Born and raised in Whitney Pier, Cape Breton, Yakimchuk became the first Black graduate of the Nova Scotia Hospital School of Nursing in 1954. She was also the first Black person to be elected president of the Registered Nurses Association of Nova Scotia, now called the Nova Scotia College of Nurses. Yakimchuk was remembered by loved ones Thursday not just for her groundbreaking nursing career, but her community activism, as well. Yakimchuk became the first Black graduate of the Nova Scotia Hospital School of Nursing in Dartmouth. (Kendrick Douglas)Yakimchuk faced racism at the beginning of her career when there were few Black nurses in Nova Scotia.

Source: CBC News April 16, 2021 00:22 UTC