Nunavik nurse honoured for years of community care

Community health nurse and Quebec nursing prize recipient Carole Beaulne is pictured here treating a baby in her hometown of Puvirnituq. (COURTESY OF OIIQ)

There are three important skills that veteran Puvirnituq nurse Carole Beaulne says she had to learn in order to deliver health care in Nunavik over the last four decades: picking up the language, adapting to the culture and the ability to love — unconditionally.

And Beaulne, a community health nurse at Puvirnituq’s Inuulitsivik Health Centre, has apparently done all those things well, earning the prestigious Florence Prize handed out by Quebec’s order of nurses this past week.

The Ordre des infirmières et infirmiers du Québec honoured Beaulne May 5 at a Montreal ceremony for her years of work in emergency care and family health.

This is the first time the prize, named after pioneering British nurse Florence Nightingale, has been given to a Nunavik resident.

Beaulne worked in emergency and intensive care in her native Abitibi region until she decided to move to Nunavik in 1976, first taking a job as a nurse at the clinic in Puvirnituq.

For decades, she provided emergency care and health consultations through the Inuulitsivik health centre, before taking on the role of community health nurse in 2004.

In that role, Beaulne’s focus has emphasized the social health of the community, devoting her time to initiatives to develop parenting skills and sexual health awareness among youth.

Beaulne has also coordinated nutrition workshops for her community, yoga and dance classes, and ran the Canadian Cancer Society’s Relay for Life in Puvirnituq for several years.

“The work is so rewarding,” Beaulne says in a video filmed by the OIIQ.

“But more important is the support we provide to young parents to help them develop their parenting skills, either learn to cook or to manage the crisis of a child. In all my activities, I tried to reach mothers and their children.”

Beaulne has also helped to implement a summer camp for teens and young adults, which pairs youth with local elders to share Inuit culture and traditional skills.

“An inspiration to all in the health sector, we should aspire to achieve the level of dedication that she has continuously demonstrated through the years,” said a May 4 release from the Nunavik Regional Board of Health and Social Services.

“Congratulations to her for her efforts and we wish her continued success.”