Indigenous Nurses Day celebrated by Street Connections patrol
It’s been five years since Jennie Russell started patrolling Winnipeg with the Street Connections Van – an initiative of the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority, and it was one of the best decisions she’s made in life.
“People are coming to me to seek care,” Russell said.
“The relationship is the greatest thing to have in a community because that builds trust.”
Russell and a colleague operate the van every Monday to Saturday evening from 6:00 to 11:00 p.m. She works with Winnipeg’s vulnerable populations handing out harm reduction supplies, and assisting those who experience barriers to accessing health-care.
“My role is to support people who need some health care assistance with sexually transmitted and bloodborne infections, so any kind of reportable infection to public health,” Russell said.
Harm reduction supplies like glass pipes, needles and Naloxone have become daily items she will distribute on her routes.
“I think right now our bubble pipes -they're glass pipes that we hand out and we give to our partners as well - we seem to be running out of them quite frequently,” Russell said.
“That's probably, the number one thing that people are coming to the van to seek us out for.”
She decided to become a nurse much later in life, and felt nursing was a great way to serve the community. The relationships she’s built on the job connect with Russell on a personal level and she’s reflective on her own lived experience.
“When I was younger, I don't think I was there in the best way possible so it was really important for me to educate myself to be able to show up for people when they needed it,” Russell said.
For organizations in the community, the van remains an important resource. Siloam Mission teams up with Street Connections for weekly needle cleanup. Having partnerships in place creates a safer and more engaged community.
"So one of the things we do here at Siloam Mission and that Street Connections does so well, is create a triangle of trust between somebody that they already know and that they know cares about them like we do here,” said Tessa Blaikie Whitecloud, CEO of Siloam Mission.
“What's really key is that we're bringing services to people where they're at, as opposed to you know, kind of waiting on them to engage with these systems that might be too traumatizing for them to access services in.”
Russell said as she marks Indigenous Nurses Day, it’s a good reminder that Indigenous representation leads to better supports for Indigenous patients.
“Public health has Indigenous designated positions, so I think that's really important too,” Russell said.
“We're on the right track, we've just got to keep building that workforce.”
National Nursing Week runs until Sunday, May 12.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
House of Commons Speaker Greg Fergus survives vote calling for his ouster
Greg Fergus survived a vote to oust him as House of Commons Speaker on Tuesday, but with close to half of MPs expressing a loss of confidence in him, he faces a precarious path forward in maintaining order in Parliament.
'It was hell': Israeli mother held hostage with her children describes 51 days in captivity
Hagar Brodutch, her three children and four-year-old neighbour were kidnapped by Hamas-led militants from their home in Kfar Aza, Israel on Oct. 7 and held for 51 days. They were released in November, but Brodutch says her thoughts are never far from those still being held in Gaza.
'Unruly passenger' forces WestJet flight to make emergency landing in B.C.
A WestJet flight heading to Calgary had to make an emergency landing in northern B.C. Monday due to an incident involving an 'unruly passenger,' Mounties say.
P.E.I. kiteboarder 'lucky to be alive' after shark attack in Turks and Caicos
A professional kiteboarder from P.E.I. says he has been seriously injured in a shark attack that occurred while he was snorkelling in the Turks and Caicos Islands last week.
Teen dies after being hit by train in N.W. Calgary
A teenager has died after being hit by a train in northwest Calgary on Tuesday afternoon.
Black bear kebabs make family sick with parasitic worms
It was supposed to be a celebration, but one family’s unique meal of black bear meat sent several members to the hospital instead.
'It's his vacation too': Jimmy the baby goat joins 2-week road trip across Canada
After Jimmy the baby goat was shunned by his mother, a New Brunswick man took the kid on a two-week road trip across Canada.
The double-level airplane seat is back. This time, there’s a first-class version
It’s the airplane seat design that launched a thousand memes and kickstarted a media storm. And now the double-level seat is back – only this time, with a twist.
New COVID-19 subvariants become the dominant strains in Canada
More than four years after COVID-19 effectively shut down the world, two new variants of COVID-19 have become the dominant strains of the novel coronavirus in Canada.