Originally Posted by rocksie
Hello everyone. It’s been awhile since the last post here but I thought I’d give it a try.
I am about to begin my nursing degree program, and I think a lot about how I am going to best be able to serve the Indian community as a nurse. Working for IHS is appealing to me because of their loan forgiveness program. So I was wondering if anyone out there has experience with either this program or working for IHS in general.
By the way, I am an enrolled member of a tribe, and I was raised on our tribal nation lands in Oklahoma until I went away for high school. Growing up I saw first hand the inequalities that exist for Native Americans, especially in health care. While this fact used to just infuriate me, it also motivated me to find a way to do something about it and I think I am finally approaching a place where I can be a source of positivity.
I think it's great that you're interested in working for the IHS. While I have not worked for the IHS, there was a speaker who came to my school and talked about her experiences working on a reservation in New Mexico for two years. She worked as a labor and delivery nurse -- and loved it! The medical and nursing staff were helpful and warm. Then, she went to New York City and worked in a public urban hospital, and quickly became burnt out. She later went on to graduate school, and is now working as a certified nurse midwife. She still looks back at her New Mexico days fondly.
Maybe if you chat with an IHS recruiter they can put you in touch with a IHS clinical nurse.
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