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Indigenous Competency

Marie Baluyut

Licensed Practical Nurse, Okanagan College

Professional Communications 115

Lori Hilderbrant

February 12, 2022

Cultural Safety is a key component of your ongoing development in therapeutic relationships and
effective communication with patients and their families. In this assignment you will be required
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to complete the UVIC Cultural Safety Module 1 – People’s Experience of Colonization located
at http://web2.uvcs.uvic.ca/courses/csafety/mod1/ and respond to the 4 questions located under
“What Does this Mean to Practice”:

1. How did you feel after working through Module 1?

- I felt informed while working through the module and I also felt sad. Though, I always
think sympathizing or empathizing with them is not enough and less of what they deserve
. Therefore, with the information gained I could change and I could do something with of
course the consultant of indigenous people. Also, since the information is directly coming
from the indigenous community and how they feel it really makes it credible because if
it’s an issue regarding the community the only people that are allowed to teach or explain
the traumatic experiences the indegenous community has gone through are the
indegenous people themselves. Overall, my biggest takeaway after going through module
one is that I understand that the healthcare system needs to continue being culturally
aware and I have the ability to make changes and advocate for the indigenous community
with their consultant because their voices should not be overpowered if it is a matter
regarding their community. In the module, the indigenous community has expressed
disappointment regarding healthcare decisions surrounding the community as it was
mainly focused on other groups of people finding solutions for them instead of them
having the power to or having a say to the changes being made. Therefore, I will be an
advocate in a way that I am a follower and the indigenous people are the leaders when
making a decision to gain optimal well-being for their community.

2. List three ways that the idea of cultural safety could increase your understanding of
health care interactions

- In the future, I will be able to properly care for or make special considerations for
someone who feels strongly about their culture and values it .
- In the future, I will be aware of trauma from past or generational experiences a culture
may have which help build trust for the patient who may be having a health crisis from
the trauma.
- Overall, it provides information or knowledge to treat the patient holistically which the
nurse should always aim for because the definition of healthy is not merely the absence
of disease but the wellness of all the aspects in life of a patient.

3. Think of examples from your workplace in which you experienced, witnessed, or enacted
racism, ageism, sexism, or other power-over behaviors based on someone's perceived
difference. How did this make you feel?

- I have experienced or witnessed those things to some degree. My work place I would say
is diverse, there are a lot of people who came from different countries like me and also
people who just recently moved here therefore are still learning the language. We would
get frequent customers who would complain of not understanding the worker properly
and would say things such as “give me someone who speaks english”, the crew did not
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have perfect English but certainly could converse and convey messages but maybe just
slowly compared to other people. I do not know if that was completely racism but it
certainly a discrimination because it was not said in a respectful way. That wasn’t the
first time I have witnessed something like that. I understand where the customers are
coming from and the difficulties but I just wished they would have asked nicely and are
patient with people who are trying to learn a language that is foreign to them. That made
me feel really mad because based on their tone they just assumed that if a person does not
speak english they are not as well educated. Maybe I interpreted that the wrong way but
nonetheless it still made me furious because nobody deserves to be disrespected just
because they fail to speak a language they are trying to get used to fluently. I could not do
anything because I was also scared of them since they were much older and we always
followed the magical rule that customers were always right. I wish I could have stood up
for my coworker since I am one of the people that should know their feelings because I
was once the same. I have another experience but I am not sure if this category falls into
sexism or some form of microaggression. I was ask to clean the dining area and while I
was sweeping, a group of older white men complimented (which I eventually did not take
as a compliment) my cleaning and said something along the line of “since I was so good
at cleaning they should they take me home.” I do not know if they meant it in a bad way
which most likely not because I do understand the difference of generations so they may
not be as aware. Regardless, it still made me uncomfortable because I was thinking if a
man was doing my job would they say the same? Also there are some stereotypes (Again,
I am not sure if they meant it that way but It is hard for me not to assume since I have
seen or heard things like that outside of work) associated with my people regarding the
situation, and I did not feel okay being generalized. Again, I did not say anything because
I did not want to assume that meant it the bad way and I did not want to cause a scene
since they were much older. Of course, I wish I could have handled it differently but I
was young and powerless therefore I totally understood my old self for not doing
anything about it. Lastly, when we first started our store everyone was basically new and
learning so we were a bit slow which caused customers to complain. One guy complained
and mentioned that it was because everyone that was working was teenagers and put the
blame on the kids. Complaints from customers always made me feel mad because of how
unreasonable they are most of the time. This one especially angered me because even
though I understand the generation gap again they make it sound like all of the teenagers
are not doing their job properly invalidating those kids who are actually trying and value
their job because they need it. I feel like the comment was made on the assumption that
kids just work for fun even though some teenagers actually have to work for their needs
therefore it made me mad. I did not do anything ebause the manager handled it and
usually they’re the ones responsible for those types of customers. I was happy that the
managers did something about it because I knew that if I had done or said anything it
would still be invalidated because I was “young.”

