Nurse brings care to rural BC
Name: Joseph Mariel Manubag
Works at Dawson Creek & District Hospital
Union: BCNU
When Joseph Manubag decided a career in nursing was his path to a good life, he intended to be an ER or OR nurse. With one sister already a nurse in the Philipines and his mother and other sister practicing midwives, caring for others seems to run in the family. But when given the opportunity, Joseph immersed himself in emergency nursing, developing skills for handling patients in crisis.
“We are the first in line in healthcare. I like the trauma part of the ER, rushing an accident victim to treatment, stabilizing the patient as fast as you can. I like the action. I’ve been in a situation where we did CPR on 5 patients at the same time. You just stay calm, get through the situation and learn from it,” says Joseph.
Joseph applied to immigrate to Canada while completing his ER training. He landed here in the fall of 2010 and while registering to practice, he found health authorities didn’t have many systems in place so IENs (Internationally Educated Nurse) could complete the 250-hour requirement to license. But Joseph persevered until he fulfilled his requirements and is now a BCNU member working in Dawson Creek as an ER nurse.
“I see that unions in Canada and BC work for their members, defending their rights. As a new member, a new RN, a new resident of Dawson Creek, its good to be a union member. For new hires, there’s a lot to learn within the profession and the medical system to provide the best patient care.”
Joseph says of his new work environment “I’m used to treating trauma, but of course here there are more supplies and better technologies to save patients. I like Dawson Creek, there’s no traffic. My hometown in the Philippines is much bigger than Dawson Creek, with so much traffic, so many people. I’m happy to work here, so I can see something of the countryside. It’s a beautiful place and it’s nice to discover BC. People are friendly up here.”
Joseph has long-term goals for the future, saying “I believe I am in this field because I have to do my part to help other people. In due time when I am more established, I would like to be more active with philanthropic organizations so I can deliver care to the least among us. My focus now is to learn as much as I can so I can do that.”
His advice for aspiring nurses is that “patience and preserverance will accomplish what you want. The process can be a long one. I hope there will be expanded programs so more IENs can get to work. These are good nurses, and we always hear about the shortage of nurses. They just have to orient and train us to work in the canadian health system.”