Why Culturally Safe Nursing Practice

The health of Aboriginal people in Canada is both a tragedy and a crisis (Aboriginal Affairs and North Development Canada, 2010). Aboriginals have a higher rate of death among aboriginal babies, twice the national average, higher rate of Infectious diseases example gastrointestinal infections to tuberculosis, and chronic and degenerative diseases such as cancer and heart disease are affecting more aboriginal people than they once did (AANDC, 2010). Availability of important medical facility is not enough to accommodate the growing medical needs of Aboriginals. A socioeconomic and cultural issue also hinders the access of aboriginals to access health care in the community.

Nursing Council New Zealand (2011) defines cultural safety as the effective nursing of a person from another culture by a nurse who has undertaken a process of reflection and recognizes the impact of the nurses culture on own nursing. Irihapeti Ramsden (1946-2003) introduced the term ‘cultural safety’ into the education requirements of New Zealand nursing during the year 1990 (Wepa, 2012). As a result of this, Ramsden produced a document named Kawa Whakaruruhau. The document outlined concerns surrounding Maori health within New Zealand. In response to the publication of Kawa Whakaruruhau the Nursing Council of New Zealand amended, in 1990, the standards of nursing and curriculum assessment processes to include cultural safety (Wepa, 2012). Ramsden and Spoonley (1994) discuss that during the

As a people, our rate of chronic disease is still 2.5 times higher than that of other Australians, and Indigenous people in this country die 15 to 20 years younger than those in mainstream Australia. More than half of

It is well studied by health authorities that the current health statistics of the Indigenous population today are clearly reflected on their health status, due to the impacts of the colonisation process. The relating problems associated with this have resulted in destructive families and communities. It is unquestionable that Indigenous Australians were adapted to the environment in which people lived and had control on every feature of their life during the colonisation period. According to ‘The Deplorable State of Aboriginal Ill Health, Chapter 1’ (2014), studies that show that numerous infectious diseases; such as, smallpox and the flu, were not present in the pre-invasion period. It is also shown that lifestyle diseases such as high BP, diabetes and heart diseases were not known to exist.

Practicing cultural safety requires nurses to have undertaken personal reflection of their own cultural identity. This enables them to recognise the impact that their personal culture has on their professional practice (Cox & Taua, 2013). This personal reflection should allow the nurse to provide effective care to an individual or family from a different culture (Cox & Taua, 2013). In this essay I will reflect upon two of my own cultural groupings, discuss the concept of “other”, the relevance of cultural safety to nursing practice and how I might care for someone who is culturally different from myself.

“The status of Indigenous health in contemporary Australia is a result of historic factors as well as contemporary socio-economic issues” (Hampton & Toombs, 2013, p. 1).

Carson, B., Dunbar, T., Chenhall, R. D., & Bailie, R. (2007). Social determinants of Indigenous health. Allen & Unwin.

This paper will examine the healthcare of Indigenous Australian peoples compared to non-indigenous Australians. The life expectancy gaps between the two are a cause for alarm when statistics show Indigenous Australian peoples die on average 17 years earlier than non-indigenous Australians (Dick 2017). This paper will examine the social determinants of health to explore these factors and what interventions are in place to improve health status and life expectancy gaps for equality. The Federal Government has seen the implementation of the Northern Territory Intervention and the Closing the Gap Initiative. This essay will examine these two strategies and discuss the effectiveness of both policies. It will explain the differences, similarities and look at the success so far to

As health professionals, we must look beyond individual attributes of Indigenous Australians to gain a greater understanding and a possible explanation of why there are such high rates of ill health issues such as alcoholism, depression, abuse, shorter life expectancy and higher prevalence of diseases including diabetes, heart disease and obesity in our indigenous population. Looking at just the individual aspects and the biomedical health model, we don’t get the context of Aboriginal health. This is why we need to explore in further detail what events could have created such inequities in Aboriginal health. Other details that we should consider are the historical and cultural factors such as, ‘terra nullius’, dispossession and social

What might explain these statistics, or at least serve as correlations, are the determinants of health. If the reader is not familiar with the determinants of health, the World Health Organisation (WHO) provides an explanation of them. In essence, these health determinants are factors that have significant impact upon one’s health. The main determinants for health are: socioeconomic status, where the rich and upper classes tend to be healthier; education, where low education is linked to stress, lower self-esteem and poorer health choices; environment, where purer air, cleaner water, healthier workplaces and better housing contribute to being healthier; health services, where access to services and proper equipment all contribute to health; as well as gender, genetics, culture and social behaviour (WHO, 2016). As there are so health determinants, where essays can be written on one alone, it is not within the scope of this essay to critically analyse each determinant for Indigenous Australians. With this in mind, the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (2014) documents an extensive list of data for Indigenous health, most of which discusses issues which are out-of-scope for this analysis. What is relevant, however, is outlined next. Across the board, in 2011, the Indigenous population was younger than the non-Indigenous population due to high fertility and mortality rates with those

The inequalities in today’s indigenous communities are still strongly evident. Heard, Khoo & Birrell (2009), argued that while there has been an attempt in narrowing the gap between Indigenous and non Indigenous Australians, a barrier still exists in appropriate health care reaching indigenous people. The Indigenous people believe, health is more than the individual, it is

Despite this group only comprising a minor sector of the population, Indigenous Australians are predominately revealed in the healthcare system for adverse problems. An individual’s health and wellbeing will result from a multifaceted interaction between “biological, lifestyle, socioeconomic, societal and environmental factors” (AIHW, 2012). The interrelation of these determinants have acknowledged that the health status of the Indigenous Australians is poor compared to the remaining Australian population. The deprived health of Indigenous Australians and the overall social gradient in health within Australia are instigated by the imbalanced distribution of power, income, goods and services, the unequal access to healthcare and education and the imbalanced conditions of work and home life (Marmot, Freil, Bell, Houwelling & Taylor,

However, it is important to understand that not all patients have this mentality, but instead they view health through a cultural lens. A particular group of focus in Australia are our Indigenous communities. Who hold the belief that the health of an individual is dependent upon how well they commit to their obligation to society

Indigenous Australians have always had a disadvantage regarding their health when compared to non-Indigenous Australians. The inequality of health between the two does not have to be inevitable thanks to programs aiming to reduce ill health and injury among Indigenous Australians. There are many things that contribute to the difference in health status between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians. This essay will examine some of these reasons as well as current and former statistics of Indigenous health levels compared to non-Indigenous health, Aboriginal health before colonisation and possible solutions that are currently being used or are being invented to assist in reducing the health gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are not receiving adequate healthcare or access to hospitals in Australia. The Australian Bureau of Statistics found that only 20% of Aboriginal people who live in remote communities of more than 50 people have access to a doctor on a daily basis. Of these people, only 3% saw a doctor in their community once a month. There are more than 140 community healthcare services across Australia providing care to Aboriginal communities, however, less than 50% have medical coverage. (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2016).