This ethnographic study explored the experiences of six Aboriginal nursing students in a
nursing program with the hope of gaining understanding of such experiences. Four
important themes emerged from the analysis of the interviews with the Aboriginal
nursing students: (a) teaching about residential schools (the impact of colonization),
(b) the push and pull of family and culture, (c) tensions with the nursing program, and
(d) pressures to succeed. These themes revealed both the courage and tenacity of
Aboriginal students to succeed against their fears of failure, rejection from their
community, and rejection from the medical community. Nursing curricula need to be
prepared to incorporate the concept of cultural safety and determine whether the
dominant Euro-Canadian female nursing program requires that students give up their
Aboriginal identity and assimilate, which can perpetuate colonialism.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:uvic.ca/oai:dspace.library.uvic.ca:1828/1213 |
| Date | 01 October 2008 |
| Creators | Petrak, Heidi |
| Contributors | Banister, Elizabeth |
| Source Sets | University of Victoria |
| Language | English, English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Rights | Available to the World Wide Web |
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