Communication and Diversity in Healthcare: Culturally Safe and Respectful Nursing for Aboriginals in Australia

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Communication and diversity

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Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
Cultural Safety and respectful nursing for Aboriginals in Australia...............................................3
Patient experience with the healthcare system................................................................................4
Consequences of bias for culturally safe and respectful care..........................................................4
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................5
Reference List..................................................................................................................................6

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Introduction
According to Taylor and Guerin (2019), culturally safe and respectful practice is one of the most
important concepts for nurses and midwives where they are expected to engage with all people
as individuals in a culturally safe and respectful manner. As suggested by Dunn, et. al. (2017), in
Australia, the Aboriginals and Torres Strait Islander people are more likely to receive healthcare
services as they have poorer health conditions than other Australians. Australia is a wealthy
country and there is an unacceptable gap between mainstream Australian and Aboriginal and
Torres Strait Islander Peoples' health outcomes. Therefore, delivering culturally safe health
service is one mechanism that can address these bias and health disparities. According to Egenes
(2017), nursing is one of the noble professions as nurses and midwives have the responsibility to
provide care to their patients and deliver the best possible outcome. In Australia, the code of
conduct for nurses and midwives with regards to improving the health conditions of Aboriginals
majorly focuses on the behaviour of the nurses towards their patients. Since, delivering best
healthcare services is the prime focus of Australian healthcare system, it requires them to
develop culturally safe practices and services that accommodates the needs of different cultures.
However, investment in clinical education and professional development along with measures
for accountability will allow nurses and midwives to contribute to an unbiased, non-judgmental,
empathic and compassionate care to their patients.
Cultural Safety and respectful nursing for Aboriginals in Australia
According to Sutherland, Hindmarsh, Moran and Levesque (2017), the Aboriginals and Torres
Strait Islander people for a very long time have found health services unwelcoming and faced
unwanted situations from Healthcare providers. As opined by Taylor and Guerin (2019), the
concept of cultural safety came into existence in response to the poor health status of the first
persons. In this context, cultural safety involves nurses to examine their own beliefs, behaviors
and medical practices in ensuring safe practices for the patients. Many organizations have taken
it as a serious responsibility for building trust and cultural safety for Aboriginals and Torres
Strait Islander people. However, the gap between inequities in healthcare outcomes for
indigenous people can be bridged by improving the safety skills of service providers. Cultural
safety requires personal skills, cognition and a positive attitude while interacting with patients. It
requires nurses and midwives to understand the different cultural needs in order to provide them