I am Naira Arellano, DNP, MPH, AGACNP-BC and currently work as a critical care nurse practitioner at Maui Memorial Medical Center in Maui, Hawaii. I am originally from Ecuador, but immigrated with my family to the US at age 17. I always knew I wanted to work in health care and with underserved and marginalized populations. I studied public health and then nursing, eventually becoming an adult gerontology acute care nurse practitioner. Early in my career, I spearheaded global health projects in the Dominican Republic and Mexico. I also worked with immigrant and houseless populations in Boston and Chicago. My fist nurse practitioner job was in Chicago in neurocritical care, a field I am now passionate about. In 2022 we moved our young family to Maui, HI, a place that is culturally vibrant and naturally beautiful yet medically underserved. Now I work in the only hospital and ICU on the island, which serves a diverse population including patients of Polynesian and Micronesian backgrounds as well as local residents and visitors of other races and ethnicities. As an immigrant and as a woman of color, it is very important to me to continue serving immigrant and underserved communities locally and globally. I also hope to mentor and empower individuals from these communities to be better represented in healthcare. I am hopeful that for the rest of my career I will be able to rely on the SCCM platform to connect with like-minded colleagues and continue pursing my goals.
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Immigrant Advanced Practice Providers and Registered Nurses
Sunday, February 23, 2025
3:40pm – 3:50pm Eastern Time