote Up Vote ×
+ Add a Comment