TD Aboriginal Nursing Fund Award – Master’s

I am from the Cayuga Nation, Turtle Clan of Six Nations of the Grand River. I never set out thinking that I wanted to be a nurse, but it just so happened that the Mohawk College was offering the practical nursing program for the first time as a satellite program at Six Nations Polytechnic in 2004. I realized that I enjoyed what I was learning, there was so much to learn and there were so many options and opportunities in nursing. I began my nursing career in palliative care at a local community hospital. I went back to school full time to complete my BScN. Upon graduation, I returned to Six Nations and worked as a case manager for the home and community care program, and have recently completed my first year of the masters in nursing/primary health care nurse practitioner program.

I have worked for the Six Nations/Brantford Shared Care Outreach Team as a clinical nurse specialist. As a committee member of the Six Nations Long-Term Care/Home & Community Care leadership committee, I am actively involved in developing palliative care initiatives for community members. Most recently I assisted in facilitated a series of interviews for the Canadian Virtual Hospice. Interviews were conducted with members of the Six Nations Palliative Care Outreach Team: physician, psychosocial bereavement clinician, traditional elder, family members of patients that received services from our team and myself as the registered nurse specifically related to First Nations palliative care and how that looks on Six Nations. I hope to work again in my community as a primary healthcare nurse practitioner.