IT’S STARTING TO HAPPEN…

During nursing visits with families, the relationship with parents is weighted with clients being on the receiving end of information about immunizations, developmental stages, nutrition, safe practices and resources.  I always enjoy the appointments and endeavor to make them fun for my little clients as well as relaxing for their parents.  With time constraints in mind,I normally offer warm greetings, assess, give education and resources, immunize, blow bubbles, give stickers and new toothbrushes and when opening the door, say with a sincere smile “I’ll send a post card when the next immunizations are due.  It was really good seeing you all…have a great rest of your day...”  I’ve found parents to be very receptive during visits but somewhat shy when seeing most of them out in the community.  Something has shifted though and I’m being greeted with smiles and eye contact when seeing parents at the airport, at community events and when shopping for groceries.  It’s pretty wonderful and I feel as though I might be becoming a part of the fabric of the Native community.

It’s very easy to make Caucasian friends here.  Many people are single and enjoy camaraderie on the weekends and the temptation, at least for me, is to make this my central social circle outside of work.  Plus, the Inupiat people have large, extended families, and it probably doesn’t occur to them to want to get together with someone from another culture who, based on experience over the years, might not be staying for long.  They see many people come and go and from what I’ve observed and learned, embrace them (us) in a way, seeming always helpful and generous, but don’t get attached until many years have passed and you're a trusted member of the community.    

Our new Public Health Nurse Coordinator noticed that I put in long hours at the clinic and made the suggestion that I find a way to finish my work earlier and take in more community events, allowing me to get to know the needs on a broader scale.  I did more of this during the first months after arriving and loved it, but with taking on more responsibilities at the clinic, I’ve done it less and less recently.  I’m hoping with all my heart that we adopt some form of electronic health record charting in the not too distant future, cutting down documenting time…this single thing would allow me to keep the level of clients I see, but decrease the time it takes to wrap up my work with them on a daily basis. 

I appreciated her suggestion and signed up to help out at the Rotary Carnival held last Saturday.  On the night of the set up, I was assigned to help members of the high school band cover indoor playground equipment so that there were no falls or injuries by unattended children.  I joined four young Inupiat men in strategizing about using four foot wide strips of tarp, plastic ties and tape to cover the large structure.  I was impressed with how they worked and communicated with each other and sensed at a deep level that I was seeing interactions that were quite common among whalers.  They worked as a group at each point, maximizing their efforts instead of dividing them, considered each suggestion and moved as one to accomplish their tasks.  I found myself offering suggestions and could feel the young men taking me in as part of their “crew”, saying “that’s a great idea…that should work.”  In their culture, multiple generations work together so I didn’t sense that my middle aged female presence made them uncomfortable in any way.  Before being finished, another young man climbed up on top of our project and was asked by another to come down, saying “you’re not setting a good example for the younger children, you know.”  He agreed and came down saying, “you’re right”.  There are many things to admire about this culture.

The children seemed to love the various booths and prizes.  The carnival has been taking place annually for the past 25 years and I’ve heard that there would most likely be an uprising if it didn’t happen.  I blew up helium balloons, offering smaller ones for one ticket, medium sized, multi-colored ones for two tickets, larger, multi-colored ones for three tickets and big colorful butterflies for five tickets.  I worked at becoming adept at tying the balloons to brightly colored ribbons and then onto little arms.  My first attempts netted some return customers who pointed to the ceiling, saying "my balloon is up there.”  I stand behind the quality of my work, so of course, did a repeat and better job = ).  I was impressed with the young men who consistently brought their little brothers or sisters to get a balloon or returned time and again, spending their tickets for more saying, “this one is for my little sister” or “this one is for my cousin…I think she’d like that purple one.” 

Along with seeing and interacting with many Inupiaq families, I enjoyed meeting some good spirited nurses and radiology technicians from the hospital who ran a booth next to mine and asked for my help when I didn’t have customers. 

What a fun evening!  I found myself thinking how much my granddaughters, Jordan and Keira would have enjoyed the event.  It won't be long and they'll be making trips up, I'm sure!