'In Cod we trust': Remembering Yellowknife ER nurse Martha Codner

People in Yellowknife, and across the Northwest Territories, are remembering a nurse who left a lasting imprint on colleagues, patients and the Stanton Territorial Hospital emergency room.

Martha Codner, known affectionately as "the Cod" or "the Codmother," worked as a nurse in Yellowknife for nearly 40 years, including 22 years in the Stanton ER.

Codner died earlier this month with pancreatic cancer. She was 67.

"Whether it was patients or whether it was the staff ourselves, she just brought a lot of light and a lot of wisdom to the emergency department," recalls Dr. Courtney Howard. "And I think we're all incredibly grateful for her presence with us for so many years."

Howard worked with Codner for 10 years, and said no one was better at helping people face difficult moments.

"She had an incredible ability to make people laugh," Howard said. "And to put them at ease. She knew what everybody needed, whether it was a hug or a joke."

Codner was also known for her incredible memory: able to rattle off phone numbers for various departments, or say with accuracy whether a patient visited the hospital the day previously without looking at any files.

The 'Cod scan'

Codner was also known for her "Cod scan" – where she would look a patient up and down and immediately know who they were, who their mother was and their medical history.

Howard recalls one particular example when Codner took one look at a patient who had walked in.

"She said, 'Hmm, that's so-and-so. His mother had paroxysmal supraventricular tachycardia  when she was about his age. He looks a bit short of breath. I wonder if he's got atrial fibrillation?' And I went in to see him a couple of minutes later.

"Sure enough, he was in atrial fibrillation," Howard said.

Codner also helped orient new staff to the North.

"People coming from the South who hadn't worked with residential school survivors — she was able to help people understand the stories that she had heard over the years and how those experiences would affect the way people would come into the [emergency unit] and how best we could treat them," Howard explained.

"I think we were incredibly lucky to have her with us for as long as we did."

'Strong, fierce, prideful mother'

Codner was born in Musquodoboit, N.S., the youngest of four siblings. She moved to Yellowknife after obtaining her nursing credentials in 1978. She took a job in hospital housekeeping before getting her first nursing job.

She married Patrick "Paddy" Codner in 1987 and had one daughter. In her obituary, Codner is remembered as a "strong, fierce, prideful mother."

Codner retired from Stanton in 2016. Speaking to CBC News at the time, she explained why she always prioritized making a connection with patients, especially the youngest ones.

"If you can alleviate the fear of a child, just by your presence, or you're caring, and comforting — that's a job done right there," she said.

"When you can make a difference and help somebody whether it be minute, or major. It's rewarding. You don't have to have a thank you. You just walk away and you say: 'A job well done.'"

The 'Codmother'

Nurse Jill Kendall worked with Codner for almost a decade before moving back to the East Coast.

She said Codner had a knack for knowing "everything and everyone."

"She was a nursing guru — knew all the old tricks that worked when the new tricks didn't," Kendall said. "She was a mentor to all; LPN's, RN's, students, clerks, residents and physicians."

Kendall said Codner had the "calming presence one would get from their own mother," and sometimes saw patients who would specifically ask for Codner.

"That's why she was the 'Codmother.' She took care of you and you trusted her."

Kendall said she has so many stories about Codner that "at the thought of them, can make me keel over in laughter."

And among friends, Codner's jokes were "salty," Kendall said.

"Her 'Martha-isms' were drenched in wit with a dash of inappropriateness that kept us all smiling and kept us going on the busiest shifts at Stanton," she said.

"She was a legend. In Cod, we trust."

A celebration of life takes place Saturday evening at the Yellowknife Multiplex DND Gym starting at 6:30 p.m.