Contemporary Indigenous Health and Wellbeing

This reflective essay aims at utilizing the Gibbs model of reflection to analyze the experiences of professional nurses and other healthcare providers, an encounter with Aboriginal and Torres Strait patients. The essay discusses the inequalities faced by Aboriginal and Torres Strait people in regards to their health and wellbeing, and the need for cultural assessments on patients to avoid misdiagnosis. The author also reflects on their personal experiences and how it has impacted their nursing practice.

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Contemporary Indigenous Health and Wellbeing
University
Author
31 August 2024
Professor’s name
Program of Study

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Contemporary Indigenous Health and Wellbeing
Introduction
Aboriginal and Torres Strait people have been facing inequalities in regards to their
health and wellbeing. Culturally inappropriate nature is one of the leading contributors to
such inequalities. Especially acquiring mainstream health services, thus discouraging them
from accessing quality healthcare (Mesman, van IJzendoorn, and Sagi-Schwarz, 2016).
Additionally, economic opportunities, social conditions as well as physical infrastructures are
other documented features related to the disadvantages experienced by Aboriginal and Torres
Strait people. During the phases of my education practices and undertakings, Gibb’s cycle
has encouraged me to contemplate.
Further, to review as well as analyse systematically on all the positive areas in my
nursing profession. Also, to check those that require improvement. This reflective practice
does not only focus on my study. In the different learning activities in class, they showed a
proper reflection of my previous assessment on the Reflection of Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Islander culture. My activities in class made me reflect on the values and beliefs concerning
the Aboriginal and Torres Islanders in Australia. They face discrimination which also
happens within the healthcare systems. I believe it is necessary to address and rectify these
challenges by describing and analyzing any underlying reasons. Therefore, this reflective
essay aims at utilizing the Gibbs model of reflection. Also, when it comes to the experiences
of professional nurses and other healthcare providers, an encounter with Aboriginal and
Torres Strait patients.
Reflection
Reflective practice lessons I learned during my classroom discussions and personal
research were informative. They prepared me to face the uncertainties found at the workplace
(Fejzic et al., 2016). The lessons also assisted in gaining the courage to do my nursing

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practice ethically as well as competently amid chaos found in most international healthcare
systems.
It is indeed a fact that I was curious about the aboriginal and Torres strait especially
their cultural practices, their values, beliefs, various languages, their Australian background
as well as their community as a whole. During my research, I got intrigued by the
preconceived myth when it comes to violence and discrimination, especially in children and
women. It was evident that both sexual and physical assaults against aboriginal and Torres
Strait women and children were not part of their cultural practices as a tradition. To my
realisation during my interactions with a few members of different communities, cases of
sexual and physical assaults against non-Aboriginal children are higher compared to
Aboriginal children and Torres Strait. I believe my first steps towards gaining new insights
into the nursing practice as well as creating awareness when it comes to reacting to practice
reaction were initiated by the reflective practices. Therefore, through my broad ranges of
factors and aspects, I aspire to make changes as I simultaneously learn the concerns affecting
the Aboriginal and Torres Islanders culture as well as the different challenges encountered by
professional nurses during their course of duty.
Based on factors such as agreements and misunderstandings, I was initially putting
more emphasis on the different ways of tackling tasks using the Gibbs model as I
simultaneously arrive at a reasonable conclusion. Which means, expressing one’s feelings, as
well as analyzing different processes in regards to the development of appropriate actions are
part of my preconceived ideas. Additionally, the most important aspect was beliefs when it
comes to conducting an effective reflective analysis which was one of the ways professional
nurses could start in planning their actions.
How the subject impacts the future of my nursing practice.

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Throughout my learning experience, I have experienced tremendous changes in my
nursing practice in terms of how I make my decisions as well as how my nursing quality
services have increased within the evidence-based and person-centred practice. Additionally,
recently, I acquired the graduate attributes that are applicable to the nursing practice. That is
professional identity, patient-centered care, professional competence, communication and
collaboration, indigenous proficiency, knowledge utilization, and translation (Cameron et al.,
2014). The attributes of a UTS graduate are significant when it comes to influencing my
practice positively when handling my patients (Fejzic and Barker, 2019). Since every patient
possesses their individual unique needs, I will be able to ensure that there are no
misconceptions about the cultural practices and beliefs of any patient. My experiences also
play a significant point in regards to the importance of having specialized person-centred care
that will be of immense assistance in the accommodation of individuals from diverse
backgrounds. Particularly, I am delighted to encounter the essential characters which include
effective collaborations, effective communication as well as respect towards different cultural
practices found in Australia.
Consequently, future engagements especially as registered professional in regards to
better communication skills, showing respect to different cultures will be affected by my
experiences and those of my classmates. However, according to the report provided by the
Code of conduct for nurses and Code of conduct for midwives (2018), using a collaborative
approach such the REM framework offers clear guidance towards the responses of different
individuals to the Australian indigenous as well as non-indigenous population. In support to
this statement, researchers such as McGloin (2015) and Power et al. (2016) mentioned that
reflection experiences for most nurses in practice and students prepares them for their future
roles as professional nurses during their development of principles of respect towards their
patients, engagements and the importance of interaction while assessing their condition. I

