Tylenol Masters Award

I decided to pursue a nursing career after my spinal instrumentation surgery while living in rural BC. As a new immigrant, I had minimal health care resources and was anxious about going through a complex surgery. The scoliosis nurse practitioner (NP) eased my worries by providing compassionate, competent, patient-centered care. She inspired me to be an autonomous NP who cares for and helps others in need.

I am a second-year thesis-based student in the NP program at the University of Alberta. My clinical background is in pediatric trauma and surgery. Currently, I am the president of the Nursing Graduate Student Association and a member of the education committee at the Nurse Practitioner Association of Alberta.

Aside from that, I was the graduate teaching assistant for three female Indigenous students in the transition year program. This experience enhanced my Indigenous Knowledge and made me reflect on how I can collaborate with the Indigenous peoples to improve their quality of life as a future NP. As a minority of the society myself, I can connect with the students’ experiences, such as the discrimination they face. This experience made me want to focus on the health of Indigenous girls and women as they are at a higher risk of developing health-related issues due to their social class, ethnicity, and gender. I hope to benefit them as an NP in the future by using Indigenous ways of knowing, such as story-telling, to increase health promotion and raise awareness of preventive illnesses.