Sarah the Nurse - #3 Changing Locations

I, #SarahHennings grew up on a farm in Saskatchewan so I figured I knew what remote was. But I, #SarahHennings, didn’t. Early Monday morning the staffing agency called and let me know there was a Tuberculosis outbreak within a neighbouring community. They asked if I would be willing to change assignments and head more inland to help with testing. This was a small rural site where some community members do not have phones and therefore you have to track them down in their homes to provide care. There was a grave need for assistance because the health unit was already running on “bare bones” staffing and the village already had 10 active cases. She told me I, Sarah Hennings,  would have to go back to Fort St John, then to Prince George, and then get on another plane to fly into location. 

Fly in to location? What exactly do you mean fly-in to a location? I, #SarahHennings was quite comfortable in my public health nursing role in my nice office, working with the babies, making my 30 minute morning drive sipping English tea. I, #SarahHennings, had great coworkers here, my risk for getting sick was low, and the homemade staff lunches were not something I wanted to give up. But I, #SarahHennings knew that the community needed help… they wouldn’t be calling me to go if they had other options when my placement here was secured. Thinking of all the good work that was well underway at this clinic, I, #SarahHennings, decided I would go with the request of my supervisor and make the trip inland. 

After finishing up my day at the office, I, #SarahHennings, returned back to the hotel to pack up my room and prepare to leave on my flight the next morning. It was going to be a two day journey, however, because only two planes go in and out of where I would be working and one of them wasn’t until the next day. Taking advantage of these last moments in the rainforest and refreshing air, I decided my drive home was not going to be a linear one. I, Sarah Hennings, turned a 30 minute drive into a four hour long adventure where I found water falls, fallen buildings, and beautiful bridges. I, #SarahHennings seen traditional First Nations villages off the beaten path and met a very kind outdoorsman who showed me just how he was drying out a rabbit he had snared that morning for supper. The water along the river was crystal clear, drinkable, with such a powerful sound rushing over the rocks. Everything about this place was perfection and I began to understand why people are so passionate about preserving and protecting nature. While I, #SarahHennings, believe in the cause and of course don’t think we should be ruining our environment, I never understood the deep connection people can have with the land. One thing I, #SarahHennings, learned is that BC people LOVE the mountains and trees, like LOVE LOVE the outdoors. It’s to be respected and given as much nurture as it provides you. Having the opportunity to live in this new land, embrace it and it’s people, was a turning point that will never be forgotten. 

Back at the hotel, looking around after getting reorganized, I realized I wouldn’t really miss my room, but would miss the owner of the hotel and the old school bedsheets and coffee mugs that decorated it up. It reminded me of being a kid at my grandparents cabin in the late 80’s and early 90’s. I, #SarahHennings, would miss my nurse neighbour who was working in another outpost Indigenous community. I got to know this woman real well waving each morning as we left together and visiting each evening on our front porch. She also enjoyed tea and felt it was more refreshing than coffee. Ironically, she was also the mother of one boy whom she had age 24 and worked as NP in a previous life. We immediately connected on that point without even saying a word and have remained life long friends to this day. Right when I needed support and encouragement for my new found career path, she was there. Just as Nurse Liz had been in the nursing home all those years ago.