Whitney Fear is an enrolled member of the Oglala Sioux Tribe. She was born and raised on the Pine Ridge reservation, where her family has a small cattle operation. After finishing high school in 2005, Whitney moved to the Fargo-Moorhead community where she discovered a drive to pursue nursing as a career. She worked as a nurse in Emergency Medicine, Mental Health, and Community Health. While working in Homeless Health Services at Family Healthcare Whitney made the decision to pursue advancement of her nursing education to expand the services that she could offer for patients. Whitney completed her Master’s of Science in Nursing in August 2019 and is an ANCC board certified Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner (PMHNP).

Whitney currently works at Family HealthCare in Fargo, ND. Her clinical specialties are trauma related disorders, substance use disorders, perinatal psychiatry, harm reduction and LGBTQ-2S emotional health. Whitney feels that an integral part of fulfilling the responsibilities of a nurse should include advocacy for issues such as health equity and social justice. Whitney serves as a board member for Indigenous Association. She is the current Chairwoman for the Fargo Native American Commission. In her free time Whitney enjoys spending time with her children (twins, Isabella and Remy), painting, creating traditional beadwork/quillwork and being outdoors.

SHIFT Podcast webpage:

https://www.shiftnursing.com/