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believe that utilization of qualities and principles of REM have sufficiently equipped when it
comes to portraying authentic practices of culture and their daily routines of how they handle
their lives.
Therefore, I acknowledge that there is a need for people from different cultural
practices to feel the safety of the social as well as the structural factors regardless of their
background. This means that professional nurses and other healthcare providers in every
healthcare system should feel obliged to offer the care and support for the specific needs of
their patients especially those from aboriginal communities (Bassot, 2016).
Defining my experience
I had a simulation experience, where I proceeded as an RN. I paid a visit to a patient
during this period, who was a 60-year-old lady. Her name was Mary, and she was an
aboriginal woman who was suffering from type 2 diabetes. Though she was discharged for
home after several days, she has to visit the hospital for a daily dressing for her leg ulcer.
According to the information she provided, Mary has two working siblings, so they offer
assistance occasionally. Part of my simulation experience required me to interact with the
patient and her two siblings. As I was sitting on the opposite side, I subconsciously crossed
legs which is a perception that I seemed as if I was not completely ready to pay attention as
well as ill-mannered. Additionally, it was unacceptable to start interactions with negative
assumptions and a lot of biasness. However, as I continued with the interactions, I found
myself feeling remorse for Mary since I understood her struggles and difficult experiences.
According to research conducted by Henderson and Barker (2018), there are a lot of
misunderstandings as well as miscommunication within most healthcare systems in regards to
leg ulcer patients. From Mary’s case, it is evident that there is an increased need to conduct a
cultural assessment on patients to avoid misdiagnosis. Levett‐Jones (2016) mentioned
suggested that professional nurses should, therefore, use the ABCD model to help when it

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comes to conducting an evaluation on their attitudes, contexts as well as their decision-
making styles. It is evident from research conducted by Aithal, Shailashree, and Kumar
(2015) that the ABCD model boosts both the knowledge and understanding of professional
nurses and that of their patients as it simultaneously helps in avoiding negative assumptions
and biasness that tend to have adverse effects on the effectiveness of a nursing care.
Conclusion
It is evident from the reflective paper that my contemplative practices and
experiences, and those of my classmates played a substantial in defining my success in the
future as a professional nurse. Notably, the yearning activities that were significant aspects
throughout the learning process played a considerable role in my nursing career. From this
perspective, simulation practices prove to be necessary to not only my growth but to other
professional nurses. For example, nurses with negative assumptions and biasness when it
comes to the aboriginal communities have changed after the yearning activities and reflective
practices. Negative assumptions and biasness in most cases, tend to have adverse effects on
effective communication, relationships, as well as bonds between nurses and their patients.
Gibbs model, on the other hand, revealed that it is possible to avoid such problems if my
classmates and I would have implemented the ABCD model used by most advanced
healthcare systems for cultural assessments and the FEM framework used to promote
effective communication between professional nurses and their patients.

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References
Aithal, P.S., Shailashree, V. and Kumar, P.M., 2015. A new ABCD technique to analyse
business models & concepts.
Bassot, B., 2016. The reflective journal. Melbourne: Macmillan International Higher
Education.
Cameron, B.L., Plazas, M.D.P.C., Salas, A.S., Bearskin, R.L.B. and Hungler, K., 2014.
Understanding inequalities in access to health care services for Aboriginal people: a
call for nursing action. Advances in Nursing Science, 37(3), pp.E1-E16.
Code of conduct for nurses and Code of conduct for midwives. (2018) Nursing and
Midwifery Board of Australia, 1-3.
Fejzic, J., Barker, M., Hills, R. and Priddle, A., 2016. Communication capacity building
through pharmacy practice simulation. American journal of pharmaceutical
education, 80(2), p.28.
Fejzic, J. and Barker, M., 2019. Pharmacy practitioners’ lived experiences of culture in
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Henderson, S. and Barker, M., 2018. Developing nurses’ intercultural/intraprofessional
communication skills using the Excellence in Cultural Experiential Learning and
Leadership Social Interaction Maps. Journal of clinical nursing, 27(17-18), pp.3276-
3286.

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Levett‐Jones, T (2016). Cultural Competence and Patient Safety - “ABCD” for Cultural
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Mesman, J., van IJzendoorn, M.H. and Sagi-Schwarz, A., 2016. Cross-cultural patterns of
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McGloin, C., 2015. Australian Indigenous Short Film as a Pedagogical Device: Introducing
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Power, T., Virdun, C., Sherwood, J., Parker, N., Van Balen, J., Gray, J. and Jackson, D.,
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