Grad in May + IHS obligation + 5 year old

Nurses Career Support

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Hello all! I'm hoping to find some help on here because the anxiety of the unknown is distracting me and weighing heavily on my mind.

I will be graduating with my BSN on April 30. I have a three year service obligation to the IHS. The scholarship was a godsend; I was a single mom with a four month old when I started the journey to nursing school (it was a nurse who helped me change my life and leave her father). Needless to say, the scholarship enabled me to get this far. Now that I am getting closer to graduating, I am starting to panic. I have 90 days from the date of graduation to find a job or go work on a reservation w/ the Civil Service. I have no idea how to navigate this. My daughter will be starting kindergarten in the fall, and I have no idea if a local tribal job will be available during that time. I have no idea what life will be like ANYWHERE. I'm freaked out about child care, quality of life for her, school.

Does anyone have any experience with moving to one of these reservations with children? I just want to be somewhere safe. I try to look at the IHS.gov job listings but its nearly impossible to get an idea of what a shift would be like or what a community would be like as well. On top of that, I cannot apply for any of them until I get my license, which sounds like will be no sooner than six weeks after graduation. I went to school to build this child a good life. Now I only know how life will be up until July and its just too much. I don't know where to start. So I came here. If anyone has any information to share it would be GREATLY appreciated.

Thank you!

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Are you willing to move to any state? I would start looking at usajobs.gov. Run a search for RN IHS and see. Another way to go about this is to contact the US Public Health Service and speak with one of their nurse recruiters. They may be able to guide you on how to find IHS jobs. Good luck and if I find out any other information I will update you. All will be well so stay positive and focus on your bright future

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I found an IHS nurse recruiter contact on one of the usajobs postings for an IHS outpatient clinical nurse - FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT NURSE RECRUITER:* Myra Cousens at 505-726-8549 or*[email protected];*ALTERNATES:* Supervisory Clinical Nurses at 505-722-1000 and ask for the clinic of your interest. Hope this helps

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Thanks for your reply. I suppose I am willing to move to any state. I just want to move to one that has the best quality of life for my daughter. I have looked at the jobs site multiple times. I just do not know how to choose. If anyone had experience at any of these locations and could tell me how family life could be there, that would be really helpful. Because once 90 days is up, if I haven't found a place with a good fit, I will just be put wherever they need me. I hope to have more input than that.

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MickeyJ I sent you a private message with contact info of people who can give you more specific information about IHS locations and positions

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Thank you so much! I have to go do some posting before I can look at your message... It's locked until I post 15 times! I have always been a lurker but realized I really needed to connect with people b/c only knowing what where our lives will be until July is huge and scary! But I will post some topics and look at the message when I am able. And I truly appreciate the help, dnptobe20!

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Specializes in a little of everthing.

Hello, I do understand the anxiety. Last month my daughter and I moved near Shiprock, NM and I began a job at the Northern Navajo Medical Center through IHS. That hospital is near the edge of the reservation and we do not live on the reservation. So far I love it and recommend it. You have to work someplace, come on over and work here. There are lots of openings.

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FamilyChick Thank you for your reply! Does Shiprock have activities for kids to do, shopping, day care, things like that? I had a local job that fell through due to the board not approving the budget for the position. I passed my NCLEX in August (woohoo!) and I have several applications through the federal job site. It just seems like it takes so long. I have not applied to Shiprock, though. Can you tell me more about what life is like for you there? I would really appreciate it. I see there are several positions posted there.

I am going to call some recruiters tomorrow. My daughter just started kindergarten and I NEED to have some direction. This 'floating through life' wondering is starting to really get to my nerves. If you have a chance, please let me know anything you think could be relevant.

Thank you all for your responses.

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Specializes in a little of everthing.

Hi MickeyJ,

Shiprock is a town on the reservation. I live near the reservation, not in it. The little city where I live seems to be family friendly with lots of activities. I just moved from one town to another a couple of weeks ago and really like it. I do plan on staying. You are correct in that it does take awhile. It took me about 6 weeks from submitted application until I was here. You need to be quick and thorough with your documents and correspondence.

Feel free to PM me.

r

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Thank you! I want to PM you, especially now that I have been doing a bit of reading about the area, but this site will not let me until I have posted a sufficient number of "quality topics". And I haven't made it that far down my to-do list yet! So frustrating.

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Specializes in a little of everthing.

Are you able to receive/read PMs? I sent you one with my contact info. If not, we will figure it out.

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Specializes in a little of everthing.

Just in case you are not able to read that PM I will give you my contact info here at work.

I am the Supervisory Clinical Nurse (Unit Manager) of the inpatient pediatric unit at Northern Navajo Medical Center in Shiprock, NM. This is an IHS facility. It is a US Government job and is unionized. There are several programs one can apply for for student loan forgiveness, though there is no guarantee of being accepted. There is often recruitment incentives and relocation reimbursement. I do hire new grads on my unit, as do some of the other managers. Go to usajobs.gov to apply. Feel free to contact me on my direct line. 505-368-6865

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