NHSC Scholarship for Nurse Midwives?

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Hello!

I am applying for the NHSC scholarship and was wondering if anyone had insight on how to make a strong package? How much does income play a role in the NHSC and Nurse scholarships?

Thank you for the help!

Ashleigh

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I am a nurse corps Scholarship recipient and I graduated May 2019. I’m still looking for a nurse corps approved site near home because I can’t afford to uproot my entire life and relocate. It is now March 2020. I had to get an extension, which will expire in August and then I will be in default. (The scholarship is also counted as income and they give you a w-2, so now I owe the IRS over $7,000). They only give you 3 years to pay back ALL of the money with maximum interest. If I could do it all over again, I would’ve just tried to get personal loans to finish school. If you are offered a job out of state, nurse corps does not provide relocation assistance. Furthermore, if you have a child/children and/or a family, you’ll have to move to fulfill the service obligation. Who has money for that? If you default, your wages could be garnished if you don’t pay everything back in 3 years. I accepted the help in hopes of helping others once I graduated. But every single day I wake up, this scholarship program feels like a trap, a nightmare, and it’s literally ruining my life. I’m supposed to be enjoying my new nursing career, not stressing about HPSA scores. I hope I can help save someone from this, because I wish someone would have saved me.

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@Sasha Fierce I am sorry that you are going through that and it is hard to hear because I am actually trying to apply to the NHSC scholarship for FNP school. What are some factors that you think would cause difficulty in finding a job? Do you think location plays a factor? I hope you find something soon!

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@Sasha Fierce Are you a single parent? Can you take out the loans to move? There’s a website called studentloanplanner.com - maybe they can help! Travis is a financial genius.

I'm prior military, so I think I’m in a bit of a different situation. I've moved every 3 years since I was born.

Look into the FIRE movement, as well as Naseema McElroy. She’s a nurse who helps other nurses with financial planning.

You got this!! CONGRATS on graduating!

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On 3/25/2020 at 8:34 PM, Chrisie said:

@Sasha Fierce I am sorry that you are going through that and it is hard to hear because I am actually trying to apply to the NHSC Scholarship for FNP school. What are some factors that you think would cause difficulty in finding a job? Do you think location plays a factor? I hope you find something soon!

Thank you. Well, I believe the NHSC Scholarship has less restrictive guidelines on where you can work. The Nurse Corps Scholarship Program is different.

I was told by someone at BHW who I thought was there to help me that there is no list of eligible sites for Nurse Corps and basically I’m on my own. I’ve searched so many addresses using the online tool and haven’t found anything. Places that I thought qualified, didn’t. So I wasted time interviewing. I live in Philadelphia and there are many nonprofit organizations in underserved communities. Yet, I can’t work for any of them because they don’t have designated HPSA scores. The only eligible sites that I’ve seen that are hiring are very far, like California and Colorado. I would have to uproot my child and take him away from his dad and everything else he knows, which isn’t good for him at all. I would also not have any help or support with my child from family if I moved miles away. I’m going to keep trying to find something in my home town, but if it comes to having to pay the money back, that’s what I’ll have to do.

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Specializes in Vents, Telemetry, Home Care, Home infusion.

Just saw this thread.....

Sasha:

Health Professional Shortage Area (HPSA) locator site lists HPSA score: https://data.hrsa.gov/tools/shortage-area/hpsa-find

Each HPSA is assigned a score from 0-26 with higher scores indicating the greater need. Click on down arrow under HPSA Score on grid to sort for highest score.

In Philadelphia, many of these HPSA facilities are managed/in partnership with Public Health Management Corporation. View open positions for Philly area here: http://www.phmc.org/site/careers Include in search terms Registered nurse / Case Manager --few positions listed.

Unfortunately, Philadelphia area is not as nurse-midwife friendly due to medical school dominance in area hospitals.

The Philadelphia based National Nurse-Led Care Consortium is a non-profit organization supporting and advocating for nurse-led care. they manage two maternity first time mom prenatal programs with openings. They may be able to direct you to an organization.

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