Nurses serving Indigenous communities celebrated with awards

Indigenous Services Canada has recognized three nurses for their dedication and exceptional efforts to deliver quality, culturally-safe health care to First Nations and Inuit during the difficult time of the coronavirus pandemic.

“In the best of times, we know nursing is a tireless and selfless profession. During the past year of the COVID-19 pandemic, we’ve seen a perseverance and passion in the nurses serving First Nations and Inuit communities unlike any other,” said ISC Minister Marc Miller.

This year’s recipients of the 2021 Awards of Excellence in Nursing are Jennifer Lister, a public health nurse serving a northern Innu First Nation; Krystel Cyra Kho, a nurse working in Nunavut to provide Inuit with health programs; and Chantelle Hughes-Kreutzer, an ISC-employed nurse driving vaccination efforts for First Nations against preventable diseases.

Miller recognized the women for “their care and contributions to the health and well-being of First Nations and Inuit” as National Nursing Week kicked off on May 10.

The three recipients were nominated by their peers for having demonstrated commitment to their nursing practice through “sound judgement, professionalism and culturally-safe healthcare work”.

Based in Fox Lake, Alta., Hughes-Kreutzer’s current position with ISC involves nursing in both acute and public health settings in remote First Nations communities. She partners with communities, families and new parents to build on their strengths to serve their health care needs.

Lister currently works as a public health nurse serving a population of about 1,100 community members living in Natuashish on the northern coast of Labrador. She provides healthcare services for all ages of community members, ranging from pre-natal patients to the care of community Elders.

After passing an exam in March 2014, Kho became a member of both the Registered Nurses' Association of Ontario and Registered Nurses Association of the Northwest Territories and Nunavut. Following this, she was hired as supervisor of Home and Community Care in Taloyoak, Nunavut. In 2018, she worked as community health nurse and then as supervisor of Health Programs at the Kugluktuk Health Centre in Nunavut.

The Award of Excellence in Nursing celebrates the dedication, initiative and excellence of nurses employed by First Nations communities, ISC and Inuit communities who work in partnership to improve the health of Indigenous peoples in Canada.

In a year filled with unknowns, nurses have been one of the few consistencies across the country; stepping up and showing up to support an often-overwhelmed health care system, reads an ISC news release. In many First Nations and Inuit communities, nurses are the primary point of contact for accessing health care and providing essential services and critical care to community members in need.