11:00am– 12:00am

BREAKOUT SESSIONS - before lunch

·        Accessing Online Professional Development Courses    

Melissa Spence, RN, BN,   Michelle Monkman, RN, BN

The presentation will provide nurses an opportunity to learn about the Saint Elizabeth First Nations, Inuit and Métis Program and a web-based learning program @YourSide Colleague® (aYSC).  aYSC offers around-the-clock access to 14 self-directed on-line professional development courses that reflect the latest evidence and best practices in e-learning and health care.  The courses are available at no cost to health care providers working in or for First Nations.  A preview of the First Nations, Inuit and Métis Program website, @YourSide Colleague and instructions on how to gain an account will also be provided.

·       Working with Fathers: Examining Practice…Creating Change  

Rena Kim, RN BScN, CCHN(C)

This session is interactive, allowing workers, organizations, or networks of services to provide more effective programs/service delivery to men and families.  The session explores the importance of the fathers’ role in family services and how program/service delivery can engage and support this opportunity. 

Session Focus

·        Current practice/service delivery around father engagement

·        Strategies and interventions that can be delivered in order to appeal to fathers and male caregivers. 

·        Overview of Focus On Fathers, a support and parenting program

·        Create excitement around father engagement that can make a difference in their communities.

·       Recruitment of Indigenous Nursing Students                  

Victoria Marchand
Based on the academic research from the University of Ottawa, we will explore barriers that affect the recruitment of our Indigenous Nursing students and how the post-secondary environment is a determining factor in the retention of these students. The reliance of statistics to represent Indigenous issues in academia will be broken down as we will begin to draw up concepts as how Indigenous social determinants of health differ from other ethnographic groups in Canada, and how they differ internally between the First Nations, Metis, and Inuit in the both community-centered and post-secondary environments.

Culturally sensitive curriculum will also be of content as to how this affects learning circles.

Lastly, we will explore the differences between on-reserve and off-reserve Indigenous Nursing students’ experiences with their Faculty, access to their Indigenous/Aboriginal resources centres, and the support received by their funding programs.

Many individuals attending the conference provide several areas of support in academia for students.  It is everyone’s responsibility to create culturally safe and culturally appropriate spaces for our Indigenous students throughout their academic journey.

Pepper Pritty, RN BN MNRM(c) PCD(c)                                                    
The cultural practices and oral traditions spoken in native languages provided the blueprint for understanding the land and how to live healthy, and sustainably on it. That knowledge to a large degree, has been protected and preserved by select groups and their ancestors, distributed across Turtle Island during this prohibition period. Although these sacred Knowledge Keepers exist, they are few in relative comparison to those who seek the teachings.

 The Truth and Reconciliation Calls to Action require that Indigenous people have access to traditional healing. However, even if a modest portion of the Indigenous population requested traditional care, the health system would struggle to meet the demand.  Indigenous nurses are well positioned to care for Indigenous people, and to practice traditional medicine; however, increased access to land-based knowledge is required to support traditional medicine practice.

The current mainstream treatment options in Canada that are supported by institutionally regulated standards of practice are dominated by western medicine approaches. In recent years however, there has been a resurgence of interest and desire to reclaim this traditional knowledge and promote the healing teachings of land-based interventions that are rooted in the relationship between Indigenous peoples and the environment. This workshop explores Indigenous Traditional Medicine Curriculum development with a focus on land-based knowledge to reclaim cultural teachings that have the potential to advance Indigenous health equity in Canada. This workshop is delivered in the spirit of reconciliation between Indigenous and settlers welcomes both Indigenous nurses and their non-Indigenous allies. Introduction to traditional ceremonies, medicines and language will be touched on, and no previous knowledge is required.

2:45pm – 3:45pm

BREAKOUT SESSIONS  - after lunch

·        Are Healthcare Providers Understanding Their Facilitative and Supportive Role During End of Life Care?
Lea Bill, RN BScN,  Angeline Letendre , RN, PhD
The purpose of this workshop is to identify and describe opportunities during end-of-life care with Indigenous people that may be significant in supporting individuals, families and communities as they prepare for these events.

