Western’s Sofia España is one of four winners of this year’s SickKids Award for Indigenous Nursing Students.
The award includes a $5,000 bursary and a three-month placement at SickKids Hospital in Toronto, Ont. SickKids is the largest children’s hospital in the country.
España is heading into her fourth year in the Arthur Labatt Family School of Nursing at the Faculty of Health Sciences. She was born and raised in Sioux Lookout, a town of about 5,000 in northern Ontario.
“I had never met an Indigenous nursing student, so I didn’t think it was possible for someone like me,” España said. “In Grade 11 I did a placement at a long-term care home, and that’s when I decided to pursue nursing.”
Her focus is on pediatrics, which stems from her first placement at Victoria Hospital in the pediatric nephrology division. Nephrology deals with the health of kidneys.
“My life was changed after my placement in pediatric nephrology,” España said. “Pediatrics is such a massive issue up north. If you’re a child and you get really sick, you are usually sent to Thunder Bay, London or Toronto, Ont. which can be a new and tough experience.”
During her placement, she cared for children who had stage five kidney disease, including many Indigenous patients from northern communities. She was able to use her lived experiences as an Indigenous person from the region to connect with several patients and make them feel more at ease in an unknown environment. She also shared Indigenous traditions, such as the custom of serving tea to patients.
Christy Bressette, Western’s associate vice-president of Indigenous Initiatives, said she was “delighted” to hear about España’s award. “Good personal health is key to a healthy society – and the more Indigenous people enter the health-care field, the better our health-care system will be. By providing services that respond to the cultural needs of Indigenous patients, our Indigenous doctors, nurses and other specialists are healing not only individuals, but all of society,” she said. España also wants to bring awareness to the difficulties Indigenous communities in northern Ontario are facing, including serious health challenges and a lack of available resources compared to other parts of the province. “I knew that I had to go down south and try to show people what it’s like up north,” she said. “People don’t know the real struggles Indigenous communities have here: diabetes rates and chronic health and addiction issues are very high, compounded by a lack of health-care services.” España wants to use her position as a nurse to advocate and educate people about the health care realities in northern communities. She believes her upcoming placement with SickKids will help her in this goal. “I’d love to be someone who can represent the north. It’s always been my mission and goal. After my time at Victoria Hospital, I realized I wanted to help the pediatric world and bridge the gap between the north and the south,” España said. España also credits her family and support system for helping to make her achievements possible. “My family has never let me stop and always pushed me to do what I love. Even when I had a lot of self-doubt about applying to Western and the placement at SickKids,” España said. España is now back in Sioux Lookout, enjoying the summer break and working at the only local hospital called Meno Ya Win Health Centre, where she works with blood samples in the lab. She is excited for the future opportunities that lie ahead in her education and career. “When I saw the way they dealt with pediatrics in the Children’s Hospital in London, my eyes were opened to another world,” España said. “I can sleep better at night now, knowing I’ve come down south to try to advocate for people up north.”“If you don’t grow up with the culture and tradition, things are often lost in translation and Indigenous customs and practices are overlooked. You need someone who is Indigenous and has experiences with their community to provide for and accommodate these patients.” – Sofia España, Western nursing student