4. What could you do in your practice to ensure that medical and/or nursing practices do not
re-traumatize persons with negative experiences of residential school or Indian hospitals?

- Making sure that we are very careful with the choice of words because it could be
triggering for them. Also, we have to understand and be patient if they are being
uncooperative since their experiences are valid reasons to have mistrusts against the
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healthcare industry. During their experience they were robbed of choices therefore I feel
like being open or giving them options as much as possible is important and could build
trust. In addition, every action that we would make should be consensual because they
may not be comfortable or be triggering with some of the care required. Again, learning
about the experiences and history they had surrounding residential schools and hospitals
is essential because it gives knowledge of what things we should avoid or words we
should avoid while caring for the patient. Lastly, listening to patient stories and wishes
are the most informative because it directly comes from them. An indigenous patient
telling a story is already a big thing for them because I cannot imagine how hard it is to
tell a traumatizing story therefore we should be careful with our body language and
should be actively listening as bad non-verbal communication may be seen as
invalidation of their trauma. Though, to add to that we should not force anyone to tell a
very traumatizing story and instead give them time to tell the story or information we
need when they're ready.

Aboriginal Self-Assessment - Cultural Safety – Learning about Diversity

Not Yet Culturally Safe Evidence (how you have met Advance
(areas the competencies) d (areas
that that go
need beyond
work) basics)

Inclusivity
a) Identify, acknowledge and analyze
one’s considered emotional response
to the many histories and
contemporary environment of First
Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples and
offer opinions respectfully.
b) Acknowledge and analyze the
limitations of one’s knowledge and
perspectives, and incorporate new
ways of seeing, valuing, and
understanding the health and health
practices of First Nations, Inuit and
Métis peoples.
c) Describe examples of ways to
respectfully engage with, and
contribute to First Nations, Inuit and
Métis communities as a prospective
care provider.
d) Demonstrate authentic, supportive
and inclusive behavior in all
exchanges with First Nations, Inuit
and Métis individuals, health care
workers, and communities.
e) Additional entries (as needed)
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a.) Feb 2 & 9, 2022
In 111, we learned a topic about
health disparities and diversity.
The first day of the unit we
spend the whole class
surrounding indigenous people
and their own list of health
disparities. We watched
multiple videos about
indeginous people. One video
was from scoop and they
interviewed multiple survivors
of the residential school. We
saw how hard it was for them to
tell their story. Some of the
survivors had to stop for
moments to suppress their
feelings cause some of the
things they experienced were
extremely traumatic. Also, the
module one included multiple
interviews from Indigenous
people regarding their
experiences in Residential
Schools and Hospitals. They
stated and emphasized how they
are robbed of basic human
rights and stripped of their
identity. This is helpful in the
future in terms of knowing to
carefully use words and ask
consent to avoid triggering
indigenous patients of their past
traumatic experiences.

