May 11, 2018
FNHA Health Protection team members are health and wellness champions
Congratulations to April MacNaughton on her appointment as the Director of Health Protection within the Chief Nursing Office. Prior to this, April was FNHA’s CDC Nurse Manager for five years. April is of Ktunaxa ancestry and has spent over 20 years working in many facets of nursing in BC including long term and extended care nursing, pre-and post-natal care, and as a community health nurse.
April earned a Master of Science degree in Nursing at UBC in February 2016 and completed the Health Canada Aboriginal Career Management Program in 2014. She has worked with First Nations in a Communicable Disease Population and Public health (Health Protection) capacity for ten years. After the signing of Transformative Change Accord, April began working at Health Canada on the Tuberculosis file, anticipating and looking forward to the transfer to FNHA.
"It was amazing and inspiring to be part of the process of becoming the First Nations Health Authority and getting to ask: How do we transform this work?" says April.
FNHA’s Health Protection team works with health partners for delivery of communicable disease (CD) public health programs in community. The team increases awareness and builds capacity at the community level, through engagement, consultation, education, training and resources. At transfer
"The transformations I’ve seen since the time I worked in community as a nurse are fantastic. It has been a real honour and privilege to be a part of this work which allows us to put communities at the heart of everything we do at FNHA," says April.
Some of the transformative changes in Health Protection include:
• FNHA Tuberculosis (TB) Services Program: From 1989 to 2016, the BC Centre for Disease Control (BCCDC) provided TB management and services in BC First Nations communities. This program transitioned in-house to FNHA in early 2016 and FNHA continues to work in successful partnership with BCCDC physicians. In addition to provincial TB management resources, FNHA’s TB program has developed First Nations-specific resources to enhance and reflect First Nations community TB programs.
• Indigenous Wellness Team: In 2016, the team was created to meet the identified need to provide services with a First Nations lens and perspective related to harm reduction, decolonizing addiction, healthy sexuality and responding to the opioid public health emergency (including Take Home Naloxone training).
• FNHA Panorama Program – On Jan 1, 2018 Panorama was fully implemented as an FNHA program. Panorama provides access to the BC Public Health Information System, and supporting best practices and CD health outcomes for communities. This service was previously provided by a contractor. Prior to Panorama, nurses in community did not have access to timely CD information, including immunization records.
• Enhanced relationships with BC public health systems and partners to ensure equity for First Nations access to services: The team’s development of a draft CD protocol, in collaboration with all Regional Health Authorities and BCCDC, has supported improved health outcomes. The FNHA Director, Health Protection and Health Protection Nurse Specialists actively participate on all provincial and federal working groups to further develop collaborative relationships and advocate for First Nations communities.
April’s path to nursing was not what you might expect. As a teenager, she dreamed of becoming an astronaut (she went to Space Academy in Grade 12!). Eventually she realized that her true passion was in helping others and that nursing was a wonderful career in which to make a difference. She hasn’t looked back since.
April is married with two almost-grown children. She loves family life, the outdoors, and camping vacations. This summer will be 28th year of camping together with her husband.
[2nd from left]: April MacNaughton pictured canoeing with her family. Below is some inspiration for nurses from April’s grandmother’s nursing textbook (dated 1934) The Principles and Practice of Nursing commenting on ‘the spirit of nursing’:
"Sympathy, kindness and unselfishness are needed; but also something more – something deeper and more helpful, more devoted and spiritual – which supports the patient and gives him a feeling of strength, security and comfort. No one becomes kind except by being kind, and no one can win this spirit of love and service unless he, day by day, does act of kindness."