Yolanda Talbert

Getting to Know NANMT Member,
Yolanda Talbert, RN, LMT

Hi, its me Yolanda, the Navajo RN, LMT of the great northwest! Just a note to tell you my latest news... I was getting a little frustrated about not finding any nurse massage positions openings in Alaska. Well, I got all dressed up a few days ago and marched myself down to the Alaska Native Medical Center and made an appointment to see their nursing director. While I was waiting, the women in her office had me provide them with some chair massage, they are so funny. I know most of them and have worked with them for years at ANMC. Anyway, I sat down with the Nursing Director and told of my desire to work with my Native people as a nurse massage therapist. I am an American Indian and am working to become certified as an Oncology Massage Therapist in order to provide services for Native People living with Cancer. I am interested in starting a program to provide massage therapy for the inpatients at ANMC especially for those living with cancer. She told me I have great goals and she wanted me to see a nurse at the Human Resources that just got a grant to bring palliative care to ANMC. If the nurse was not interested in my skills then I was to return back to her office and she'd help find another contact person interested in integrating complimentary medicine into the inpatient departments. Well, I got to speak to the nurse and she is the ANTHC Cancer Program Planning and Development Manager, she is to oversee this new grant for palliative care training for ANMC. They will provide an education program for all healthcare providers, including Alaskan village based workers, regional hospital and ANMC healthcare providers. They are funded to provide annual palliative care symposium to include national and international experts in palliative care. I get to be one of their guest speakers for the spring 2005 symposium on Oncology Massage Therapy field work. She is interested in hiring me to work with her in developing and training their health aides statewide in providing palliative care for the Alaska Natives living in the villages throughout Alaska. I am totally blown away...God has helped me find my dream job! I will tell you more as my position become available. Everything is just now at the beginning phase. In the meantime, I'm still working my registry nursing jobs, saving money for my April 2005 Oncology Massage Therapy Certification Program, course.
Hear from your later,
Yolanda

Update from 10/31/04: "Hey All: I am so excited, I got featured in a national nursing magazine called, 'Minority Nurse', the Fall, 2004 edition, listed in the Nurses' Station. The magazine front feature is 'Hispanic Men in Nursing'. My article is called, 'Been There, Done That'. The writer Michael C. Harris did a great job and it is a nice article about my adventures in the nursing field. I think you can obtain it on their website, Minority Nurse. Love Yolanda :)" http://www.minoritynurse.com/features/health/11-03-04a.html

from March 12, 2005:
"....My nursing registry agency has work assignments where I can use both my skills as a nurse and massage therapist. I sure would like to be able to provide massage therapy for palliative care or cancer support needs for our Native people. I am still trying to get my ideas for providing such a service for this population through our Native medical services. They already have a complimentary medicine department but it is only for acute injuries six months or less. Really nothing for those people living with cancer or in the dying process at home. I just got through talking with someone with the Native healthcare organization I have a nursing assignment with. Told him of my massage therapy ideas to incorporate into their home health department. He told me, he would like to have the home health nurse administrator and I for a meeting to discuss it in the near future. I hear he has a long history in home health and it is one of his projects to expand this area of services for the Native population.
And I hope something comes of our meeting. It is exciting to be apart of a new trend in nursing, the nurse massage therapist. I am so glad to be part of the NANMT organization where I can share my ideas with other nurse massage therapists. Hear from you soon, thanks, Yolanda"

January 2, 2006:
Hi all: Just wanted to share with you that I did get the volunteer position to work as a nurse massage therapist for the Alaska Native Medical Center, Oncology outpatient department. I was suppose to have started almost two weeks ago, but I have been down with the flu and cold infection! Can you believe this? I never get sick...just so happen I was doing some nursing unit duties last month and came down with the flu that developed into a cold then sinus infection, not to mention a urinary tract infection. Those precious Oncology patient don't need me hacking, coughing and sniffling around them, so I have been basically isolating myself from them and my close friends, contain that BUG is my philosophy. My husband has been surprisingly well, hum, wonder how he does it? My daughter and her step son, (my grandson Tubba) are visiting for New years in town from Tok. She said we are having all the record snow here in town and not where they live, it just gets down to -48, well I'm happy with our 20 degree snowy weather. I have been invited to do a 30 minute presentation for the Southcentral Foundation Traditional Healing program, this Thursday morning 01/04 about my services as a volunteer nurse massage therapist in providing Comfort-oriented massage therapy for Native people living with cancer and end-of-life. Kind of intimidating but its good to get out there and talk about what we offer in Oncology Massage Therapy to the public. I have also been invited to do a radioshow broadcast interview with Loren Dickson, Director for KNBA Native news program (90.3) about what I do in my work in Oncology Massage Therapy. One of my adopted Navajo sisters Bella McCabe is a gifted oral traditional storyteller, she is going to tell one of her stories I encouraged her to write about her personal experience about the dying process of a loved one and then learning the importance and healing of touch for end-of-life. We have been working to collaborate our experiences and ideas as massage therapist and traditional storytelling as a healing unit for our Native people living with cancer or having a chronic disease. I am so excited to have finally reach this point in my career of being a nurse massage therapist working with people living with cancer. I just wanted to let you all know I could not have done it by myself years ago when I wanted to use my massage skills for people living with cancer. I could visual the process through my medical training but just didn't know how to go about it. It really wasn't until I took the 20 hours 'Oncology Massage Therapy-Working with people living with cancer' course offered at UAA, where we got first introduced to Gayle's books and material through Jaime Elswick's class. It has taken two years, learning process through our Oncology Massage Program, interaction with fellow pod members, classmates and instructors to make this dream come true. I am also happy that Gayle found me a contact Hospice nurse massage therapist in Hawaii, to share through emails, my experiences working in this field. It has been refreshing to find someone that has had similar experiences in working with end-of-life and get feedback. So, as I start out a wonderful 2007, I am praying for better health, growing as an Oncology nurse massage therapist. I have ideas to work towards initating a program through the Native hospital here, of developing a 'Hospice Nurse Liaison' position one day in the future. It is what I am doing already in my nursing job but not as defined role position. I am still writing stories of my experiences working as a nurse massage therapist with end-of-life, to bring reflections in how powerful touch is for our patients/clients living with cancer. Thanks all, Yolanda

contact Yolanda at: Bigdogtlbrt1@aol.com

"I've learned just how powerful touch is."

Sisters at the NANAINA convention

Yolanda and her dogsled

Getting to Know NANMT Member, Yolanda Talbert, RN, LMT

Getting to Know NANMT Member,
Yolanda Talbert, RN, LMT