A desire to break down language barriers in health care leads Maggie Yap, ‘23 BScN, to the field of nursing.
Shirley Wilfong-Pritchard - 7 June 2023
Maggie Yap
The call to a journey in nursing
Maggie Yap was always interested in pursuing a career in health care, but it was helping her family members navigate the health-care system that first persuaded her to study nursing.
“Before I entered nursing, I would often translate for my family members during medical events. I wanted to be in a position where I could mitigate the negative effects of language barriers and bring more positive experiences to the health-care setting,” says Yap, who speaks both Mandarin and Cantonese, and wants all patients to feel more comfortable and welcome within the health-care system.
Yap also wants to help reduce the use of medical jargon when speaking with patients, using easy-to-understand language instead. “As a patient, you already feel vulnerable. You already feel unwell because you’re sick. There’s already a power differential. So wouldn’t it be nice if someone met you where you’re at, to explain what’s happening in this unfamiliar environment?”
The path to a nursing career
Yap entered the University of Alberta’s nursing program in 2019, just months before the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. “It was very interesting, to have some labs at home, learning to put on my personal protective equipment and filming a video of myself,” says Yap. She regrets not having more in-person experiences on campus though, adding, “The nursing faculty did a great job addressing how COVID affected teaching, so there were online and in-class options as well.”
Some of the required courses were challenging at first, says Yap. “Anatomy, physiology and pathopharmacology were not easy, but they were also some of the coolest courses. The human body is complicated. Seeing something in a textbook may look a little different than seeing it in a person, especially since a lot of our textbooks show it in a specific ethnicity of people. But in real life, there are all types of ethnicities in people.”
A friendly and outgoing person who loves people, one of Yap’s favourite memories during her time at U of A was doing group project work. She enjoyed brainstorming with others in her group, making new friends, and learning about different aspects of nursing from multiple perspectives.
One of the projects that Yap worked on — along with a group of fellow nursing students and her leadership mentor — involved creating a presentation resource for nursing students and faculty to learn about the next generation National Council Licensure Examination (NCLEX-RN) — the internationally recognized entrance exam that all recent Alberta graduates need to take to become a registered nurse. It is now posted on e-class to help her peers and future nursing students understand more about the exam, what changes were made, and how to apply to become a graduate or registered nurse.
Help along the way
Yap is grateful to be the recipient of four awards: the Jason Lang Scholarship, the Faculty of Nursing Class of September 1970 Award, the Class of 1970 Nursing Student Award, and the Alice Thomas Award in Nursing.
Yap says she had great mentors, including many clinical instructors who taught her not only about nursing, but also how to be a good role model. “They were all so patient with me. They guided me and taught me how to think critically and remain calm in stressful situations,” she says. She also recalls a fellow nursing student whose motto was, “I may not be the smartest student, but I’ll be a good nurse.” Yap adapted that to words she lived by throughout her degree: “I may not be the smartest nursing student, but I’ll be the most compassionate nurse I can be. But in order to be compassionate I must be competent by being knowledgeable.”
Navigating with compassion
Yap worked as a part-time health-care aide and an undergraduate nurse during her degree. She did her preceptorship in the intensive care unit, where she discovered a love for working in critical care. She explains, “Because patients are sometimes intubated and/or sedated, they can’t really talk or advocate for themselves. I feel really strongly about advocating for others.” When she encounters a patient who is unable to speak for themselves, she draws on both her compassion and her knowledge to ask herself, “What does this person need right now?”
That sense of compassion extends to looking after those in her immediate circles. Yap likes to check in on staff and students. “It feels good because if you’re swamped and someone asks you how you are, you feel so much better because someone is caring for you.” She also takes time to look after herself through being physically active with badminton and improving her manual dexterity with embroidery, a hobby that helps calm the mind.
The journey continues
Yap appreciated the pinning ceremony this spring — a celebration to signify the end of this stage of her education and official initiation into the profession of nursing. Graduating with a bachelor of nursing degree this June, she’s looking forward to the “real world” but also admits she will miss being a student. “I’m both excited and unsure about the future, but more excited than anything.”
With a shortage of nurses in Alberta, Yap hopes to continue working in critical or emergency care, where there are so many interesting and diverse things to learn and she can continue to care for people. “I’ve always been impressed with nurses’ knowledge of health in different areas, while being so caring for strangers,” she says. “It has inspired me to want to care for others. Now, with my nursing education, I’ll be able to help more people, break down more barriers and make people have a better experience.”
A final word of advice from Yap to anyone thinking of entering the field of nursing: “Don’t be shy! Try your best even if it doesn’t work. Just try because you’ll learn so much. The more you learn, the more you want to learn. It opens doors for you.”
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