Lynn Lau
Northern News Services

Tuktoyaktuk (May 06/01) - There are few things Joanne Burtt hasn't done in her 13 years as an outpost nurse in the North.

Now 44, Burtt has spent half her life working as a nurse and nurse practitioner. In 1998, she moved back to her native New Brunswick, with her daughter, who is now 14. She still works three-month rotations in Tuktoyaktuk.

News/North: How did you come to the North?

Joanne Burtt: It was on a whim, looking for a change and an adventure. I keep getting drawn back.

N/N: What do you like about the work here?

JB: The variety. It's never dull. Our job is never the same here. It changes so frequently that it's what you expect.

N/N: What's difficult about the job?

JB: Dealing with people sometimes. Here, we're on their turf. In the South, as far as hospitals go, the patients are on our turf.

N/N: You mean, like the patients not being co-operative with their treatments?

JB: Yes, poor compliance. And the abuse sometimes we get from the community -- verbal abuse. There's lots of times we're sworn at.

N/N: Why is that?

JB: I have no idea, I've been in the North for many years and I still don't know. Generally, it's alcohol-related, but sometimes they're not drunk. Often they feel that they may want to go to Inuvik or where ever, but we still have to do the assessment first. That may be some of the problem. It's hard to tell.

N/N: How do you deal with hostile patients?

JB: You just ask them to leave. If they won't, you call the RCMP.

N/N: What if they really need help?

JB: Usually, if they really need help, they're not the abusive ones.

N/N: What other challenges do you face working in a community nursing station?

JB: There's been incidences throughout my career where you've got a critical patient, but you can't get them out, because the weather's down. Those times you don't get much rest, you're sitting on needles all the time.

That used to happen in Rankin Inlet a lot, because they've got fairly heavy-duty weather over there.

I remember one girl who was nine years old or so, and she had appendicitis and it had ruptured. The weather was completely whited out for three days. The doctor in Rankin wasn't in town, but we were in touch with a doctor by phone. We kept on pumping in fluids and antibiotics, keeping the infection down. She was alright in the end. I've been back to Rankin since then, and she's doing well.

N/N: That must be rewarding to see.

JB: It is. That you managed to get these people through a rough period in time.

N/N: How else is the work different at a health centre?

JB: You're a lot more independent. It takes a long time to gain trust in your own judgment, in a health centre, versus in a hospital.

N/N: Because you're having to make calls you wouldn't normally have to make?

JB: Yes, you're making major decisions here, and you're always second-guessing yourself because you're a professional and it's part of your critical thinking.

But we are in contact with the doctor quite often by telephone, so it's not like we're not out here flapping in the breeze.

N/N: Can you tell me a time when you had to rely on your judgment?

JB: When I was in Rankin Inlet, I had a husband and wife who came into the health centre on a Friday night and they were vomiting. They were also having visual disturbances and as soon as they said visual disturbances, it was like dominoes clicking in my head. -- they had botulism poisoning.

I called the doctor in, and sure enough that's what it was. It's rare that you'd see that, so I was quite pleased with myself, and they both survived because we caught it early. In Rankin, there was only one doctor for quite a few communities, so we did all the assessments first, before we even called her. That's the way it worked.

N/N: It sounds like you have to have a lot of confidence to make it in the communities.

JB: Yes, and flexibility is definitely a plus. If you don't have flexibility, it's not very enjoyable to be up here. And a tough hide. You don't let things get to you -- we all do at certain points of course, but you need self-confidence.

N/N: What do you miss about home when you're working your rotations?

JB: My family and my garden. My daffodils and crocuses and hyacinths are all up, and I'm missing them! But I'll be home for the summer, in time to do all the weeding. We put in a big vegetable garden. My mother's taking care of it.

N/N: Can you tell me what you love about nursing?

JB: Hmm, that's not a good question, no, not a very good question at all. I've put 22 years of my life into it, and if someone gave me a million dollars, I'd probably retire tomorrow. Let's not go there. If my daughter decided to be a nurse, I'd probably do everything in my power to talk her out of it. It's been good for me, because I've had the flexibility but there's something about it ... I don't know.

With nursing, most of us don't stop to think about what we're doing until we're asked a question. There's so much we take for granted, you know, you just do it. This is my life, it's me. If you said "Who are you?" I'd probably say, "I'm a nurse."