LCO Clinic Director of Nursing Named LCO Ojibwe University Alumni of the Year

LCO Ojibwe University

Press Release

To top off a festive Alumni Gala evening, President Russell Swagger announced to the cheers of faculty, staff, and community members that Christian Clarquist ’14 was recognized as the 2024 Alumni of the Year. The award is based on recommendations from community members. It was one in a line of awards for which Dr. Steven Miszkiewicz, Christian’s previous supervisor at the Lac Courte Oreilles Community Health Center, recommended her.

“She has exceptional qualities of character like honesty, compassion, and loyalty,” Dr. Steven wrote in his recommendation of Christian. “I truly do not have words to describe her passion for healthcare. Christian was chosen as the nurse of the month in June 2023 for the entirety of Indian Health Services (IHS). She helped lead the clinic and therefore the community during and through the pandemic of a lifetime.”

LCO born and raised, Christian crossed paths with the University as early as high school. The University offered the LCO School the chance to let their high school students take higher level classes for credit at the University. When she was a high schooler, Christian made use of that offer.

However, when the time came to go to college, Christian enrolled at a big university. She did not know that such a move meant she had to face the pressure of navigating a new city and a new community, alone, within a depersonalized institution. Faced with such significant downsides, she ended up leaving that university and enrolling at LCOOU, her mother’s alma mater.

“The part I will always cherish about LCOOU is the great classes and teachers. The smaller classes really helped me feel like it was okay to talk to my instructors when I had questions. If I did not understand a concept in class, I was able to meet with them, and they would explain it in a different way that made sense,” Christian said.

She pursued an associate degree in nursing and graduated in 2014. Although she previously thought of pursuing a career in the military or becoming a police officer, pursuing a career in nursing turned out to be the right choice for her, as in 2021, she became the Lac Courte Oreilles Community Health Clinic Director of Nursing due to her exceptional nursing skills.

“I have been working on a big project of getting Sexual Assault Exams and Intimate partner Violence Exams done in clinic. Currently we have three Registered Nurses (RN) working to get certified as Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner—Adult (SANE-A) and one as Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner—Pediatric (SANE-P). We hope that offering these exams close to home will help eliminate the added trauma of having to travel to a bigger city for an exam of this nature,” Christian said.

This is only the beginning for Christian. She is also currently in school for a bachelor’s degree in health administration. Surely, an impressive career awaits her. We wish her all the best!

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