Nurse in the Yukon

The Public Health Nurse lives at Whitehorse but has to journey to all parts of the Yukon.

Photographs by Rosemary Gilliat

 — Posted January 26, 2015

The Public Health Nurse who works for the Territorial Government must be capable and self-reliant. This nurse looks after the health of the white and [Metis] population, while another takes care of the Indigenous population.

She lives at Whitehorse but has to make journeys to all parts of the Yukon, usually travelling by road, alone, sometimes by air, and occasionally taking a patient “outside” for treatment.

  • A women stands next to a truck
    Yukon Public Health Nurse (unidentified).
    Rosemary Gilliat
  • A nurse looks at a child and the injection.
    To cabin homes and schools, the Yukon Public Health Nurse travels to give injections to the children.
    Rosemary Gilliat
  • two people stand in the doorway of a cabin
    A long drive on dusty highways takes her to an isolated cabin where she tries to persuade the trapper to go into hospital for treatment. He invariably finds that he is too busy.
    Rosemary Gilliat
  • a wooden bridge with land in the background.
    Her road leads over the wooden bridge at the settlement of Carcross.
    Rosemary Gilliat
  • One women lays on a bed reading a newspaper, while another women sitting on the be reads over her shoulder.
    At home, she relaxes with a friend who teaches at Whitehorse High School.
    Rosemary Gilliat
  • A woman stand at the door of a car.
    Fellow motorists are always ready to help the nurse on her lonely journeys.
    Rosemary Gilliat
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This article was originally published in Winter 1955 issue of The Beaver. 

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