Interview with Josephine Muxlow

Josephine’s Journey - From Trinidad to Halifax

to King Charles Medal.

I recently had the pleasure of interviewing one of our esteemed King Charles III
Coronation Award Winners: Josephine Muxlow RN, MS, CPMHN(C), FCAN

Josephine was nominated for this prestigious award by the Pan Canadian Association
of Nurses of African Descent for her outstanding contribution to Black nurses, and
her overall contribution to nursing, her community and Canada. She has dedicated
this award to her late parents John and Evelyn, her brother Winston, and husband
John who all had a profound and lasting impact on her life.

Where it all Began

Josephine didn’t always want to be a nurse. In fact, when she was a little girl, she
dreamed of becoming a teacher, “Yet I became a nurse,” she said with a laugh and a
smile.

Her love for learning started early. In school, English literature was her favourite
subject as she loved to read, and she was bright and eager to learn. Latin, on the
other hand, didn’t capture her imagination. It wasn’t that it was a tough language to
learn, it was just that she couldn’t envision the usefulness of it.

Unlike many of her peers who grew up in Canada, growing up in Trinidad, she and
her friends didn’t have part-time jobs growing up. “I’m from a culture where we didn’t
work while we were in school,” she explained. “We lived at home, went to primary
school, and then secondary school. Some people got married; others pursued their
careers. Our parents supported us until we were able to stand on our own.”

Although her first love was teaching, her first job was actually in nursing. By the time
she was old enough to look for a job, some of her peers were going to England to
become nurses, so she went where the opportunity took her. Her father, John Lionel
Sylvester, a native of Sauteurs, Grenada, believed in her so much that he took all his
savings of 365 TT Dollars to send her to study nursing in England. His goal was for
her to become Nurse Sylvester, so she “would not have to depend on no man for a
penny.” In the end, she was quite happy to discover that there was actually a lot of
teaching involved in nursing, so they were quite connected. It balanced out.

Family has always been at the centre of who she is. Her parents were the biggest
influence in her life because of their values, their beliefs, their sense of family and
community, and their sense of God. Her mother instilled in her to “Always do what is
right and pleasing in God’s sight.”

She described her parents as “the perfect couple,” whose example shaped her
understanding of love, integrity, and respect. Her handsome older brother also
played a significant role in her life. He was strict and no-nonsense, but brilliant and
articulate. All the kids in their community admired him as he’d give his time to help
them with their homework and correct their writing.

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The names her friends, family & coworkers use for her now and in her past, also tell
part of her story, too. As she said “My middle name is Letitica, but everyone back
home calls me Letty. My mother named me after a schoolteacher in her community
because she wanted me to become a teacher.” Later in life, she became known as
Mama Jo, a name given to her by nurses in the Black community. However, it's not a
nickname. As Josephine states, “In African culture it is disrespectful to call an elder
and most people older than you by their names. For Mama Jo, because of the
generational gap and wealth of knowledge inherent in her role and position in the
community, it would have been disrespectful to call her sister or aunty. So Mama Jo
confers the generational respect that is warranted for someone of her stature. It is a
sign of respect, endearment, and recognition of the maternal role within the African
community”. As for Momma Joe, some of her African Nova Scotian friends call her
by this name as a sign of respect and honour.

Her Global Journey

Josephine’s global journey has taken her across continents. From Trinidad and
Tobago to England, Halifax and Boston. She settled in Halifax in 1978 and went to
Boston 1992 -1993 to complete her graduate nursing degree. Each place has
shaped who she is today.

Being Trinidadian is her foundation. She grew up in a rich, vibrant culture where
everyone looked like her, from the prime minister to the chief justice etc., so she
never felt that she couldn’t succeed. Her parents instilled in her that she was bright,
beautiful, and capable. The sky was her limit.

Leaving Trinidad for England to pursue her nurse training was a life-changing event.
Being away from her family, friends and familiar surroundings was quite an
experience but the top-notch training she received there made it more than
worthwhile and gave her a solid foundation because the tasks they performed during
their training were very advanced.

Reminiscing about those early years in England also brought up a lot of fond
memories and some were of her nursing experience in midwifery. When asked if she
ever watched and could relate to the tv show “Call the Midwife”, it brought her right
back to her days as a midwife when she would hop on her bike to go to a home
delivery, postnatal mother and baby checkups or visit her patients.

