'The North is what made it happen'
Nurse talks challenges and rewards of profession as recognition week kicks off today
Dana Bowen
Northern News Services
Monday, May 9, 2016
SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
After putting her dream career on hold until the age of 34, Shawna Tohm is now looking back on the past decade she has spent caring for Northerners, as well as the dedication of her colleagues, ahead of National Nursing Week.
Tohm has worked as a nurse in both the NWT and Nunavut and is now the acting president of the Registered Nurses Association of the Northwest Territories and Nunavut until she is officially instated this month.
"I think nursing on a day-to-day basis is challenging but it's also rewarding and fulfilling," said Tohm, who now lives in Yellowknife.
The week-long event, running from May 9 to 15, is celebrated across the country to recognize the long hours and hard work nurses do on a daily basis.
"With more than 406,000 regulated nurses in Canada, the largest of any health provider group, nurses are the backbone of our health system. This week, we recognize the profession for their dedication and commitment to making Canada a healthier nation," states the Canadian Nurses Association website.
The national event also celebrates historical figure Florence Nightingale.
"Another reason why Nursing Week is so important to me is because one of my idols is Florence Nightingale whose birthday is May 12, which runs right in middle of Nursing Week," said Tohm.
Nightingale was born in 1820 in London and is credited as the founder of modern nursing.
She managed and trained women during the Crimean War while tending to wounded soldiers.
Of course, nursing has come a long way in the past two centuries - especially in Northern Canada, said Tohm.
By nature, nurses of the North end up wearing many hats.
"In the North, we do not have physicians or specialty medical personnel available in all communities so the nurses are trained to fill these gaps," she explained. "It's really important to take notice of nurses in the North and recognize the hard work and often challenging work we do."
Northern nurses are essentially a jack of all trades, she explained, which gives them a chance to explore several areas of medicine.
"It's a positive to nursing because in some situations if I work down south I wouldn't be allowed to do stitches or X-rays but here with proper training, it's a daily part of my job," she said. "It's an enriching experience up here with the fact that as nurse practitioner, we are encouraged to embrace those roles to expand our skills and knowledge."
Tohm has been dreaming of becoming a nurse since the age of four but didn't start training in the field until she was in her early 30s, she said, after her child graduated from high school.
"I decided I wanted to fulfil my dreams and the North is what made it happen," she said.
"By being here I had those opportunities that I may not have gotten somewhere else."
Tohm studied nursing for four years at Aurora College and said the program is almost identical to the one taught at the University of Victoria - only the Northern school is more focused on cultural aspects.
Since then she has worked in hospitals across Nunavut and the NWT - in the capitals as well as the communities.
"I like to call it a nursing family in the North - we help each other get to know the communities, elders and all the cultures which makes me feel very privileged to nurse up in the North. I've lived in the North for over 20 years, so I cherish where I work. I can't imagine being anywhere else."
