Nursing students experience healthcare in northern communities 

Submitted by Fiona Jager, Professor, BScN and Tanis Brown, Professor, Nursing Programs 

Nine Bachelor of Science Nursing (BScN) students and two faculty members from Kingston, Brockville, and Cornwall recently embarked on a transformative Northern Cross-Cultural Nursing Elective in Sioux Lookout, Ontario. This immersive experience provided students with a unique opportunity to explore healthcare delivery across a range of settings, including primary care, outpatient clinics, acute care, and critical care environments at Meno Ya Win Health Centre.  

Students engaged in cultural ceremonies and a drum circle led by Elder PaShawOneeBinese (Ralph Johnson). Several students joined the Sioux Lookout First Nations Health Authority’s interprofessional team on flights to remote communities such as Sachigo, Kasabonika, and Trout Lake. The group also received a guided tour of the ORNGE air ambulance hangar. Another highlight included a visit to the nursing station at Frenchman’s Head in the Lac Seul First Nation. Beyond clinical exposure, participants enjoyed local excursions—hiking, shopping, cold plunging in Pelican Lake, and even a lively karaoke night. 

Through these experiences, the students and faculty had direct exposure to the challenges of providing health care services in this context, as well as to the innovation, persistence, and warmth of the interprofessional health care providers that serve Sioux Lookout and the 33 remote Indigenous communities in this health region.

The students have gained a better understanding of the needs of patients from Northwestern Ontario, equipping them to better serve this population, whether in a rural or urban setting.  “As faculty members supporting the student’s learning, we have gained additional insight into the lived reality of rural and remote healthcare that will live beyond this experience at SLC.”  

Our hope is that the Northern Elective moves us closer to meeting one of the challenges of Truth and Reconciliation – understanding and the history and the needs of Indigenous communities and providing excellent health care that meets these needs with cultural humility. The trip has allowed students to integrate many elements of their learning, including: a deepened understanding of the structural and social determinants of health, how to apply a reflective health equity framework in practice, a non-judgmental recovery-based approach to mental health and addictions care, appreciation for an Indigenous understanding of health and wellbeing, and the collegiality and professionalism required to work in a complex and dynamic health care setting.
 
As one student stated, “I have learned more on this trip than in the last three years of school. It’s one thing to learn in a classroom, but here I see how it all fits together.”  

National Nursing Week is celebrated in Canada from May 12-18. The week is intended to increase awareness of the many contributions of nursing to the well-being of Canadians. The Faculty of Nursing will mark the week during a meeting, noting it's important for us to celebrate what our faculty do for the profession.