It was here in England, while practicing as a state registered nurse, that her passion
for mental health emerged. Even though she really wanted to specialize in mental
health nursing, the training was 18 months, and she didn’t want to be away from her
family for that long, so she chose midwifery instead. Yet she still found her way back
to mental health later on.

When she came to Canada, she soon realized that further education was the key to
advancing her career. As a Black woman, she knew she needed higher education to
do the type of meaningful work she wanted to do. “Education was my passport.”
That desire and drive took her to Dalhousie University for her Post RN
Baccalaureate, and then to Boston College to earn her Master of Science in

Psychiatric/Mental Health. Her experience in Boston was incredible. The professors
were so down to earth and inspiring which was so different from what she’d known
before. They saw her potential and encouraged her.

A Lifetime of Advocacy and Excellence

Josephine’s career spans four decades of leadership, mentorship, and reform. Her
success in nursing, mental health and health equity are due to her fierce passion and
love for her work and her fellow nurses and students.

The work that she did to help reform correctional nursing and health services in Nova
Scotia Correctional Facilities, earned her the Registered Nurses Association of Nova
Scotia Client Advocacy Award, among many other recognitions. But what matters
most to her is her impact. Although it’s been hard work, she is proud of knowing that
this work has made a real difference.

A defining chapter in her career was her pioneering work as one of the first Clinical
Nurse Specialists (CNS) hired by Health Canada to support First Nation
communities.

She approached the role with humility and openness. Working closely with
Indigenous nurses, elders, and community leaders taught her invaluable lessons
about collaboration and respect. They were her teachers and her guides. The
challenge was to figure out how what she knew could compliment their beliefs and
values for the greater good. As a woman of African descent, she felt deep empathy
rooted in shared experiences of colonization and oppression. Even though she didn’t
live their exact experience, she knew what it was like to not be seen and
discriminated against. This shared understanding helped her approach the work with
humility, honesty, and authenticity.

Giving Back with Gratitude

Even in retirement, she remains in high demand. “Everybody wants a little piece of
her wisdom,” she says, which she is happy to share but she has learned how
important self-care is. Along with her faith which guides her from the moment she
wakes until the moment she lays her head on the pillow, she has implemented a type
of retreat into her life. As she said, “I put my golden circle of protection around me,
where I withdraw from the noise and replenish.”

This year, she decided to dedicate more time to herself which was a small but
significant shift. In her own words, with a smile on her face, “2025 will be the year of
to Jo Muxlow with love, not from Jo Muxlow with love,”.

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Full Circle

Reflecting on her journey, the honours she’s received carry deep symbolic meaning.
Being English-trained and coming from Trinidad which was under British rule and

then receiving the Medal from the very same system felt like coming full circle, like
the last piece of the puzzle. Everything she had done came together in that moment.
But for her, the recognition she received should be shared. It’s for all the nurses who
have endured hardship, who have sat on their seat of self-respect and who have
been fearless and looked for the good and the difference they could make despite
many challenges. As well, Josephine would also like to acknowledge the pivotal role
Oakley White (former Labour Room Midwifery Sister, Croydon, England who now
resides in Barbados) and Sheila Chin, (former Neonatal Unit Sister, Croydon,
England who now resides in Bermuda) played in shaping her nursing career as
mentors and role models during her pupil midwife training and their ongoing
friendship over the past 54 years.

Josephine hopes her story will inspire all young nurses, especially those of African
descent. “We can be successful, but we must have integrity, knowledge, skill, and
genuine care. We have to be kind and open to helping others thrive.”
As her mother would say:

“Be sure wherever you go, you don’t have to put a brown paper bag over your head
to go back.”

What she meant was that you should always live with integrity. Sit on your seat of
self-respect and make sure that when people talk about you, they remember
something good that you have done.

As we closed off the interview, Jo said, “This journey and this award are not about
me. They’re about all the nurses who’ve had the courage to keep going, who didn’t
take ‘go away’ for an answer. It’s my gift, and I’m happy to share it. From my spirit to
your spirit, I’m sending you lots of positive energy for a wonderful day.”
I left the interview feeling in awe of Josephine and inspired to be the best version of
myself.

Thank you, Josephine, for your substantial contribution and consistent inspiration.

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