Nursing stations are the heart of health care for many rural and remote First Nations communities in BC. They often provide all-encompassing wrap around health care services. At the heart of the nursing stations are the people who work there, people like nurses. They bring valuable wholistc health care expertise to locations where adaptability is just as important as health care expertise.

The First Nation Health Authority's (FNHA) Northern Region is a vast region that stretches from the north coast to the border with Alberta and from BC's northern border with the Yukon and Northwest Territories to the geographic centre of the province in the Prince George area. Not surprisingly, the North Region also has the most nursing stations out of all of the FNHA's regions.

Christine Morton and Catherine Lake are both nurses in charge of their respective community's nursing stations. They both bring a wealth of experiences gained over decades of working in the health care profession. Christine's experience includes stints in the ICU and emergency at hospitals in the US and also at Royal Columbian in New Westminster. She worked as an agency nurse for the FNHA, having the opportunity to travel to six different communities before falling in love with Gitga'at, where she has called home for the last three and a half years.

“It's on-going learning but living in community with 150 people was a big change, I'm always up for learning something new and embracing change," said Christine. “There's only twice a week passenger ferry so living style has been a big change. There are only boardwalks here and people drive in golfcarts, so it's big change from driving on a six-lane highway in L.A."

Catherine Lake's experience is just as diverse. She currently lives in Argenta in the Kootenays and has worked in home and community care, diabetes education and other public health roles in the Secwepemc region and has more than two decades worth of experience working in and with First Nations communities.

While their living arrangements in community differ, what they both find challenging and rewarding are similar.

They both commented that before taking their roles in community, they were in highly specific and niche roles in their respective departments but now they are able to see the entirety of a patient's wholistic health care.

“I get to do all the pieces and follow through when I put out health care fires," said Christine. “I'm interested in the whole health piece to see if a health concern can be addressed, and a solution can be made for them that works. I can see the difference I make in an ongoing process of seeing things through the people I'm helping."

They spoke of the professional and personal satisfaction of seeing someone through the entire course of their treatment, and because they live in small communities, they know their patients on a personal level. The people they are treating are more than just patients, they are also their friends and neighbours.

For Catherine, despite the challenges, it is about building and maintaining relationships within a close knit community.

“The main thing is relationship, this job is all about relationships with the community as a whole and individuals within it. It's important to maintain the skill and knowledge but what makes it work is the relationships."

Building and maintaining those relationships are important in health care in general but even more so when working in remote locations because Christine and Catherine must become health care “jack-of-all-trades" and rely on the community they are serving.

Catherine is amazed by “The strength of community to solve problems, if something needs to happen, the community will figure out a way to make it happen even if it seems on all levels to be impractical. People here will figure it out." She continues, “The ability to solve problems and resourcefulness is amazing, never underestimate the power of community to get things done when it needs to get done. People who live this close to the land and the water don't see barriers, they see challenges to overcome."

Living in a First Nations community is not only rewarding but is also an eye-opening experience for them as non-Indigenous guests. They both witnessed anti-Indigenous discrimination before working with the FNHA.

“The way people would make comments and the open discrimination and attitude," said Christine when relating what she saw at a major hospital in the Lower Mainland. “When Indigenous people were treated like they were, like someone other than, it was unbelievable and hard to believe it was your colleagues who made these comments."

Catherine speaks about the discrimination she sees and how it impacts the health of her community.  “Unless you actually see it or experience it, it is hard to believe the level of racism Indigenous people face in accessing care.  For example when Indigenous parents take their kids out to access medical care for the usual bumps, bruises and illnesses of childhood they always face the underlying threat of having their children taken away. White parents don't face anywhere near that level of threat. It is a significant barrier to care and it enrages me.  I am always so grateful to parents for trusting me with their children"

In their own ways, both Christine and Catherine embody what true reconciliation looks like in practice. They acknowledge they are guests in the communities they serve and are aware that even though they are western health care experts; they honour, respect and understand they are still learning about Indigenous ways of knowing and wholistic health.

Catherine's gratitude is clear.

“Being here as a nurse, as a white person, it challenges me to show up everyday with humility. It's a blessing to have my white privilege challenged on a regular basis. It's good to be here as guest and to stand at the door and wait to be invited in."

for more information about nursing services at FNHA., visit our webpage: www.fnha.ca/what-we-do/nursing-services​