Bevel Up: Chapter 5 - Street Youth

Street nurses Caroline Brunt and Sarah Levine find a homeless mother and daughter under a truck. Becky is seriously ill from an injection-related infection and is withdrawing from heroin. Her daughter, Liz, is pregnant and using “rock” cocaine. The nurses struggle to find them housing for the night as they negotiate with Becky to get health care and address her need for drugs.

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Sarah Payne is the senior practice leader at the Fir Square Combined Care Unit with the BC Women’s Hospital. She describes an open-door harm-reduction philosophy where she and her colleagues advocate for providing support to keep mothers who use drugs and their babies together; she also discusses the effects of illicit drugs on babies.

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Street Nurse Liz James tries to stop Linda, who’s high on drugs, from falling into traffic. Liz offers to help Linda get into an emergency shelter. Linda tells Liz to go away.

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Street nurse Caroline Brunt reflects on the challenges she faces when working with pregnant women who use drugs, and the importance of not judging the mother.

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Street nurses Caroline Brunt and Janine Stevenson, nursing ethicist Paddy Rodney, and nursing-practice consultant Mary Adlersberg talk about the importance of learning and legitimizing nursing harm-reduction practices.

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The nurses meet Becky, give her a mouth pieces for a crack pipe, and chat about her pregnant daughter, Liz. Later, they meet Tracey in a hotel and discuss her upcoming test results.

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Natural helper Tina and peer outreach worker Earle Crow talk about how they bridge the gap between the street community and the nurses.

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Street nurse Liz James explains how to work with someone who’s in an unsafe situation but doesn’t want help.

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Nurse Elaine Jones and ethicist Paddy Rodney talk about the ethical questions involved in showing youth how to safely inject.

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Nursing-practice consultant Mary Adlersberg and nursing ethicist Paddy Rodney reflect on how the nurse incorporates teaching and health promotion while supporting safe injection.

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Street nurses Caroline Brunt and Liz James inject Lee, a sex worker, with an antibiotic for syphilis. They also call Lee’s boyfriend and arrange to test him as well.

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