Sturgeon Lake Cree Nation nurse honoured
Joseph Redhead decided to be a nurse because it would allow him to work just about anywhere. In the end, though, it ended up bringing him home.
Redhead, 52, is nurse-incharge at the public health clinic in the Sturgeon Lake Cree Nation, a community of around 1,400 people about 350 km northwest of Edmonton.
This month, he was one of three nurses to receive Health Canada’s Award of Excellence in Nursing, a prize that recognizes nurses who serve in First Nations and Inuit communities.
“I was pretty happy just to be nominated, but I never, ever thought I would win this award,” said Redhead.
Redhead grew up in the farming community of Crooked Creek after his family left the Sturgeon Lake Cree Nation reserve when he was five. He began work in 2004, two years after graduating from the University of Alberta nursing program.
Q Did you always want to go into nursing?
A I did want to go into some sort of health field ... The way I looked at it, nursing gives you more opportunities to work in different areas. You can work for Health Canada, and also there are other opportunities.
Q How did you end up returning to Sturgeon Lake Cree Nation?
A When I graduated from nursing, I applied to Health Canada and (they) gave me a one-year internship program where I could get the feel for a hospital — I worked in (Queen Elizabeth II Hospital) in Grande Prairie in emergency, labour delivery, medicine. Also I got a stint in home care in Grande Prairie and public health in Grande Prairie.
Part of my public health rotation, I worked in the Grande Prairie office, but I also worked in Sturgeon Lake. That’s where I thought I fit, so that’s why I chose to come here to work. It’s also my home community. When I was five years old, we left the reserve and never came back, but we lived close by and I still kept contact with some people. When I came back, it gave me the opportunity to meet some more of our community members and family members.
Q What’s it like being a male in a profession that’s typically been majority female?
A There were only about four or five males in my class when we graduated, one other aboriginal gentleman besides myself. Our opinions were always sought after, and we were treated very good by the other nursing students and by the faculty as well.
Q Do you think there’s a benefit for young First Nations people to go out, learn a profession then return to their communities?
A I found it beneficial. It shows the community members you can go out and get an education — not even necessarily a university degree; you can get a certificate for trades or whatever. There’s a young gentleman here who wants to become a nurse, because I must have influenced him in a positive way. When people see other people do it, they realize they can do it as well.