Charlotte jesty

View PDF. Save to Library Save. Create Alert Alert. Share This Paper. Background Citations. Figures and Topics from this paper. Citation Type. Has PDF. Publication Type. More Filters. Shifting the academic lens: Development of an interdisciplinary Indigenous health nursing course. In Canada, Truth and Reconciliation Commissions Calls to Action calls on nursing schools to requires in part, all students to take Aboriginal health issues inclusive of the history and legacy … Expand.

View 1 excerpt, cites background. Background: An Indigenous health workforce is urgently needed to provide culturally safe care to Indigenous people to help address poorer mortality and morbidity experienced by Indigenous Australians … Expand.

She elaborated:. Racism was a common thread in the stories of these nurses. The various manifestations of racism described by these nurses demonstrate the painful reality of everyday experiences of discrimination in nursing and the magnitude of this systemic issue. While some participants spoke of subtle racism, others spoke of blatant racism, and while some spoke of personal experiences of racism, others spoke of witnessing other Aboriginal people especially patients being discriminated against.

These everyday incidents of discrimination are rooted in systemic structures that perpetuate differential and culturally unsafe treatment of Aboriginal people.

Systemic racism is supported by policy action and inaction regarding persistently compromised health outcomes of people in positions of disadvantage [ 26 ]. Racism at the systemic level manifests in material conditions and in access to power, including differential access to health care services [ 27 ].

The many faces of racism highlighted in this paper reveal the insidious nature of the problem of race and racism in nursing. The nurses shared how being Aboriginal was important to them as they were able to inform coworkers about Aboriginal culture and advocated on behalf of Aboriginal patients in the hospital and the community. They also shared how being Aboriginal was advantageous and how they felt welcomed by Aboriginal patients in the hospitals and in Aboriginal communities.

Participants offered innovative ideas for improving the system including specific suggestions for enhancing the recruitment and retention of Aboriginal nurses, such as summer camps, mentoring, role modeling, and increasing awareness of nursing as a career to high school students.

An increase in the presence of Aboriginal nurses would create a greater support system and resources for Aboriginal nurses already working in hospitals and communities. The nurses in this study recommend that more Aboriginal nurses are needed in leadership positions to influence the policy and practices that affect Aboriginal Peoples. Currently only a few of the nurses in this study were in leadership positions.

Senior leadership in the health care system should take some responsibility in ensuring the development and advancement of Aboriginal nurses into leadership positions and as Aboriginal nursing faculty. The time has come to support, recruit, and retain nurses in leadership positions so they are involved in influencing policy that affect Aboriginal people. Recruitment and retention is not simply a matter of more Aboriginal nurses to provide direct care.

While the majority of the Atlantic Aboriginal nurses in this study took it upon themselves to educate others in the context of their work environment they stressed the need for education on cultural safety with a concerted effort both in the nursing education and in hospitals.

Nursing schools need to include cultural safety, conflict resolution, and negotiation skills in the curricula. The study data highlights important insights into sensitive issues such as racism and discrimination, which are traditionally areas of discomfort.

Nursing schools and workplace environments should have structures in place to address racism and promote diversity. These findings challenge nursing scholars to push the margins of nursing knowledge to explicate the complex social processes that influence human experience and consequently impact on health, especially the health of historically marginalized people. Some of their suggestions validate and reinforce current reports, research, and literature reviews on this topic.

The literature supports the relevance of narrowing the gap between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal health status by increasing involvement of Aboriginal Peoples in health delivery and policy-making [ 28 , 29 ], and in recruitment of Aboriginal students into nursing programs and activities [ 9 ], as many of the participants in this study advocated. A limitation to this study is that the majority of nurses participating in this study worked in the community as most of the Aboriginal nurses in the Atlantic Provinces are located in Aboriginal communities.

A national study focusing on Aboriginal nurses in a variety of positions and in a variety of health care settings may provide further insights. Also, perspectives from non-Aboriginal nurses may constitute a broader analysis of race and racism in nursing. This study provides some direction for improving the quality of work-life of Aboriginal nurses to advance the health and health care of Aboriginal Peoples.

In summary, this paper has provided some insight into the work-life experiences of Aboriginal nurses in Atlantic Canada, particularly with the understandings of race and racism in nursing, and how these have influenced their practice and decisions. Clearly, the nurses in this study have identified priorities for action to address the complex and systemic issues influencing the health and health services delivery for Aboriginal Peoples.

The nurses in this study are eager to be involved in the health care system to affect change that promotes equity. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License , which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Article of the Year Award: Outstanding research contributions of , as selected by our Chief Editors.

Read the winning articles. Adele Vukic , 1 Charlotte Jesty, 2 Sr. Academic Editor: C. Received 25 Mar Accepted 24 Apr Published 12 Jun Abstract Purpose. Introduction Aboriginal people are significantly underrepresented in the health care professions.

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Skip to search form Skip to main content You are currently offline. Some features of the site may not work correctly. Increasing representation is a promising strategy to narrow the gap in access to appropriate health care for Aboriginal peoples.

A critical examination of the experiences of Aboriginal nurses working within the system enhances knowledge for promoting increased representation. Save to Library Save. Create Alert Alert. Share This Paper. Methods Citations. Citation Type. Has PDF.