My name is Crystal, and am from the Point family of Musqueam. A little about myself, I am from the Musqueam Indian Band with ancestry that also comes from the ‘Namgis and Kwakiutl Nations from Vancouver Island. I started out as a homemaker for Musqueam shortly after high school, this is where my passion for the field really took off. I then obtained a certification to work as a Medical Laboratory Assistant, and working in the hospital really inspired me to go further. I returned to school to complete an accelerated Bachelor of Science in Nursing program through VCC. My work history includes both acute and community nursing.  I have had the privilege and honour of working with my home community for close to 3 years now.

Throughout my short nursing career, so far, I have had 3 vastly different roles in community nursing. Each of them have had a tremendous impact on me as a person and professionally as a nurse. From working in the Downtown Eastside to Richmond Home Health, and lastly Musqueam Nation. Working with Musqueam has been a steep learning curve, but very rewarding at the same time. I participate in the design and delivery (including educational programs) that address health promotion, illness prevention and health protection across the lifespan of maternal, child and Elder health by facilitating activities and strategies to support achieving healthy outcomes. Here I have had the opportunity to participate in decisions relating to new program design, coordination and delivery to the community, families and individual clients. My role is very vast in that on some days I host and coordinate large community events, and on other occasions I can work with intimate groups or individuals (such as running a weekly pre/postnatal program). My programs run for people of all ages from newborn to children/youth and up to Elders, and everyone in between. From time to time I also assist our Home Care Nurse with his clients and program. Professional judgement is needed to identify, evaluate, recommend or undertake targeted interventions to address issues affecting the health of the client/family or community and depending on the case/situation I do this autonomously and/or with the Musqueam health team, or even across departments within the Band. Lastly, I have attended numerous workshops with Vancouver Coastal Health and First Nations Health Authority to enrich my community health programs and education I put forth to the members of Musqueam.