TD Aboriginal Nursing Fund Award – Master’s

I have spent most of my nursing career working in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside in a primary care clinic and then with sex workers as a sexual health nurse. After my daughter was born my husband and I decided to move back to southern Alberta to be near family. While I was looking for work in my field I found that services for sex workers were limited or non-existent in smaller communities. I wondered about what services would be appropriate to meet the needs of sex workers in these communities and found that literature in that area is also virtually non-existent. I decided to pursue a master’s degree so that I could start asking sex workers what support and services they need, so that I can help to inform service providers and other stakeholders. This scholarship will provide financial support for research costs.

I am an Ojibwe woman who was born and raised and is now working and raising my own family in Blackfoot territory. I feel a deep connection to this land and to the Aboriginal community I am a part of, though it is not my own heritage. I strive to remain culturally aware and to integrate culturally appropriate care into my daily practice. If I don’t know how to do that for someone, I ask.