Becoming a Registered Nurse

The Future Face of Nursing Profiles

Nursing in the Canadian Forces: Captain Odette Rioux

Captain Odette Rioux’s sense of humour and optimistic outlook served her well during a six-month tour of duty in Kandahar, Afghanistan. Blistering heat, blinding dust storms, winter downpours, and regular rocket assaults did not faze the 44-year-old francophone mother of two from Quebec City.

“I couldn’t have gone on a better mission. We were very busy with our patients” says Rioux, who trained many years for an opportunity to be deployed. Rioux was pleased to be part of a team of critical care nurses that worked in a four-bed intensive care unit in the small, crowded Canadian Forces’ medical facility in Kandahar.

Delighted to have made “a difference in the lives of people we treated and cared for,” Captain Rioux valued the “enriching experience” of being part of an international team of surgeons, nurses and medical technicians. Rioux acknowledges it was not always easy. “You have to have an open mind,” she advises. When speaking about her working relationship with colleagues from different countries, Rioux says “I made incredible friends and I’ll never forget my experience. The complexities of the multinational effort were worth it.”

Captain Rioux’s francophone roots are very important to her. She knew when she joined the Canadian Forces in 1987 that wherever she went there would be a francophone community. “I always knew I would have a sense of belonging,” she says.