Nursing Under the Midnight Sun : Public Health Nurses in the Yukon, 1945-1967
department or school: Applied Science, Faculty of
department or school: Nursing, School of
data provider: DSpace
degree campus: UBCV
creator: White, Alistair
issued: 2025-06-20T20:44:59Z
issued: 2025
description: This study explores the development of public health nursing in the Yukon Territory between 1945 and 1967. This period in Yukon history was marked by significant social and political changes, including the rapid increase of the white settler population, the expansion of the modern Canadian welfare state, and the continued colonization of Northern Indigenous communities. Public health nurses played a pivotal role in these processes, but their contributions are underrepresented in the history of nursing. Drawing on archival records, government reports, autobiographies, and oral histories, this study examines the evolution of public health nursing within this historical moment. I argue that public health nurses inhabited a complex position in the development of Yukon health services. Nurses were essential in public health efforts to control communicable diseases and reduce infant mortality, but in doing so contributed to a deepening of colonialism. Public health nurses sought professional independence and autonomy through northern practice yet were heavily scrutinized by their employers who routinely dismissed nurses’ concerns. By situating nurses within the broader context of northern development, this study offers a nuanced understanding of the ambiguities of public health nursing in the Yukon.
aggregated CHO: https://circle.library.ubc.ca/rest/handle/2429/91391
note: NURSING UNDER THE MIDNIGHT SUN: PUBLIC HEALTH NURSES IN THE YUKON, 1945-1967 by: ALISTAIR WHITE BA, University of British Columbia, 2019 BSN, University of British Columbia, 2022 A SPAR PROJECT SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF SCIENCE IN NURSING in THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE AND POSTDOCTORAL STUDIES (School of Nursing) THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA Vancouver April 2025 © Alistair White, 2025i Abstract This study explores the development of public health nursing in the Yukon Territory between 1945 and 1967. This period in Yukon history was marked by significant social and political changes, including the rapid increase of the white settler population, the expansion of the modern Canadian welfare state, and the continued colonization of Northern Indigenous communities. Public health nurses played a pivotal role in these processes, but their contributions are underrepresented in the history of nursing. Drawing on archival records, government reports, autobiographies, and oral histories, this study examines the evolution of public health nursing within this historical moment. I argue that public health nurses inhabited a complex position in the development of Yukon health services. Nurses were essential in public health efforts to control communicable diseases and reduce infant mortality, but in doing so contributed to a deepening of colonialism. Public health nurses sought professional independence and autonomy through northern practice yet were heavily scrutinized by their employers who routinely dismissed nurses’ concerns. By situating nurses within the broader context of northern development, this study offers a nuanced understanding of the ambiguities of public health nursing in the Yukon. ii Preface This SPAR project is the original, unpublished, and independent work of the author, Alistair White. Generative artificial intelligence was not used for any aspects of the work. iii Table of Contents Abstract ...........…
has type: Graduating Project
spatial: Yukon
spatial: Canada
is shown at: 10.14288/1.0449153
language: eng
peer review status: Unreviewed
provider: Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library
rights: Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International
rights URI: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
scholar level: Graduate
is part of: University of British Columbia. NURS_V 595
subject: History of Nursing
subject: Nursing
subject: Public Health
subject: Yukon History
type: Text
identifier URI: http://hdl.handle.net/2429/91391