Submitted by Will Arscott

 

Huey-Ming Tseng and faculty - The U of S College of Nursing Initiatives in Aboriginal Nursing.

 

The meeting was held at the Bessborough. The meeting was presided by President Mark Gryba.

Greeter - Gary Emde

Cashier - Dave Sundby

Visitors and Guests - Vic Dubois

Set-up - Wayne McGillivray

Grace - Gary Rusu

 

O Canada was led by Wayne McGillivray who introduced the new proposed lyrics. Even with Wayne singing the new lyrics and everybody else singing the good-old familiar lyrics it was Wayne who was heard.

 

Grace - was led by Gary Rusu who reminded us of a thankful attitude and our call to service to others..

 

Visitors and Guests - Vic Dubois

Our visiting group from the U of S College of Nursing

Angela Bowen

Tana Postlewaite

Heather Cote-Soop

Heather Exner-Pirot

Phil Woods

We also had a visiting Rotary spouse Shirley Kerr guest of member Gary Kerr. Shirley had been a long-time nursing instructor at Kelsey (and was there for several renamings of the institution).

 

 

19 February - there will be no meeting due to the Family Day holiday.

 

26 February - we have confirmed that Earl Newton and Maureen Torr will be reporting the Joy’s Hope Project in Uganda.

 

Members who have not done so are urged to read the recent email from Brenda Banbury. President Mark reports that we are the lowest contributor to the Polio Plus project of all the clubs in Saskatoon. He would like to see us rectify this. Please include Polio Plus in your Rotary Foundation Canada donations. Mark also made it known that it is Jack Brodsky from our club that will match donations made to the end of April and to a maximum of $10,000. Members who wish to contribute may do so through the Rotary International Website or, for the proud Luddites in our club, they may contribute through a cheque given to Paul Gauthier.

 

Grocery Cards:

Gary Rusu has grocery cards and would like to reduce his inventory. Please think about purchasing a card or two.

 

The regular meeting will be Tuesday this week at 7:00am at the Saskatoon Club. All members of the club are invited to attend.

 

 

 

- Those that have not had the flu this year were fined.

-Those that have been south to the sun were fined (including the sergeant himself).

- There was a discussion of some very early Olympic results with Kudos to Mark McMorris who hails from Regina and recognition of the men’s mogul team.

 

 

- Jack B put in a sad dollar because Will Arscott came to the meeting wearing blue jeans and without a tie. Will put in a sad dollar saying the only reason he was dressed as he was is he did not own a snowmobile suit.

- Wayne McG put in happy dollars for the hockey huskies making a come-back ahead of the play-offs. He is looking forward to singing O Canada at play-off games for both the ladies and men.

 

 

Prior to the meeting a folder had been put at each place providing basic information about the College of Nursing.

 

The first section was a joint presentation by Heather Exner and Heather Cote-Soop on aboriginal nursing. The second part of the presentation was taken by Angela Bowen and was on indigenous mothers and maternal health most particularly mental health and depression.

 

 

- 60% of all health professionals are Registered Nurses.

- In areas of the province with high aboriginal populations such as the far north the proportion of Register Nurses is even higher at around 75%.

- It is well known that health in the aboriginal population is not as good as in the general population. This is due to a variety of causes but includes the fact that many aboriginals are not as concerned about health as the average population. This may well be a product of history and the break-down of social structure.

- Overtime, it is hoped the aboriginal population will be able to enjoy more equal health outcomes compared to the general population. This will necessitate building a health system that is more aboriginal friendly. It will also involve being able to offer a greater variety of health services to aboriginals in the communities in which they live.

- To date the number of aboriginal health professionals is abysmally low. About 6.1% of nurses in Saskatchewan self-declare an aboriginal background. Of these fully 64% are Metis. To get better aboriginal health outcomes, it is absolutely necessary to have the participation of more aboriginal medical professionals.

- As a result of these facts the UofS College of Nursing is undertaking initiatives to increase the proportion of aboriginal nurses. In the end the advantages are likely to include a reduction in health care costs. More aboriginals practising as professionals will allow for better continuity of care within more isolated communities. It is impossible to have good continuity when the staff turnover is such that every patient intake must start from a history. More aboriginal nurses will reduce the staff turnover in aboriginal communities.

- There are also cultural issues. Patients do better with care-givers with whom they are comfortable. In some communities there are language issues where aboriginal languages are still spoken.

 

 

Heather spoke briefly of her own background as an aboriginal woman in nursing. She comes from an aboriginal community near Kamsack. Now she is one of three aboriginal nursing advisors to the UCAN program. This program has existed for thirty years but has become even more important in recent years.

