Nurse Profiles

On this page:

• Supporting Healthy Pregnancies in First Nations Communities (Ontario)
• Collaboration making a positive difference in First Nations health (Quebec)
• Tackling Saskatchewan's HIV Challenge (Saskatchewan)

Supporting Healthy Pregnancies in First Nations Communities

Nurse Caitlyn Quinn's passion is making a positive difference in Kashechewan

Aboriginal Elders say that how a woman lives, the food she eats, the way she feels and her thoughts all affect her baby. One young nurse in Kashechewan is working to make sure that the community's young moms have the help and information they need to care for their new baby, and themselves. With humour and enthusiasm, registered nurse Caitlyn Quinn has made prenatal programming a priority and a passion in this community of 1300.

Caitlyn came to Kashechewan some 18 months ago, after working in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit in a busy downtown hospital. She immediately took on the important role as prenatal coordinator which marked the beginning of Caitlin's self-directed learning journey. She reviewed and updated all the prenatal files and spent a week with the nurse practitioner in the prenatal/labour rooms of Moose Factory's Weeneebayko Hospital, to gain a better understanding of the challenges facing young moms-to-be in remote First Nations communities.

Caityln says that at times language can be a bit of a barrier, but she often uses humour to relate to the pre-natal moms. She says this approach works. They flock to Caitlyn with their questions and she uses props and books to help them better understand the stages of pregnancy and the importance of maintaining good physical and emotional health. Caitlyn works with the community maternal child health worker and the community mental health worker to offer group classes designed to empower parents to maintain and improve the health of their children and themselves.

Caitlyn also works with the Weeneebayko hospital team and has been an advocate on important issues such as infant release times. Caitlyn says when she works with moms-to-be and their partners her main goal is to enable them to make informed choices about timing and processes for travelling out of the community to give birth in a hospital setting.

Caitlyn will be leaving Kashechewan in the fall and has enrolled in the midwifery program at Laurentian University in Sudbury, Ontario. She says she sees a role for midwives and she envisions herself working alongside other midwives to provide the support and knowledge for safe pregnancies and deliveries in northern First Nations communities.

Collaboration making a positive difference in First Nations health

Community nurses play a key role

Laurence Perreault's creativity and leadership combine to make the health care services provided to members of Quebec First Nations communities safer, more accessible, and improves the quality of care.

Employed by Health Canada as Nurse-in-Charge at the nursing station in the Algonquin community of Long Point First Nation in Abitibi-Témiscamingue, Perreault developed an exceptional relationship with the community's Health and Social Services Director, Priscilla Pichette-Polson, and with the Band Council Chief, Léonard Polson, as soon as she assumed her position.

With their valuable cooperation and leadership, and the ongoing support of Health Canada Nursing Services, within six months Perreault developed ten collective prescriptions for the community that expanded the range of primary health care services provided at the nursing station.

"The collective prescriptions, approved by competent authorities, enable the nurses at the nursing station to meet clients' health needs in specific clinical situations," says Perreault.

Through these prescriptions, nurses at the nursing station can now treat clients with common health problems more quickly and therefore, reduce complications. After evaluating a person's condition, nurses can use a collective prescription to treat moderate to acute ear infections, sore throats, tonsillitis or urinary infections and administer emergency oral contraceptives.

The collective prescriptions in effect at Long Point First Nation are in line with evidence and improve the supervision of nursing practices and the quality of nursing care in compliance with the standards and legislation governing the profession. Nurses have the scientific knowledge, expertise and clinical judgment to apply them.

"To be able to tackle this huge project, all the partners involved in health care delivery had to share a common vision of nursing practice in remote regions," Perreault added.

The community Chief, the Health and Social Services Director and the Health Canada team played a key role in the project. The visiting doctor was also extremely dedicated and played a crucial role.

"Together we have faced the challenges involved in achieving our goal, because it can sometimes take years to have such prescriptions approved. I am proud to work with such dedicated, professional people," says Perreault.

Priscilla Pichette-Polson, Health and Social Services Director of the Long Point First Nation community, agreed with Perrault. "Our professional partnership with Health Canada has led to initiatives that are helping to maintain our members' health in accordance with the needs expressed by the community."

"Kitci Meegwetch", she added in Algonquin, which means thank you.

Tackling Saskatchewan's HIV Challenge

Nurse Leslie-Anne Smith's Passion Makes a Difference

Conforming to the status quo is not a part of Leslie-Ann's character - especially in her successful career as Nurse in Charge at the Spiritwood Health Centre in central Saskatchewan. That's why when she and her colleagues were confronted with a public health issue that affected the entire province it was clear that a textbook approach simply wouldn't suffice.

Saskatchewan has Canada's highest rate of HIV infection rates with slightly over 16 people infected per 100,000, (as reported in 2010), with the most at-risk population being residents of urban centres, injection drug users and Aboriginal women under the age of 30.

"Just because we've done nursing one way for 50 years doesn't mean it's always the right way," said Leslie-Ann when discussing the unique approach the Spiritwood Health Centre undertook to address the problem.

Leslie-Ann and her colleagues employed by Health Canada's First Nations and Inuit Health Branch introduced the community to the Know Your Status Project - a bold approach designed specifically to reduce new cases of HIV and help clients live positively. "The biggest focus of the Know Your Status Project was breaking down the barriers and the stigma to being tested," said Leslie-Ann.

Nurses such as Leslie-Ann are the cornerstone of the project - they deliver educational sessions, invite community members to be tested, respond to community concerns, provide counseling and referrals when needed, and follow through with case management and assessments from beginning to end. Since inception, the program has been an outstanding success, with every voluntary client opting for further treatment. As Leslie is quick to point out, the collaborative nature of the program in addition to the full support of the community is what has made it so successful.

The excellent work that Leslie-Ann has accomplished has not gone unnoticed. In early May 2012 she was awarded with the National Award of Excellence in Nursing by Health Canada's First Nations and Inuit Health Branch. However, Leslie-Ann isn't about to take all the credit. "I don't believe an individual is excellent on their own. I believe it's often based on the support of a team of excellent people," said Leslie-Ann. Through the collaborative leadership of multiple stakeholders within the provincial, federal and First Nations health system, the Know Your Status project is making a difference in the lives of First Nations people in Saskatchewan.

Leslie-Ann is also grateful for the support of her employer, Health Canada, the community, and "some amazing nurses" who have mentored her along the way which has inspired her to mentor new nursing recruits. Her commitment to lifelong learning and self-improvement was nurtured at the Saskatchewan Indian Institute of Technologies' Indian Diploma Nursing Program from which she graduated in 1991.

More information on this year's recipients of Health Canada's National Award of Excellence in Nursing.