a’s First Peoples. The discussion will also include the analysis of other cultures’ viewpoints and assumptions that may influence the capability of advocating for the First Peoples. This article will converse the dominant cultural paradigm relating to advocacy which may influence the nurse’s interaction with Australia’s First Peoples. Lastly, it will discuss the lessons learnt from undertaking critical reflection process and how this can be implied to the nursing profession.
The Australia’s First Peoples poor health outcome is the consequences of misunderstanding their health needs. The First Peoples lower life expectancy is 11.5 percent compared to non-indigenous Australian (Stoneham, Goodman, & Daube, 2014). The impact of colonisation and past policies made Australia’s First Peoples vulnerable members of the society especially in the health care setting (Durey, Thompson, & Wood, 2011). Patient advocacy is one of the standards nurses must be competent about. Advocacy means supporting the rights and best interest of the patient by assisting them with informed decision-making and protecting the patient’s right to autonomy (Cole, Wellard, & Mummery, 2014). The five key themes chosen to be discussed are Protection Act, assimilation, stolen generation, prejudice, and discrimination.
Protection Act was introduced in 1909, which gave the government to control Australia’s First Peoples with the intention of easing the process of extinction (Australians Together, n.d. a). The NSW Aborigines Protection Act excluded the First Peoples’ children from attending public schools with the white children. The government built separate schools for Australia’s First Peoples only and the children were being trained by unqualified wives of the reserve managers (Creative Spirits, 2015). This policy gave the Board the right to move the First Peoples out of town to stop them from associating with the white community. The Board relocated th...