“The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.”

—Mahatma Ghandi

SO YOU WANT TO WORK UP NORTH?

No, I did not wake up one morning with a burning desire to go work or live in the most northern part of Canada. And no it was definitely not on my bucket list, BUT here I am sitting in Inuvik 200 km north of the Arctic Circle and writing this blog.

All I knew was that the timing was right, there was nothing holding me back in this season of my life and so I decided to go to the one place I knew…Google. Believe it or not, I typed Public Health Nurse in Toronto and up came all these positions in the north. So I thought it was fate and here I am. This is where my story began…

Fast forward the phone interviews and lots of email correspondence I was finally hired, and all my travel expenses were going to be covered; thank you government of the Northwest Territories.  I was suddenly a little drowned in A LOT of paperwork and documentation gathering. I had to get licensed with the RNANT/NU college to work in Inuvik, my confirmation documents from CNO got lost in the mail so I had to quickly pay for an expedite delivery. Then, came all the extra things like a police check, diploma, references, hours verification and mooooreeee. (More on steps to take if you want to work up north in the next post).

My first stop was Edmonton, then Yellowknife and from there Inuvik. I am sitting on a small airplane and we make our first stop in Yellowknife. Some passengers get off here, some continue their way onward and some new ones get on. This feels like an air bus because we are making these mini stops in all the smaller communities. There seems to be a delay and suddenly the boarding crew is asking for my boarding pass.

I immediately find out that the delay is because of me!

I am only booked to Yellowknife and they politely ask me to board off the plane. A little shocked but going with the flow I go hunting for a phone. After a few calls I finally reach the manager and my plane shenanigans are sorted out, but I will have to spend the night here. 

The next day, I finally arrive in Inuvik! What a trip, minor glitches but I made it! It’s my first day of orientation and who knew but I am already famous down here! From almost every person I meet I hear

“So you are the girl that got kicked off the plane!”

I feel special already. The next 4 days I shadow a nurse on 2 day and 2 night shifts, and boy am I overwhelmed with information. The way things are done here are completely different from Toronto. The patient load and acuity is much less and we have a small team to complement that. Compared to Toronto, I feel stripped from all our resources but I am adapting. The patients are blissfully nice, incomparable to Torontonians (sorry). 

So, the Day goes something like this…

Day shift nurse starts at 0730 and is alone until 1000, when an evening nurse arrives. Until that time the nurse is triaging and treating patients, stocking the department and checking crash carts and rooms. We have 1 trauma room, 3 monitored beds, cast room and gyne room. On average we may see 11-30 patients per day. Really depends. Then the night shift nurse comes and is alone from 2200-0730.

WHAT….ALONE!?

Sometimes we do see sick patients, sick babies who are transferred to us from surrounding communities of the Beaufort Delta Region, who we stabilize and who might need further medical evacuation to a larger hospital either in Yellowknife or Edmonton. We use Medevac A LOT!

Here in the hospital we only have an Xray machine, if the patients need a CT we arrange for them to travel to Yellowknife or Edmonton for the test to be done. Mind blown again! What if the patient has a stroke, will they make it on the plane ride? To be honest, after a month of working here, it all begins to make sense and the flow works, although one nurse can be difficult especially on a busy shift. If you are a new grad or a new nurse I would recommend starting in acute care first, if you are planning to come to Inuvik.

Behind the Scenes

Day 1

Got home (I live in the residency which is a 2 minute walk to the hospital) felt super overwhelmed and succumbed to the feelings of being home sick. Found the grocery store ‘North Mart”, and food is expensive here. First impression of Inuvik… expensive food and a slight disappointment to find out there is barely any night life or day life for that matter in this season.

Day 2

Got home, still overwhelmed, not sure if I like it here, but 100 % sure that I like the people because everyone and I mean EVERYONE is super nice. Feeling a little lonely and missing my friends and family.

Day 3

Getting used to the flow and adapting to life, meeting some amazing humans with amazing stories.  Each one I meet has an interesting story of why and how they ended up here, what their life looks like and then there is me who just applied, kidding of course I digested this decision….a little bit.

A TRIP TO THE ARCTIC OCEAN!

Finished my shift rotation and the next day got to go and experience the feet numbing, cold waters of the Arctic Ocean! A 2+ hour ride on the gravel road with 3 life loving humans, yes! I did it, I said hello to the Arctic Ocean, and it was incredible. Saw Aurora Borealis with another 3 amazing humans in the middle of the night, while not letting the bears scare us! And, finally getting the sniffles from all this NEW and the exhaustion.

The north is a beautiful place, so different in its way of life, but I wouldn’t be able to live up here in this season of my life. It felt too quiet, too small and too isolated. The locals tell me “you came at the wrong time; summer just ended and winter is coming, this is the in between season.” I was constantly reminded of the care free moments of Greece and the warmth of my family, all of which I was missing here. I needed more life, more movement and something that will make my heart excited like fireworks, I didn’t find it here. Will I recommend it? One hundred percent YES! I think everyone should experience this. It’s hard to judge an experience without trying it for yourself. I wouldn’t change any part of this adventure and I would do it the same way all over again. What was missing for me might be exactly what you are looking for.

Nursing in Inuvik has made me appreciate so many things in general. I see the value of certain aspects in Toronto and its resources. But I also see the value of how things are done here. Because there is not a huge load of patients and the acuity is much less we get to spend that extra time connecting with patients. In this season of my life I was ready to get up and go far from home and far from my “normal” lifestyle. I don’t have kids, and I’m single I have this freedom and so in this season I’ve gotten to do so much that I wouldn’t have otherwise been able to. Don’t shy away from any season you are in now, it will pass but how you choose to live it is entirely up to you!

It’s October, and after a month my time here has come to a bitter sweet end. The nights are getting darker and the air cooler, winter has come. So this is goodbye, this was a glimpse of Inuvik.