CINA/CNF Indigenous Award

My name is Jennifer Brooks, I was born & raised in the beautiful Okanagan. I am currently in my 4th year of the Bachelor of Science and Nursing program at the University of British Columbia – Okanagan. I’ve had a strong passion to help others since graduating from High School, when I volunteered through Live Different I was a motivational speaker in schools across eastern Canada and addressed thousands of students on the topic of suicide prevention. I also taught English in Mexico and built homes in Haiti, Dominican Republic, and Mexico.

I have enjoyed working as a Care Aide for the last 8 years, but I find that I am limited in my scope of practice. This constraint pushed me to take my knowledge and skills to the next level. I want to be directly involved in developing and implementing personalized patient therapeutic plans, and I felt that the BSN program would afford me new opportunities to develop my practice and succeed in my career goals. The nursing program has provided me with many different opportunities and career paths from which I could choose. It has ignited an interest in different branches of nursing such as; Post-Anesthetic, Forensic, and Critical Care Nursing. I see myself as being at the frontline of healthcare, providing care to some of the most vulnerable populations.

I am eager to experience more educational endeavours where I am exposed to numerous high-pressure emergent situations. These experiences allow me to acquire the skills to appropriately assess and manage patients in those situations.