We Are IH: African roots pulled public health nurse into maternity field

February 29, 2024

Public health nurse Joanne Juras loves getting outdoors.

Name: Joanne Juras (she/her/hers)
Job Title: Public Health Nurse
Years of Service: 25
Worksite: Kamloops Public Health
Community: Kamloops
Ancestral Territory: Tk’emlups te Secwepemc
Favourite Quote / Advice to live by: “To see the world, things dangerous to come to, to see behind walls, draw closer, to find each other and to feel. That is the purpose of life.” ― James Thurber, The Secret Life of Walter Mitty

Joanne Juras grew up as far away from the B.C. Interior as one can imagine.

Born and raised in Sierra Leone until she was about six years old, Joanne lived in a town without running water. Her mom, an American, was a midwife who delivered babies, while her British father was a school teacher who made life interesting for the family at home.

“My dad, as a science teacher, collected a lot of animals. We had a pet monkey and all sorts of pets―armadillos, he brought in snakes. I remember all that stuff,” she says.

The family moved to Winnipeg when she was six and Joanne later moved to B.C. on her own.

In this Story…

Learn more about Joanne’s journey with IH

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Learn more about Joanne’s journey with IH

Joanne always thought she would follow in her dad's footsteps and become a teacher. Joanne instead chased after her mom’s career.

She’s a public health nurse with Interior Health in Kamloops with a specialty, like her mom, in maternity, providing breastfeeding guidance to expecting and new mothers.

“I spent many years as a camp counsellor and realized I’m probably not a great teacher,” she reflects. “But in nursing, you predominantly do teach, but it’s more one-on-one, so I really appreciate that more.”

Roots bring her into nursing

Her heart always calls her back to Africa. It’s why she’s pursued nursing to take her around the world to help people.

She’s returned to that part of the world, visiting Tanzania with a clinical team to work there with albinism about skin care. It’s estimated fewer than 10 per cent of people with albinism in Tanzania survive skin cancer before the age of 30.

Joanne has also been to South Africa, working with children whose parents had HIV-AIDS.

“That’s outside my own scope of practice, so looking at skin diseases and lesions, and diagnosing malaria, was very interesting, [but] certainly not something I do here,” she says.