Adelina Diaz, required clinical hours in Arizona

Hello;

My name is Adelina Diaz, I am from the Pueblo of Abiquiu, N.M. My late Grandfather was the person who first encouraged my siblings and I to get involved in our community - he encouraged me to go check out the Abiquiu Fire Department where I signed up to be a First Responder. As I started to get called out to accidents and other incidents, I was coming into contact with people from our community, which allowed me to see something greater than myself, and that made me feel good, that I was helping them. This is when my passion for nursing started, this is when I knew I wanted to become a Registered Nurse. That lead me to find work at the Abiquiu Las Clinicas del Norte Clinic as a CNA; then as a Phlebotomist / Lead Lab Tech at the Presbyterian Espanola Hospital; and then at the Los Alamos Medical Center. As my passion for nursing progressed, I finally got into the Nursing Program at Northern New Mexico College, graduating in 2018 with an Associate of Applied Science in Nursing. After graduating, I had my challenges taking the NCLEX exam, and it started to affect me physically, mentally and financially. I actually gave up on taking the exam all together at that point. But i n 2020 I started working on the Covid Unit at Christus St. Vincent Hospital in Santa Fe. Working there during this pandemic and being a part of the medical team that was working with very ill patients who were fighting for their lives was a life-changing experience. Working with my patients and their families made me realize how much I love the nursing profession! The support and encouragement of my family and my co-workers helped me to decide to continue to move forward, and not give up on myself. I started to study again, and to fight for my RN licensee. My hard work was paying off; I finally passed the NCLEX exam, in Arizona. I am now enrolled in a required RN refresher course at South Dakota State University (SDSU) and am at the point where I will be finishing off the course now in March, then I will have to complete 80 hours of clinicals in the state of Arizona. I have found a possible placement on the Navajo Nation at the IHS Ft. Defiance Hospital Emergency Department, and am asking for your help with expenses for the travel (by car), hotel and food expenses, a drug screen and background check through Castlebranch, Inc. and for the $1750.00 I had to borrow, and am still struggling to pay, for the SDSU tuition. It has been a fight and a battle to get where I am today. But, soon after completing my clinical hours, I will be issued my RN license by the Arizona State Board of Nursing, so I can work for my people in the role I have been seeking for these many years - Registered Nurse.

In advance, I would like to thank all of you for helping me with my many, many expenses towards reaching my goal of receiving an RN license, which is a road that has had many hurdles in it! To my family, friends, co-workers, community members, former nursing professors, and all who donate to this Go Fund Me, who have, and are, helping me get to where I am today - thank you, with all my heart. - Adelina Diaz