Rita Laven, a retired nurse with over 20 years of clinical nursing experience shares her opinion on Indigenous Health and Medicine. Laven graduated in 1990 and began practicing in the small city of Prince Rupert on the Northern West Coast which has a large population of Indigenous communities. Laven stated "The school of nursing [she] graduated from had absolutely nothing about Indigenous people.]" She then recognized that a different approach was needed. While doing her practice, Laven also practiced in a rural, fly in village called Kincolith, populated by the Nisg̱a’a people. In this community, a doctor would fly in once a month and stay for a few days, so most of the access to health care was from the two nurses. Anyone who needed access to a higher level of health care was flown in to Prince Rupert on an old, rickety plane as during that time, there was no road. Often accidents were prevalent due to the harsh weather conditions of the North. If a person was sent to the hospital in Prince Rupert, many of the doctors didn't understand the health issues presented to them, posing a barrier for both caregiver and patient. After finishing her practice and many more years of nursing, Laven began teaching at the University of British Columbia at the Okanagan campus. The curriculum for nursing had recently been revised and second year nursing students had to take a cultural safety class taught by two Indigenous people. This gave insight about residential schools and the focuses of privilege. When this course was first introduced, many students were angry to be called "privileged" but Laven believes that because the history of Indigenous peoples is being taught more in high schools, there is less anger from students in University taking the cultural safety course. Laven also mentioned that because many of the nurses and doctors in the hospitals didn't go through this new course, there may be a need for interior health to step up to the plate as well and begin influencing these courses, especially for the people who have worked in the field for a long time. Another big issue surrounding the access to health care for Indigenous people is the biases and lack of education surrounding them. Laven mentioned that when dealing with Indigenous patients, you really have to build a relationship and it takes time, "When certain students don't do well with these relationships, there is anger and resentment and [the patient] is labeled difficult." Recently, a new program that has been instilled in the hospitals in the interior; an Aboriginal Navigator. The Aboriginal Navigator is a First Nations women who interviews the patient, if they have been in the hospital for a period of time, and will make recommendations to the hospital to help the patient. Rita Laven's advice to students going through the nursing program is to remain mindful of the history of Indigenous patients and to educate yourself with their past.
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