Profiles of Mylène Dugas St-Louis and Tracy Johnson

Press Release

After falling in love with Uashat mak Mani-Utenam (and one man in particular!), along with Innu values and culture, Mylène Dugas St-Louis landed her first job as a nurse in the community in 2009. This was during the influenza A (H1N1) pandemic. And since 2017, she has been a home care coordinator, having always had a keen interest in working with seniors.

For Mylène, the essential values of nursing are empathy, respect and communication. She believes that interpersonal skills are even more precious than knowledge.

She speaks passionately about the community’s health care workers, praising their commitment and professionalism. When she reflects on achievements by her community that make her particularly proud, the services they offer for latent tuberculosis come to mind. The community is, in fact, the only one in Quebec that provides an innovative treatment for this disease. She also mentioned group prescriptions, vaccination in childcare centres and the specialized nursing home for Huntington’s disease.

What are her hopes for future generations of nurses? She would like them to see the nursing profession in a more positive light. She agrees that it is hard work and is not always easy, but she emphasizes that it is a profession in which you can blossom and be happy.

Tracy Johnson

Now celebrating her 30th year with Kateri Memorial Hospital Centre, Tracy Johnson, Manager of KMHC Home Care Services, believes she has the best job in the world. Every morning, this mother of four and grandmother of six goes into work with the satisfaction of knowing that she will be able to help at least one person in her community.

She considers becoming a nurse the greatest achievement of her life, having taken this step ten years ago. She sees her work as a unique opportunity to uphold community values such as mutual support and honouring elders and the extended family. It is also a way to keep her culture alive.

Some of the achievements she is most proud of include her role in helping to develop the Competencies framework of Québec First Nations communities nurses and the creation of the Kahnawake home care program. Although she has devoted most of her life to the members of her own community, she also wishes to share her knowledge with other nations.

She would like to take this opportunity to wish all the nursing staff a wonderful National Nursing Week. She feels privileged to be able to work in this field, and she is very grateful.

IHT5

NationTalk Partners & Sponsors Learn More