Rose Fraser smiles as she thinks back on a photo from her childhood.
“I’m standing by the Christmas tree in our house with a stethoscope, an apron and a nurses’ cap on,” she remembers. “I was about five or six years old.”
Rose had been inspired in her youth by a show called Julia, starring Diahann Carroll, the first American television series to star an African American woman.
“Julia was a nurse,” says Rose. “She had a son, she was managing life, and she was insightful and strong.”
Growing up in North Preston, Rose found inspiration close to home as well. Her Father was a World War 2 veteran who went on to be a municipal councillor. Rose’s Mother was executive director of the community’s daycare centre.
“They were helpers so that was modelled for me in my youth,” she says. “I learned that I needed to give back, and to help somebody else. That’s been my life’s ambition, I don’t know anything else but to do that.”
That career in health care began at the Cole Harbour Rehabilitation Centre, for people dealing with mental health challenges.
“A light went on for me, I need to go into nursing,” says Rose. “The profession has so many different facets to it, where you can really tap into all the gifts that you have and all that you’ve learned through the years.”
Rose Fraser has done just that in her nursing career. She worked at Camp Hill Hospital, and then in various units at Dartmouth General Hospital. She also took therapeutic training through the Maritime School of Social Work, and began counselling in addition to being a community health nurse at the North End Community Health Centre.
“That started me on a journey of wanting to see people,” she says. “It’s important to heal the wounds, to do the sutures, and manage the physical. But I wanted to understand people’s stories and life situations. It’s not only our physical, but some illnesses are triggered by our mental health status and what’s happening in our minds.”
During the pandemic, Rose was involved with the COVID Impact Team, which provided resources in the African Nova Scotian community. She helped with grocery boxes for people, conducted community COVID testing, and also provided online grief counselling.
“One woman I run into fairly often says that grief counselling saved her life,” says Rose. “I just feel like this is what I’m supposed to be doing, this is my calling.”
Which is why, even after her official “retirement” six years ago, Rose is still very busy, working with community groups through the Public Safety Office to help facilitate healing circles to people in the Preston Township.
“We have these sessions where we inform people about mental health concerns,” she says. “These sessions have provided insight and support for our community families. They are in a group setting where people can manage shared grief and trauma in a safe atmosphere.”
The Dartmouth General Hospital Foundation offers bursaries for African Nova Scotian and Black high school learners who are interested in a health-related field. The DGH Foundation Bursary to Support Healthcare Education in People of African Ancestry, presented by the J&W Murphy Foundation, recognizes one high school student with a renewable $8000 bursary. The DGH Foundation Healthcare Bursary for African Nova Scotia Students, recognizes one student from each of the six Dartmouth area high schools with a $2000 award.
Every year, the bursary program recognizes a different person of African Ancestry, to promote knowledge of Black excellence and Black history to Dartmouth General Hospital and to the community. The 2026 Honouree is Rose Fraser.
“I cried when I found out,” she says. “It brings me to tears even now. What it means to me is there is a way forward for so many people, to learn how to treat others, to learn how to be with others and be that link to wholeness. This just fills up my soul so much.”
