National Nursing Week is from May 8-14, 2023 and this year’s theme is “Our Nurses. Our Future.” Nurses are the backbone of our health and social services system, providing essential work year round to care for our residents and communities.

In Fort Liard, Darcey Fownes is a Community Health Nurse who moved to the community in 2021 from North Bay, Ontario. “I received my education locally at Nipissing University in the Bachelor of Science in Nursing Program. I began my post-secondary nursing career in the fall of 2016 and graduated the spring of 2020 amid COVID-19 pandemic.”

Graduating during the pandemic proved to be a challenge as Darcey immediately began working in a COVID-19 designated Medical-Surgical Unit at the North Bay Regional Health Centre. “With an increased demand for healthcare professionals, I was faced with the task of performing complex care with assigned teams of multiple patients while also facing constantly changing guidelines and duties along the way. Then almost one year later, I began working at the North Bay Perry Sound District Health Unit where I was part of the COVID-19 Vaccination Program who helped to educate, distribute, and administer the COVID-19 vaccine to a large population of people in and around the North Bay area.”

In August of 2021, Darcey and his girlfriend, Gillian, welcomed a new chapter in their professional careers as they moved to Fort Liard. “Since then, I have continued working as a Community Health Nurse at the Fort Liard Health Centre and Gillian as the Grade 1-3 teacher at Echo Dene School! I have been so fortunate to end up in such a lovely community as Fort Liard where I have been able to not only further my growth as a healthcare professional, but also develop and foster so many amazing relationships within the community.”

Darcey’s colleagues at the Fort Liard Health Centre say it is an honour to work beside the nurses, learn new things every day, and provide care to the residents in the community. They would like to recognize and celebrate Darcey and the nursing team for their dedication and commitment as healthcare professionals.

“Being able to provide a wide array of services from emergency care to pre-natal programs has been immense in building my skills as a remote nurse. Thus far, working in the North has been an amazing and enriching experience and I would highly recommend it to anyone seeking growth not only professionally, but on a personal level as well!”