Arctic Bay (May 22/06) - After 25 years of nursing in Inuit and First Nation communities, it's perhaps fitting Gail Redpath is the first Nunavut winner of a prestigious national nursing award.

Federal health minister Tony Clement gave Redpath and two other Northern nurses awards of excellence during a ceremony in Ottawa May 12 as part of National Nursing Week.

"Their outstanding contributions to improving the health of aboriginal peoples and to innovation in the nursing profession (are) more than worthy of the recognition we are giving them today," Clement said.

Redpath has worked for the last 18 years in Arctic Bay as the supervisor of health programs for the hamlet. In the process, she's fallen in love with the Arctic.

"I'm very lucky to be a Northern nurse. There's nothing like it," she said.

Redpath's involvement in the community doesn't end with nursing. She served two terms as a hamlet council member, is involved in local radio shows, the National Addictions Awareness week, and in the co-ordination of a local AIDS walk.

Arctic Bay mayor Darlene Willie said the local health committee nominated Redpath for the award because she's touched so many people in the community.

"She's a very good nurse for us," Willie said. "She has the knowledge of the doctor. She deserves the recognition."

While Redpath plays down comparisons to a doctor, she said nursing in Northern communities often takes on roles similar to a family physician in the south. Her work also includes public health and health promotion roles. It's a far cry from her early nursing days at a Peterborough, Ont., hospital.

Asked to compare the two, Redpath chuckles.

"It's barely comparable as a profession."