 

UCAN must start from some basic facts about aboriginal students considering a career in nursing.

Most often students come from a background of poverty. It is unusual if their parents have any higher education. Often high school programs on reserves are weak in math and science education. For example they may not even be able to offer chemistry courses or facilities to acquaint future science students with undertaking lab work.

 

If students are to succeed they must be helped holistically. They may need help outside of the regular student program. They may need things like micro-loans in emergencies. They may require tutoring in math and/or science. To this end part of what is required is to identify potential students early before they come to apply to the University. They need to be encouraged to take high school courses in the maths and sciences and to seek help should they fall behind or fail to grasp the material.

 

Nursing is not a direct access program so students have to come to the University for general studies ahead of nursing. UCAN provides bursaries for entering students to study math and science. They will also provide tutors for students they have identified. This can be done on a group basis to create community between potential students. Once students are in the college there is an emphasis on creating learning communities.

 

The UCAN program goes beyond basic nurse training and seeks to provide mentorship as the students integrate into the profession. They also encourage aboriginal grads to pursue further studies to become nurse practitioners and do graduate work towards academic careers in the profession. There are nine aboriginal graduate students in the college this year. It is hoped this number will increase in future years.

 

The College of Nursing runs programs throughout the province and not just in Saskatoon and Regina. For many aboriginal students moving to the bigger cities is intimidating. The pre-professional program is run in a variety of communities in all parts of the province. The aboriginal professional program seems to be concentrated in Prince Albert. About 50% of the students do their training there while Prince Albert only accounts for 20% of the total places in the province.

 

The College is increasing its ability to offer training throughout the province. This can make use of new technologies up to and including robots. Robots allow an instructor to see the same things as the student and interact with patients remotely. There will be more of this done in the future.

 

There is an equity seat program in the College of Nursing which holds one-sixth of the seats for aboriginal students up to a maximum. The full amount of the seats has never been used because a significant number of the aboriginal students qualify to enter the program on a regular basis. Our college has the highest proportion of aboriginal students of any program in the country. The most gratifying statistic to the college is their impressive 90% retention rate among aboriginal students.

 

The proportion of aboriginal students in the College has been increasing annually from 9.2% in 2012 up to 18.8% in 2017.

 

Angela Bowen - Aboriginal maternal health and maternal mental health.

 

Angela began her presentation by acknowledging the declaration arising out of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

 

Angela went into nursing because of a long-time childhood friend who was aboriginal. She and her friend came from very different families and experiences and only met when they attended the same school. Her friend has had a very difficult life touched by the ills that effect so many in the aboriginal community. They remain friends to this day. Angela believes healing will start with the need to value the things we took away.

 

Indigenous mothers are statistically distinct from the full population:

- they tend to be much less involved and concerned with pre-natal care.

- often they are still forced to have births far away from home and community support. The mothers at the time of delivery are in a strange unfamiliar place without the support of family. There are cultural and language barriers.

-the Saskatchewan Obstetrics and gynecological college would like to see routine births moved back into the communities and even into the home.

-in this regard there is an interest in having aboriginal mid-wives conversant in assisting birth and also immersed in aboriginal culture and spirituality. Midwifery is only growing slowly in the province and at present there are only two aboriginal midwives holding licenses. For midwifery to be effective a community of midwives is required. Angela herself is a midwife.

-Angela’s research interests include the study of aboriginal mothers and depression. She undertook a review of the literature in this area on behest of the government of Australia. Australia has a very similar history of aboriginal interaction with the larger society as does Canada. As a result they face many of the same problems.

-Angela has worked as a psychiatric nurse in this area through the Kids First program. This work has involved many home visits where it is often clear how deprived kids become when they have to live in poverty. She is still involved in this program in North Battleford.

-In order to reduce the incidence of maternal depression, it is necessary to have culturally secure births. This is a need in Saskatoon. Medical staff working in this area are required to take a four-hour course in this area but it does not change much. Angela is working on a new program in this area that is based on aboriginals telling their own stories. In the short-term there is an aboriginal birth network that provides support to mothers suffering from depression.

-Awareness of maternal mental health issues is growing. May 2^nd has been designated World Maternal Mental Health Day. This day is now recognized in 27 countries. In 2020 it is to be recognized by the World Health Organization. Angela was involved in creating this day in partnership with the Canadian Mental Health Association.

 

Our guests were thanked by President Mark and there will be a donation to Bethany Homes.

 

Adjournment