Heather Smith
Big Sister-Little Sister duo
In difficult times like this, when our healthcare system, ridden by workforce shortages, space constraints and lack of infrastructure, is under immense strain across Canada, experts believe that the residents continue to lose trust in the medical system. Add to this: the news of numerous healthcare professionals walking out of their jobs, and heading south across the border in search of better lives, is triggering more concern across our town.
In such a bleak situation, would you not be delighted to hear of Good Samaritans making mid-career switches and returning to nursing school to give back to the healthcare community?
Traci Clark of Oakville is one such example, and handholding her through this journey is her Big Sister, a pediatric nurse who has been serving the community for the last 17 years.
Oakville News reached out to our town's Big Sister-Little Sister duo to learn more about their inspiring story. Big Brothers Big Sisters is a registered charity offering community-based mentoring opportunities to children with adults and teens for more than 100 years across Canada through local agencies.
Heather Smith, the Big Sister in our story, moved to Glen Abbey in 1995 and began her nursing career at the old Oakville Trafalgar Memorial Hospital. In her early 20s, she approached Big Sisters (the sister affiliate of the current organization in Halton and Hamilton) with interest in mentoring. She was then matched with the then-15-year-old Traci. "We got along well, and soon she became part of the family," Smith recollected.
Clark, raised by a single mom in Oakville, felt a personal connection with Heather- her mentor from the world outside. "I have been going to her for advice ever since," she added.
The soon-to-be-graduate nurse never got a chance to finish post-secondary education as she struggled to balance work and school. She worked as a private investigator for eight years and tried her hand at retail management before she married and had three kids. Her admiration for Smith remained unaffected all along this journey.
For Clark, returning to school for Practical Nursing was an opportunity to give back to the healthcare sector. When her father, diagnosed with end-stage COPD (Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease), received palliative care while staying at her sister's house, she realized the vital role that the nurses play. "It was a clarifying moment for me," she added.
"Though I never had her composure or patience, I turned to my Big Sister again to guide me," Clark said about Smith, who continues to work as a community nurse for pediatric homecare.
"I was hesitant to apply, but like always, Heather helped me prepare for the study of prerequisite subjects and during each stage of the application," she added.
The Little Sister, officially 44 years old now, will finish her program at Mohawk College in Hamilton in about a week. As she waits with excitement to begin her nursing career at the new Oakville Trafalgar Memorial Hospital, her Big Sister will place the pin in her pinning ceremony (an event to welcome the newly graduated nurse) on Dec. 20.
"Who else other than Heather could do this for me? She is a constant force and source of light in my life," Clark signed off.
