10/30/2025
Being admitted to the hospital can be overwhelming for anyone—but for Indigenous patients who may be far from home, family, and community, it can feel especially isolating.
To ease that journey, Jenna Kapashesit and Brianne Brant serve as Indigenous Health System Navigators (IHSNs) with Mohawks of the Bay of Quinte. They are dedicated to making the healthcare system easier to understand and more culturally safe for Indigenous peoples.
“We like to think of ourselves as nurses for the soul,” Jenna said with a smile. “Our job is to sit with patients, answer questions, ease their fears, and make sure they feel supported in every way—emotionally, mentally, spiritually, and culturally.”
Both women bring to this work a wealth of experience and a deep passion for helping others. Jenna, a member of Moose Cree First Nation, spent 14 years working in nearly every area of nursing at Weeneebayko Area Health Authority in Northern Ontario—emergency, obstetrics, occupational health, and inpatient care—before deciding she was ready for a new challenge. She was drawn to Tyendinaga by its location and the chance to support Indigenous patients in a new setting.
Brianne, who has lived in Tyendinaga most of her life, spent more than a decade working in labour and delivery at Quinte Health. Her husband and children are Indigenous, and she saw the IHSN role as a way to give back to her community and help patients feel safe and respected while in hospital.
Both Jenna and Brianne understand how stressful it can be for Indigenous patients to receive care in an unfamiliar setting. Many are transferred from rural or remote communities and find themselves in busy hospitals far from their families and supports. For some, past negative experiences in healthcare settings have created fear and mistrust, which can make navigating the system even harder.
“When you’re far from home and scared, it’s easy to forget what your doctor just told you about your care,” said Jenna. “That’s where we come in.”
Their support looks different for every patient. It might mean explaining a diagnosis or test results in plain language, or simply sitting quietly with someone to ease their fears. It could involve arranging a smudge or a visit with a traditional healer, advocating to ensure care is culturally safe, or coordinating follow-up appointments — even attending those appointments alongside patients and taking notes so nothing gets missed.
Their work helps bridge the gap between Western and traditional medicine, and between busy hospital teams and the patients they serve. “We’ve been bedside nurses,” said Jenna. “We know how little time there can be to sit with patients. We have the privilege of focusing just on them—on their fears, their needs, their comfort.”
As Quinte Health continues to build a culture of caring and connection, Jenna and Brianne’s work is a powerful reminder of how important it is to create spaces where Indigenous patients feel safe, respected, and supported — and why partnerships like this matter so deeply in delivering compassionate, equitable care.
Read more: https://quintehealth.ca/news-story/nurses-for-the-soul-how-jenna-and-brianne-support-indigenous-patients/
Being admitted to the hospital can be overwhelming for anyone—but for Indigenous patients who may be far from home, family, and community, it can feel especially isolating. To ease that journey…
