“Always end with confidence” Jamaican-born nurse’s care and tenacity transcends borders
Nurse by day, community builder, content creator, author and realtor in her free time. Not to mention a wife and mother to two children. You could call Yasheika Turner tenacious, but she sees her many passions outside of her nursing career as creative outlets, fueling her passions and helping with stress release.
Yasheika was born in Jamaica and worked as a mental health nurse for 18 years. Knowing she had a bigger purpose; she booked a one-way ticket to Canada in 2011 with her three-year-old daughter. The then single mother took a PSW job while studying for the nursing exam to work in Canada, living with a friend before moving to Hamilton, where she would make a life for herself and her daughter.
“I wasn’t mentally prepared for that huge transition moving to Canada,” she says. “One of the most challenging parts was the winter. I didn’t have a car, and I had to study the bus system with having five to six clients per day all over Hamilton.”
Yasheika started her career at St. Joe’s in the inpatient schizophrenia unit (where patients stay in hospital) and now works in St. Joe’s schizophrenia outpatient clinic (where patients go home after their appointments). This unique experience – caring for patients when they first enter the healthcare system to leaving hospital and returning for follow-up appointments – has allowed her to follow many patients on their journey to health.
“People with schizophrenia are not well mentally and have paranoia, hallucinations,” she says. “I see patients who I knew from the inpatient unit, who have now transitioned to the outpatient clinic, doing so much better. You can see the difference when they’re well”
Compassion and humour are key to Yasheika’s approach with patients. Her Jamaican roots have allowed her to better support Jamaican patients, who may otherwise have found difficulty connecting with their healthcare providers.
“Our clients are stigmatized. People are fearful of them and because of that, they feel like they’re on the backburner of the healthcare system. Getting to serve this population, treating them like a real person – that’s what I enjoy about working in mental health.”
“I had a client who was Jamaican and wouldn’t let the other nurses give him his medication. I introduced myself and went ‘wagwan,’ what’s up, in my Jamaican accent,” she says. “He changed drastically and opened up. He let me give him the needle while I distracted him asking about his Jamaican heritage. I’ve had that several time with Jamaican patients. You start talking to them like that and it just brings out the light in them. We have a connection.”
She says that having Black healthcare workers on staff makes a difference for Black patients. “Welcoming more Black nurses on a unit will help patients who are the same skin colour feel heard. Having that representation is important because Canada is multi-racial.”
Building a community
One of the most challenging parts of moving to Canada was being without family and friends. But Yasheika has formed her own community in Hamilton, encouraging friends from Jamaica to join her. Many now also work at St. Joe’s.
“We call them our family because we all came here together,” she says. “We celebrate holidays together and call everyone our cousins or aunties.”
And her community doesn’t end with old friends from Jamaica. One of her entrepreneurial passions is assisting other immigrant women with finding housing and working toward financial freedom.
“I find it fulfilling to help people to progress confidently, go after whatever their big dreams are,” she says. “I’ve formed a community online to motivate and inspire people when they don’t have that confidence yet. I went through this myself with my own goals – passing the nursing exam in Canada, getting the job, getting the apartment, getting the car. You can feel that confidence building as your momentum increases.”
Words of wisdom
Confidence is the common theme that has followed Yasheika throughout her life. She encourages other Black women who want to enter the healthcare field to embrace their own confidence.
“Don’t shy down, don’t think you’re not worthy. No matter the colour of your skin, if you’re destined to do something, be confident and go after it. Go as high in the hierarchy as you want. And always end with confidence.”
Pictured above: Yasheika with her husband, son and daughter.