Author Archives: deb22

M2 P2: The story of the Hummingbird

This story was suggested to me by Shirley in relation to my research question about barriers in nursing education for Indigenous students. I think it really illustrates not only the message of the story (perseverance, that every little bit can help, even if the problem seems insurmountable, even the smallest of us can contribute, no act of kindness is too small), but also how media is used to tell a story that otherwise might not be accessible to anyone outside the community that it’s from. It’s such a beautiful story and I’m grateful to be able to experience it.

https://www.hummingbird.vancouveropera.ca/story

Yahgulanaas, M. N. [mnyhaida]. (2013, April 8). Flight of the hummingbird – Haida manga [Video]. YouTube. https://youtu.be/naj6zZakgEg

M1 P5: First Nations University

I found this website while looking for admissions requirements for nursing programs. This is a University in Saskatchewan offering Undergraduate and Graduate programs specifically for Indigenous peoples. It is also unique in the fact that both campuses (Regina and Saskatoon) are on reserves.

While they don’t have a specific nursing program, they do have an undergraduate degree program in Indigenous Health. I wasn’t able to view the specific admission requirements for the program without actually applying, but there does seem to be supports in place to help students apply and succeed to this University program. They also offer some graduate level programs, such as Master of Indigenous Education.

https://www.fnuniv.ca/

M2 P1: Are myths really myths?

I found this video on YouTube and was intrigued by the title. She presents the point about researchers who only talk with aboriginal people as information givers, not as experts themselves. The story she talks about really illustrates the point that the knowledge that is sought is there in the people that have been living on the land for 50, 000 years. We just need to listen, not just ask questions to elicit information, but just listen to the stories, legends and place based knowledge of the people who know it best, and that most myths and legends do have a basis in fact.

Koolmatrie, J. [TEDxAdelaide]. (2018, January 26). The myth of aboriginal stories being myths [Video]. YouTube. https://youtu.be/aUIgkbExn6I

M1 P4: Indigenous nursing students

I think it is important to have indigenous perspectives in curriculum development, so these can be incorporated early on in program development and support indigenous student success.

I was not aware that there is a First Nations University in Sask. that offers a wide range of programs for indigenous students. This would be a good place for me to look at for admission requirements and how there might be differences in program requirements and supports to help indigenous students access these programs.

https://www.fnuniv.ca/

These are some articles I was able to find to start examining this research topic of increasing access & removing barriers to indigenous students in nursing programs.

Janki Shankar, Eugene Ip & Nene Ernest Khalema (2020) Addressing academic aspirations, challenges, and barriers of indigenous and immigrant students in a postsecondary education setting, Journal of Ethnic & Cultural Diversity in Social Work, 29:5, 396- 420, DOI: 10.1080/15313204.2017.1409675

Curran, V. , Solberg, S. , LeFort, S. , Fleet, L. & Hollett, A. (2008). A Responsive Evaluation of an Aboriginal Nursing Education Access Program. Nurse Educator, 33(1), 13-17. doi:10.1097/01.NNE.0000299496.23119.68.

Anonson, J. M., Desjarlais, J., Nixon, J., Whiteman, L., & Bird, A. (2008). Strategies to support recruitment and retention of first nations youth in baccalaureate nursing programs in Saskatchewan, Canada. Journal of Transcultural Nursing, 19(3), 274- 283. https://doi.org/10.1177/1043659608317095

Martin, D., & Seguire, M. (2013). Creating a path for indigenous student success in baccalaureate nursing education. The Journal of Nursing Education, 52(4), 205-209. https://doi.org/10.3928/01484834-20130314-01

M1 P3: In Plain Sight – Report on racism in BC’s health care system

I have been pondering the idea of what we as nursing educators are doing to encourage more indigenous students into the profession. We need to look at barriers that indigenous students face, not only to completing their high school education, but also barriers to entering post secondary.

There is a poor history of indigenous people and the health care system in Canada, and while there are many people working on this issue both inside and outside of the health care system, there is not enough indigenous health care professionals to help guide the way to better understanding and respect towards indigenous people accessing the system. Having more indigenous nurses and health care professionals working in the system can help foster positive change.

Here is a report, published November, 2020 as part of an independent review commissioned by the BC Government, on addressing racism in the Canadian and British Columbia health care system.

In-Plain-Sight

M1 P2: On reserve Indigenous student graduation rates

When working on a paper for another MET course, I discovered that a lack of remote/flexible approaches in publicly funded post secondary institutions limits the availability of education to Indigenous Peoples living in areas such as reserves. This is demonstrated by the Aboriginal peoples census data in 2016 which reports that only 37% of all Indigenous people living on reserves in B.C. had completed high school by age 25 (Statistics Canada, 2020).

Given that this is only pertaining to people living on reserve, I wonder about the statistics for those not living on reserve – are they better or the same?

Most health care education programs require high school and even post-secondary level pre-requisites, along with a high GPA. This makes these programs, such as nursing, unavailable for many Indigenous students living on reserve.

https://www.bcit.ca/programs/nursing-bachelor-of-science-in-nursing-full-time-8875bsn/#entry

Statistics Canada. (2020, January 14). 2016 census aboriginal community portrait – British Columbia. Statcan.Gc.Ca. https://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2016/dp-pd

P1 M1: Removing Barriers to Health Care Education for Indigenous Students

Research Interest: Topic – How can we remove barriers to health care education for Indigenous students?

Indigenous Knowledge to Close Gaps in Indigenous Health | Marcia Anderson-DeCoteau | TEDxUManitoba

This has been an interest of mine for many years now. I chose this video, not because it inspired me to explore this topic further (I’ve been pondering this question for years), but because she tells the story much better than I ever could on why it is so important to encourage more Indigenous students into health care fields, particularly those living on reserve.

The stories she tells of Indigenous people’s encounters with the health care system, and stories I’ve heard personally from others, are the stories that have inspired me to look further into what we can do about the negative encounters of Indigenous people with the health care system. I’ve heard personally from people that have experienced directly the type of racism she speaks of in hospitals – women denied analgesics because “they’re probably addicted” anyway, I heard a story from a mother who was in active labour and was told to ‘stop drinking for your baby” (this woman does not drink, and is a lawyer – they still encouraged her to stop drinking, but were less demanding about it). I’ve heard from my mother, who was a social worker with Victims Services in Dawson Creek, stories about clients she worked with having horrific experiences with the RCMP and emergency personnel in the hospital there…These stories make me angry and ashamed for my profession, and wanting to better the health care system for everyone, not just the colonizers.

Her words, when describing the maternal-child health program, sound very much like words I would use to describe my own teaching philosophy. This video is very inspiring and helps me to know there are things we can do about the issues that Indigenous people have with the health care system – change from within the system.