Year: 2007
Location: Calgary
Profile: At the time of this interview, Risi Shokoya was a recent graduate from Athabasca University’s Bachelor of Nursing program at Mount Royal College. She was working in general medicine and palliative care nominally part-time but almost full-time hours at Rocky View General Hospital in Calgary. She was called for four or five or even six shifts a week. Shokoya spoke highly of the help that she received from more established nurses. She compared the atmosphere at Rocky View favourably with her experience at Foothills where a nurse told her that she had never worked with a Black person before. Shokoya hoped that the nursing profession would attract a more diverse population in the future. In her home country, special respect is paid to the elderly and she has brought that focus to her work with the elderly. Because she has a human rights focus, Shokoya wanted to get active in UNA and ensure that her fellow new nurses and she got a better understanding of their rights in the workplace. Shokoya also wanted to impress upon both UNA and the College and Association of Registered Nurses of Alberta (CARNA) the need for a better support system for new graduates.
Keywords: Athabasca University Bachelor of Nursing program; CARNA; Elderly patients; Foothills Hospital; General medicine; Human rights; Palliative care; Rocky View General Hospital; Support for new nurses.
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See also: Black Communities in Alberta; Systemic Racism in Alberta; United Nurses of Alberta; Women and Work in Alberta