Pages 92-97 in G. Pétursdóttir et al., eds. Circumpolar Health 93. Proceedings of the 9th International Congress on Circumpolar Health, Reykjavík, Iceland, June 20-25, 1993. Arctic Medical Research. 1994;53(Suppl.2)
Nishnawbe-Aski Nation, Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada
Lakehead University, Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada
Source
Pages 92-97 in G. Pétursdóttir et al., eds. Circumpolar Health 93. Proceedings of the 9th International Congress on Circumpolar Health, Reykjavík, Iceland, June 20-25, 1993. Arctic Medical Research. 1994;53(Suppl.2)
Encouraging aboriginal people to enter the health professions is widely seen as a partial remedy to the chronic shortage of health care workers in Canada's northern Native communities. It is assumed that cultural familiarity and community membership will overcome the personal, social, and professional barriers responsible for high attrition among non-Native personnel. However, the rates of staff turnover among Native health professionals and paraprofessionals are also very high. The present study, which explores the factors affecting the retention of paraprofessionals, is based on interviews with 48 current and former Community Health Representatives, Mental Health Workers, and National Native Alcohol and Drug Abuse Program Worker in the Nishnawbe-Aski First Nations of Northern Ontario. It reports their experience of being "everything and nothing" in the health care system--facing a scope of practice that far exceeds their training; finding themselves caught between community expectations and their employer's management policies; and not being accepted within the community as fully competent individuals.