When Jan O’Fields graduated from high school at 17 and enrolled in nursing school, she quickly discovered she was too immature to be serious about it. Today O’Fields is a licensed practical nurse, working at the W. W. Hastings Indian Health Service facility in Tahlequah and is the recent recipient of the Licensed Practical Nurse of the Year Award for the Oklahoma Area Indian Health Service covering Oklahoma, Texas and Kansas. O’Fields was nominated for the award by her supervisor in recognition for her efforts to bring more cultural awareness into the facility, ensuring both staff and Cherokee-speaking patients were able to communicate, reducing fear during painful illnesses. In February she was also appointed to the Oklahoma Board of Nursing by Gov. Brad Henry. When Northeast Technology Center’s new East Campus opened near Kansas in the fall of 1996, she realized it was a chance to finally follow her dream and by 1997, she had graduated from the practical nursing program. O'Fields and Nancy Tanner RN. discuss patient care. “The nursing program helped me in different ways. I had worked as a nurses aide in my younger days, but there was a whole lot more to learn,” O’Fields said. “While at Northeast I was president of my class, where I learned some leadership skills and increased my self-esteem. That has helped me tremendously in my career.” That is why O’Fields is being named an Oklahoma CareerTech Champion, according to Dr. Phil Berkenbile, director of the state agency. “A CareerTech champion is defined as someone who is successful in a career today, attributing much of that success to their experience in a CareerTech program or student organization.” Upon graduation from the nursing program, O’Fields realized she had somehow missed a hospice rotation. When she later became involved with hospice and fell in love with it, she then realized that “God works in mysterious ways.” Her involvement in the cultural aspect of her health care service began in 1999 when she took a job at Hospice of the Cherokee in Tahlequah. While there, O’Fields arranged to have Cherokee language classes for the employees free of charge. She has gone through the hospital and made sure that each department has a list of translators that are available in the facility should any need arise. Serving on both the pain management committee and the comfort care team, O’Fields was instrumental in translating the Wong-Baker FACES Pain Rating Scale into Cherokee. The Wong-Baker FACES Pain Rating Scale was developed in 1981 by Donna Wong, a nurse consultant, and Connie Morain Baker, a child life specialist, who were working in the burn center at Hillcrest Medical Center in Tulsa. The scale features a set of six faces with varying expressions ranging from “no pain” to “the worst possible pain.” Each face is described in English and Cherokee with a Cherokee/English phonetic pronunciation guide. Frequently patients are children in a great deal of pain and, because of their young age, had difficulty communicating how they were feeling. O’Fields and Marilyn Cochran, the Cherokee language instructor at the hospital, realized the graphic scale had benefits for the elderly who also had difficulty communicating how they were feeling, both due to their age and the language barrier. “We had very few translators in our facility for the Cherokee Elder patients. They speak some English but frequently they just agree with anything you say and don’t really understand. I just wanted to make sure we could provide the best health care that we could for them.” “I had a patient who was full-blood Cherokee. I had heard that as a person dies, they go back to their native language, and that’s it,” O’Fields said. “I didn’t really believe it. Then, I saw it first-hand when I found I could no longer communicate with him, even though I am almost a full-blood.” The language in my family had pretty much been lost after my grandfather died. So, I had to rely on my patient’s family translating to me to tell me whether he needed anything or whether he was in pain. This was something that needed to be fixed, not only for the patients, but and for those of us who care for them. O'Fields Check the blood pressure of elderly patient Molly Pershica. Although not fluent in the native language, O’Fields now knows a lot more medical vocabulary and can understanding more than she can speak. “I can sing it,” she says with a smile. “I’ve always been able to do that, although I didn’t always know what I was singing, because I went to church with my grandfather as a child. The hard part about it is making your tongue hit the right positions. I could do that because I’d done it as a child.” “We are also working on a picture book to help any in-patients who may come in over night when there aren’t any translators available. The book is an‘I want’ book with pictures named in their native language so that they can communicate their needs,” O’Fields adds. Currently, O’Fields has her sights set on becoming a registered nurse. She and her supervisor are trying to get her a scholarship through the Indian Health Service. “My long term goal set while I was at Northeast was to become an RN,” said O’Fields. My short-term goal was to work for the Indian Health Service providing care for the Cherokee people. I have met one goal, and if I don’t get too old, I want to be an RN.” Samantha and Barbara O’Fields is a single parent with two daughters: Samantha, 21, and Barbara, 10. She also currently works for Carter Hospice in Tahlequah. In spite of her busy schedule, she has found time to go back to Northeast and speak to the present nursing class on the importance of culture in dealing with the elderly and on the topics of death and dying. “I feel a sense of accomplishment,” she says regarding her hospice work. “Sometimes the family members of a patient get a little scared or a little anxious and they call you. O’Fields recalls going out in the middle of the night simply because the family was scared and they didn’t know what to do anymore. “By the time I arrived they had called an ambulance to come. When she looked out the window to let me in that family member just sighed deeply and was just so glad that I was there. My patient, who was restless, was calmed as soon as she heard my voice. I sat and held her and spoke to her and comforted her. The ambulance left and I calmed the family. “There’s almost as much emotional care as there is physical care in dealing with the elderly," O’Fields said. “I like to be able to see that I have made a difference.” Related Link  Northeast Technology Center Cherokee Nation Culture Oklahoma Board of Nursing
	posted 6/14/2004	Story:Gary Fox Norteastern Technology Center

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