Post colonial understanding
a) Describe the connection between
historical and current government
practices towards First Nations, Inuit
and Métis peoples.
b) Describe the resultant
intergenerational health outcomes,
and determinants of health that
impact First Nations, Inuit and Métis and how the new
clients, families, and communities.
c) Outline the concept of inequity of
access to health care/health
information for First Nations, Inuit
and Métis peoples and the factors that current history surrounding the
contribute to it.
d) Identify ways of readdressing
inequity of access to health
care/health information with First
Nations, Inuit and Métis clients,
families, and communities.
e) Articulate how the emotional,
physical, social and spiritual
determinants of health and well being indigenous communities
for First Nations, Inuit and Métis
peoples impact their health.
f) Additional entries (as needed)
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a.) February 2 & 9, 2022
Also in 111 and the same unit.
We had a whole presentation
about indigenous people and
their health disparities. The
powerpoint and discussion
included the timeline of the
laws associated with indigenous
people. It even highlighted how
old laws were harming them,
laws/government are trying to
restore that and be accountable
for them. The module one also
included information around
pre-colonial, colonial, and
Indigenous community. The
module did not only emphasize
the harmful reality of
colonialism and refermations of
the current generation but also
how rich the indegenous
people’s culture was during the
pre-colonial period. This is
helpful because it gives a
baseline of the importance of
being culturally aware around
knowing they were robbed of
basic human rights during the
colonial period.
c.) February 2, 2022
Also in 111 and the same unit.
In the same presentation we
talked about how the
indegenous community has
different health determinants of
health compared to other
demographics. Their health
determinants are more in depth
and are mainly surrounded by
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their past traumatic experiences

in the country since it really
made a big impact regarding
their well being in this
generation. This is helpful in
the future to properly create
interventions and take
considerations to the
determinants that led them to
access health care.

Respect

a) Understand that unique histories,

cultures, languages, and social
circumstances are manifested in the
diversity of First Nations, Inuit and
Métis peoples.

b) Understand that First Nations, Inuit

and Métis peoples will not access a
health care system when they do not
feel safe doing so and where
encountering the health care system
places them at risk for cultural harm.

c) Identify key principles in developing

collaborative and ethical
relationships.

d) Describe types of Aboriginal

healers/traditional medicine people
and health professionals working in
local First Nations, Inuit and/or Métis
communities.

e) Demonstrate how to appropriately

enquire whether First Nations, Inuit
or Métis clients are taking traditional
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herbs or medicines to treat their

ailment and how to integrate that
knowledge into their care.

f) Additional entries (as needed)

Indigenous Knowledge

a) Demonstrate ways to acknowledge

and value Indigenous knowledge with
respect to the health and wellness of
First Nations, Inuit and Métis clients,
families and communities.

b) Recognize the diversity, as a care

provider, of Indigenous health
knowledge and practices among First
Nations, Inuit and/or Métis clients,
families or communities.

c) Identify and describe the range of

healing and wellness practices,
traditional and non-traditional,
present in local First Nations, Inuit
and Métis communities.

d) Additional entries (as needed)

Communication

a) Identify the centrality of

communication in the provision of
culturally safe care, and engage in
culturally safe communication with
First Nations, Inuit and Métis clients,
families and communities.

b) Demonstrate the ability to establish a

positive therapeutic relationship with
First Nations, Inuit and Métis clients

and their families, characterized by
understanding, trust, respect, honesty
and empathy.
c) Identify specific populations that will
likely require the support of trained
interpreters; and demonstrate the
ability to utilize these services when
providing care to individuals, families
and communities.
d) Additional entries (as needed)
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C.) February 4 & 9, 2022
In 111 and 115 we talked about
cultural diversity. In both
classes I learned the importance
of interpreters or when
interpreters should be used.
Based on the discussion,
interpreters are preferred when
discussing health matters as
they are unbiased. We are also
informed about the population
that did not speak english which
made us better understand the
importance of having these
resources available as well as
teaching us to be patient when
communicating. This is helpful
in the future as it shows when
should a nurse ask for an
interpreter and the importance
or advantage of learning a
second language in caring for a
diverse community.
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References;

Introduction. Cultural Safety: Module One | People's Experiences of Colonization. (n.d.).

Retrieved February 11, 2022, from https://web2.uvcs.uvic.ca/courses/csafety/mod1/