NURSES OF THE NORTH: February 2014

Saturday, February 15, 2014

Dear Followers,

It's sad to say that this will be the last instalment of Nurses of the North. We know. Tragic! Please hold back your tears. We would hand you a kleenex but that is impossible as this is a computer screen.

We have arrived in Edmonton, on route to Toronto and are reflecting on our time in Inuvik. Lets catch you up on our last couple of days. Last weekend we had one final night out at The Trapper with some of our new friends. Being such a small town, it seems that you bump into almost everyone there on Saturday nights including patients that you had just discharged from the hospital earlier that day #awkward. That being said, it makes sense that locals flock to the bar considering beer is cheaper than water. After last call we decided to end the night on the ice road looking at the stars and the northern lights. Too bad our male friends from the church tour weren't there "wink wink". Would have been romantic! It was a great night but unfortunately no pictures. A camera just doesn't seem to do justice to the northern lights.

Throughout our stay in Inuvik many people had told us that we had to try caribou stew before leaving. Apparently it is one of the most popular dishes. This was emphasized to us on one of our last dinners out with some native locals who were surprised to hear that we had never tried caribou stew. Their shock only grew when they learned we had also never tried caribou heart, caribou stomach, caribou tongue, caribou brain and caribou eyeballs. We were clearly missing out. To help us understand how delicious caribou tastes they compared it to bone marrow. We didn't have the heart to tell them we hadn't tried that either. After all of this, it would have been a shame not to have eaten caribou at least once. They were right, it was delicious! Next on our list of foods to try, bone marrow.

Now that our trip is over, it's fun to think about all of the things that we got to experience in Inuvik. It's definitely a change from Toronto. Some things that really stand out as different include:

1) Brain freeze doesn't just happen when eating ice cream.
2) A shopping spree here consists of moccasins and beautiful soap stone carvings.
3) The cab drivers are so friendly that they remember your name.
4) It is normal to hear "wolverine pelts for sale in the lobby" on the hospital intercom.
5) It is not so easy to pick up men when wearing balaclavas at the bar.
6) The best form of birth control are the five layers of long underwear that people have to wear. It is harder to get out of than a chastity belt.
7) Inuvik is a little town with a welcoming heart!

We had a wonderful time working and living in Inuvik for the past month. We feel that we have grown so much as nurses. It was amazing, yet challenging at times to experience nursing outside of obstetrics. In the short time we were in Inuvik we had a total of 3 deliveries. What a difference from Sunnybrook. The rest of our time was spent working with patients who had a wide range of medical conditions including liver and renal failure, acquired brain injuries, sepsis, stoke and heart disease, suicidal ideation, schizoaffective disorder, alcohol withdrawal and end of life care. Working with such a wonderful team made nursing in this acute care environment very positive.The medical team was made up of locals and of locums from all over the country which made it a learning experience for everybody. We both plan on returning sometime in the near future and we expect you all to follow us again when the time comes! Thank you to everyone who read our blog. We had fun writing and sharing our stories. See you soon!

Love Virginia and Erin

p.s. Happy Valentines Day

Caribou Stew

Labour room

Catching a cab to the airport (hospital in background)

Saying goodbye to Inuvik

Thursday, February 6, 2014

Dear Followers,

We hope you are ready for another installment of Nurses of the North! It has been a week since we last spoke. Not too much has happened because work has been taking up a good amount of our time. However, we were able to squeeze in a day trip to Tuktoyaktuk (Tuk). Tuk is one the the most northern communities in Canada, sitting right on the Arctic Ocean. It is a small community with a population of 954 and marks the end of the Trans Canada Trail.

During the winter, the Mackenzie river becomes an ice road which connects Inuvik to Tuk. Tuk is the farthest north you can drive in Canada during the winter but in summer months you can only fly. One of our goals when coming to Inuvik was to drive the infamous ice road. First challenge, finding a driver. Second challenge, not falling through the ice or spinning out of control. As previously mentioned, we are both non-drivers so we had to hope that someone would find it in their heart to drive us there. Luckily, since we are both so charming we were able to make a friend and have a fun road trip to Tuk.

The drive is approximately three hours each way, and requires good wheel traction and a steady driver. Thanks Dawn! It was very different from the 401 highway in Toronto that's for sure! In a total of three hours we maybe passed four cars, had no cell service and there were no pit stops along the way. In other words, if you have to pee then you pop a squat and if you have car trouble then….you are screwed. Good thing is that as typical girls we planned ahead and brought food. Chocolate included!

Our second challenge was to avoid falling through the ice or spinning out of control. We were fortunate enough to make it to and from Tuk alive and relatively warm but there were a few bumps along the way. One bump in particular sent the car flying and resulted in high pitched girl screams. Good thing we had just emptied our bladders on a pile of snow before the ski jump. Note to self and everyone, don't eat yellow snow, it is most likely urine.

The beginning of the drive was more scenic with trees and mountains on either side of the ice river. As we got closer to Tuk, the landscape changed to complete whiteness. The road was white, the ground was white and the sky was white. It was very hard to see the road boundaries. Lets just say if we were to spin out of control we wouldn't have known which way was up. After driving for three hours and being surrounded by pure white for the last two you start going crazy. There was an underlying anxiety in the car as we all felt that the road would never end. But we made it to Tuk just in time, before one of us turned Jack Nicholson in The Shining.

While we were in Tuk we visited an igloo, got to stand on the Arctic Ocean, saw the end of the Trans Canada Trail and visited an underground permafrost cellar. It was a quick visit and a long journey but we got some good pictures, had some fun and got to experience the true north. We even saw a caribou on the drive. It is true dedication when you sacrifice your fingers to take a good selfie #frostbite. Enjoy the photos!