National Nursing Week

WINNIPEG FREE PRESS - THURSDAY, MAY 4, 2017 5 PHOTO BY DARCY FINLEY SUPPORTS FOR FIRST NATIONS CHILDREN By Jennifer McFee for the Free Press It's a matter of principle that First Nations children with disabilities should be able to access the supports and services that are available to other Canadians. THERE'S NO PLACE LIKE HOME CARE PROVIDING A PERSONAL LEVEL OF CARING THAT MAKES A DIFFERENCE IN CLIENTS' LIVES By Mike Daly / Winnipeg Regional Health Authority Not all nurses work in a hospital or health care facility. For Home Care Visiting Nurse Christine St. George, a typical day is spent largely in her clients' homes, conducting ongoing health assessments, ensuring that they are coping well within the home, and making sure that family members or caregivers have the support they need within the health-care system. And St. George wouldn't have it any other way. "Being a Home Care nurse is a wonderful job," she says. "It's a very different type of nursing. I have to admit that when it's -40C and the streets are bad and you're trudging through snowbanks up to your knees to get to your client's home, it can be daunting, but if you make it through your first winter with Home Care, you're usually hooked." As a Home Care nurse for the past 11 years, St. George has helped people live at home, remaining independent for as long as possible, and thereby avoiding or delaying the need for them to stay in hospitals or long-term care facilities. "Success in this role comes in the form of watching clients become as empowered and as independent as possible. That's our goal," St. George says. "I can't imagine what the world would look like without Home Care. It's a scary thought. We have seniors living on their own with minimal to no support. We are there to support parents who have children with illness to seniors. We are their advocates … I think hospitals would be overwhelmed with the number of people they would have to treat and find beds for. It would be detrimental for clients and families if they didn't have our support." Helping clients maintain their independence often means helping them focus on the positive, St. George says. "Sometimes they get stuck focusing on what they can't do, so we try to refocus them on what they can do," she says. "Watching people go from being very dependent to realizing that, 'Yes, I can do this' is absolutely fantastic. The flipside of that is that if it's a diagnosis for someone who is not going to get better, who is going to deteriorate due to a chronic medical condition, it's knowing that you've done everything you can for that person to give them the best quality of life they can achieve, and to be a support for the families. When you walk through the door, and the client is smiling and happy to see you, and the family members are happy to see you, that is very rewarding." Working in Home Care also offers nurses an opportunity to do what they often do best: Provide a personal level of caring that makes a real difference in people's lives. "I love that one-on-one with clients," St. George says. "It's so much more than just going there and giving a needle or tending to a wound. It's ensuring that they are doing OK. They are trusting you to come into their home, and so the relationship is quite different. "Quite often, we're the only people they will see that day. Having a visit while you are taking care of them, making them feel like they are a person and that they matter to someone is really important. Not all of our clients have family or advocates, so for clients to know we're coming in, they feel at ease. They know that someone with medical knowledge is coming to care for their medical needs, do comprehensive assessments and advocate for them through the health-care system. It gives them peace of mind." ✚ That's the idea behind Jordan's Principle Child- First Initiative (JP-CFI), a federal program aimed at providing community health and social supports for First Nations children. It's named for Jordan River Anderson, who was born with a rare disorder and hospitalized from birth. He died in hospital before provincial and federal governments could agree on which level of government was financially responsible for his care in a medical foster home. In July 2016, the federal government announced the initiative to put children's needs first, as well as its commitment to provide up to $382.5 million in funding over its three-year duration. In Manitoba, nurse Joe Gacheru is helping to make sure kids get the care they need in their own communities across the province. At the same time, he is supporting First Nations communities and organizations to maintain a leadership role throughout the process. Originally from Kenya, Gacheru earned a communications degree in his home country before he moved to Canada in 1995, with a scholarship to pursue graduate studies. He then spent several years working in group homes with people with learning disabilities, which led to his decision to pursue a nursing degree at the University of Manitoba. His first nursing job was as a health director for a small First Nations community in northern Alberta, where he witnessed first-hand the need for additional supports for its youth. "I learned there was more to the community than just providing health," he says. "We need to empower First Nations and provide them with the tools that they need to be able to have more control over some of the situations they're dealing with." In 2007, he accepted an offer from Health Canada to become a nurse manager. Five years later, he was appointed to a new role as the regional home-care co-ordinator for all 63 First Nation communities in Manitoba. Since the fall of 2016, he has been the regional JP-CFI co-ordinator. "Our home care is culturally sensitive to the First Nations," Gacheru says. "From the beginning, the First Nations worked with Health Canada to create the community-led home-care program we have right now." When he heard about the Jordan's Principle funding last summer, Gacheru undertook an environmental scan to determine how many Manitoba children might benefit from the initiative. Along with his team, Gacheru determined that 426 First Nations kids in the Manitoba home-care program were receiving minimal respite support. They also discovered that another 3,300 kids could benefit from the initiative. They requested $12 million in funding and received $8 million for the first year of the program. Using a model that was developed at Pinaymootang First Nation, Gacheru asked communities to take the lead in creating dream projects to support their children. Jordan's Principal coverage is geared for a variety of needs, including respite care, mental health services and rehabilitative services. Other areas could include transportation to appointments, medical equipment and special education supports. "It was a huge opportunity for us," Gacheru says. "It makes the child at the centre have all the programs work together and create a seamless process." By the time the fiscal year ended on March 31, the initial $8 million had helped 2,900 kids in 39 communities. In 2017-18, these communities will receive $25 million towards the initiative. An additional nine communities are awaiting funding approval. As the manager for home care and for JP-CFI at Opaskwayak Cree Nation (OCN), Linda Chartrand is pleased to have the chance to collaborate on a project that will provide better support for children with unmet needs. "When I started working on OCN 15 years ago, one of my goals was to advocate and seek funding for children with disabilities, so this is a huge milestone for me," says Chartrand, a Métis woman who started her career 22 years ago as an obstetrical nurse. "This is a huge positive for the community in that we're finally able to access funding, and I'm so proud to able to be part of it." Similarly, Gacheru is proud that the program has been successful in Manitoba, especially since it creates a compelling business case for accessing additional federal funds. "We want the project to always be First Nation centered and First Nation led because we feel that it's their story," he says. "We want to work with them and support them so that it's their project. We are honoured to be working as agents of change together with them." For more information on Jordan's Principle, call 1-800-567-9604 or visit www.canada.ca/ jordans principle. ✚ #YESThisIsNursing MAY 8-14, 2017 NATIONAL NURSING WEEK 2017 PHOTO BY DARCY FINLEY Nurse Joe Gacheru is the regional co-ordinator for Jordan's Principle Child- First Initiative. PHOTO BY NATASHA WOLOSCHUK / WINNIPEG REGIONAL HEALTH AUTHORITY

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