Originally Posted by TRAVELERUSA1
Are There Agencies That Specialize Or Send Travelers To Indian Resevations? Where Would I Find Info On Federal Indian Reservations? Thanks
Several agencies are contracted with the IHS. For clarity, IHS faciliites are US government hospitals -- I am guessing they are similiar in ways to, say, the VA system because of that. You go through a lengthy background check, which may or may not be completed by the time your contract is finished. Other oddities not found elswhere smack you in the face, like everything has "property of US gov't" stamped on it -- considering the tragic history of US gov't vs the first nations, this can't build a positive healing ambience for the pts.
Anderson and Bates Staffing Solutions staffs mostly southwestern IHS facilities, RNs as well as MDs. Another traveller referred me to Dakota Med Temps, which staffs northern IHS sites, such as the Dakotas, Minnesota, &c. I'm working with a couple of RNs who are with Axis Healthcare. You can get tax breaks being a contract employee with the gov't.
I'm presently working in OB at Shiprock and will be finished in December with my assignment. I've had my taste of IHS and hope to return to the IHS as a SNM. I'd really rather work as an RN in a place with safer staffing ratios in my next assignment. Staffing, up-to-dateness of patient care policies and procedures, and staff attitudes, at IHS facilities is a whole 'nother story -- but to be fair may not be worse than many rural hospitals. I love the patients, the culture, the landscape, and have met a few amazing people here. There are whole other cultures more ancient than ours existing right here in the USA that most of us are woefully ignorant about -- you don't have to join the Peace Corps to experience a culture different from mainstream white Eurocentric culture.