The objectives of this Workshop are:

·       To describe end-of-life issues and concerns of Indigenous patients, families and communities

·       To identify challenges in providing culturally appropriate and safe nursing care to Indigenous patients, families and communities at end-of-life

·       To provide results from research in Ontario that identified preferences in care and places of death for Indigenous patients during end-of-life care

·       To create an opportunity for open dialogue about the role of nurses in providing end-of-life care to Indigenous patients, families and communities

This workshop will provide a culturally appropriate and safe space for open dialogue about end-of-life issues and concerns in the nursing care of Indigenous patients, families and communities. Beginning with a short video presentation on Elder/Knowledge Holder perspectives of end-of-life issues for Indigenous people, CINA President and Traditional Practitioner Lea Bill will then provide a short presentation on Indigenous Nurse perspectives in facilitating and supporting the end-of-life journey of Indigenous patients. This will include stories and experiences relevant to end-of-life nursing care with Indigenous people.

Research Scientist and CINA Research Committee Chair, Angeline Letendre will briefly discuss the results of a CINA research partnership and study that examined the preferences of Indigenous people in Ontario in relation to places of care and places of death. In closing, the workshop will facilitate an open dialogue with participants to answer questions such as: What are the differences in managing or saving life during nursing care to Indigenous patients at end of life? What are the often missed opportunities for reciprocity in the nurse-patient relationship during end-of-life care and end-of-life care experiences?

·       Addressing Opioid and other Addictions   

Juanita Rickard,  BScN RN    
In a statement released from the Canadian Centre on Substance use an addiction, it estimates approximately 4000 related over dose related deaths in 2017. Although final figures are not yet released it does show an increase from 2816 in 2016 data. We hear daily of death related drug overdose in the media, or we know of someone affected.  Canada is facing a National opioid crisis.  Are we prepared to deliver effective program in our communities? Implementing an addiction program is a complex health and social issue. As Canada decides what will be the best approach on developing and implementing effective addiction programs, will this approach "fit one fit all” be effective for Indigenous communities. What steps can we take to develop an effective addiction program? We will briefly discuss current literature and recommendations on the management of addictions and extract the key point to developing effective addiction programming in relation to the Registered Nurse Association of Ontario Best Practice Guidelines on addictions.

·       Salt in a Pepper World: Working Interculturally in Indigenous Nursing
Greg Riehl , RN, BScN, MA 
White privilege, male, settler, western educated, moonias with Métis ancestry, male-nurse, Greg ‘many-hats’. Words to describe whom I am at various times throughout my day. I am the Indigenous Nursing student advisor, and I am not an Indigenous person.  I often walk and work in two different worlds. In one place, I am a person of the majority, a person a privilege, and in the other place, I am an outsider, a minority, but still in a position of power. I have learned to navigate Indigenous cultures and worldviews, as well as my own Western upbringing and knowledge, where I can focus on the strengths of both. The principle of Two-eyed seeing helps to guide me at work and in my professional nursing journey. There are several advantages and challenges working with Indigenous nursing students as a white male, which often keeps me on the outside. Intercultural, cross-cultural, multi-cultural, and diversity relate to different perspectives and grounding. Knowing where you are and where you come from is vital to establish positive, meaningful relationships with the ‘other’. Equally important is knowing what is in your ‘invisible knapsack’ and how this will impact interactions with students, families, communities and nursing colleagues. Being different, I can be seen as the other, and the challenge is navigating whether to stay on the outside, or to dive in and take part in the Indigenous community searching for acceptance, support, and belonging. This is my moonias, newcomer experience, from the inside and out.

Participants will be engaged as the subject matter is current, and it reflects current lived experiences and wise practices when working with Indigenous peoples in Canada. Key take-aways are knowledge, passion, and new perspectives on what it is like being an outsider, with privilege, working with Indigenous students, families, groups and communities.

·       Indigenous Nursing Mentorship & Cultural Safety for Nursing Education
Michèle Parent-Bergeron, RN, PhD,  Montana Massicotte, BScN student
                  
In the past year, the Canadian Indigenous Nurses Association has been revising two important frameworks: CINA's Strategic Framework for Mentoring and Supporting First Nations Inuit, & Métis Students for Success, as well as the Cultural Safety For Nursing Education Framework. We are inviting nursing faculty members and Indigenous nursing students to participate in our session, where we will present the newly revised frameworks and discuss the process we followed to revise these important documents. This will be will be a valuable experience shared between CINA, Indigenous nursing students and faculty members from across the country. The participants will be asked to provide input and advice as CINA and its university partners move forward with formulating, disseminating, and continually reviewing promising and wise practices toward, which all nursing education programs should strive to as it pertains to mentorship and cultural safety in nursing education. This reflective circle and knowledge exchange event with the members of our association and beyond will also contribute to future leading practices in Indigenous Nursing.