Photo: supplied by member Natalie
In October 2024, ANMF (Vic Branch) provided four First Nations members with grants of up to $5000 each to assist with the costs of attending the 2024 Congress of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Nurses and Midwives (CATSINaM) National Conference.
CATSINaM is the collective national voice of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander nurses and midwives, and works to improve the health outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. The 2024 conference, held in Fremantle/Walyalup, had the theme of Stand Stronger Together, which was keenly felt by enrolled nurse graduate Brooke.
‘I was the only Indigenous student in my cohort,’ she says, ‘and I did not meet any other Indigenous nurses on my placements. Attending such a celebration of Indigenous excellence, with a focus on the strength and power in Indigenous ways of knowing, being and doing – and how we are indeed stronger together – brought me to tears, not just from how moving the stories of the presenters were but also the displays of strength and struggle that were shown to us all.’
Learning from other First Nations nurses and midwives
Aboriginal clinical nurse educator Natalie likewise saw attending the conference as an opportunity ‘to strengthen and build partnerships with fellow First Nations nurses and midwives not only across Australia, but also worldwide’. She valued the chance to join with other Indigenous educators as part of the Leaders in Indigenous Nursing and Midwifery Education Network (LINMEN), and to network with, and learn from, colleagues in areas of nursing/midwifery that she does not normally engage in.
For Layla, it was equally a chance to learn from her Aboriginal nurse and midwife colleagues. ‘I am an Aboriginal nurse aspiring to become a mental health nurse,’ she says. ‘I work in a major hospital in Melbourne, and the majority of my colleagues are either white Australian or are international. Because of this, my opportunities to learn from other Aboriginal nurses are limited.’
Layla notes that ‘poor mental health affects everyone, but it especially impacts Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who experience intergenerational trauma and consistent poor health outcomes. I want to be able to provide culturally safe care to my kin, but I am unable to do that without learning from other Aboriginal people with experience,’ she says. ‘This conference was the perfect learning opportunity for me.’
Both Natalie and Brooke especially valued the chance to learn from Māori nurses and midwives about their successes and challenges. ‘The changes that are coming to the key standards of nursing in Aotearoa are some of the most exciting and aspirational concepts for true equity for First Peoples in healthcare,’ Brooke says.
‘It is very uplifting to see all they have been able to establish so far, including the barriers which they face,’ Natalie adds, ‘and also be able to discuss [similar] barriers for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander nurses and midwives.’
Layla, meanwhile, learned that while the Aboriginal nursing workforce is growing, Victoria’s Mental Health and Wellbeing Act 2022 ‘needs reform and improvement to provide culturally safe and competent care for Aboriginal people’ while also building culturally safe workplaces for nurses and midwives.
Cultural load, caring for mob and the impacts of colonisation
For Natalie, a key takeaway from the conference was ‘the importance of mob caring for mob and the impact that has on health outcomes’. This reinforced for her ‘the importance of the role I am doing to promote and mentor First Nations students through different stepping stones on their healthcare career journeys’.
Key themes that Brooke picked up on throughout the conference included how much cultural load there is on First Nations staff and consumers to educate others on culturally safe practice; the way the healthcare sector focuses on a deficit model – ‘what can we fix about our patients rather than celebrating the strengths they already have’ – and the importance of social justice to the nursing profession.
‘As nurses we touch the lives of all of our patients and should be inspired to generate change for them all,’ she says, also noting that ‘being a good ancestor is not just about making our past ancestors proud but the legacy we will leave for our future ancestors.’
All grant recipients would recommend future CATSINaM conferences to fellow ANMF members and colleagues. ‘I would recommend any and all nurses, especially non-Indigenous nurses, attend a CATSINaM conference in the future,’ says Brooke. ‘Listening to and uplifting First Nations voices is the only way we will achieve a workforce in which cultural understanding is as important as clinical knowledge.’
Layla agrees: ‘Aboriginal history, and colonisation, is not adequately taught in this country and most people do not have a good understanding of the ongoing impacts of colonisation so it is essential for all nurses and midwives to be aware of the impact of the health system on Aboriginal clients. Everyone needs to understand and value culturally safe care, and without sufficient education this cannot be achieved.’
Allies and mob must work together
Nurse immuniser T’Kea summed up the importance of all nurses and midwives attending continuing professional development events such as the CATSINaM conference: ‘Allies and mob working together to educate, listen and demonstrate understanding … and collaborate on the best way to apologise for the wrongdoings, but in a meaningful and impactful way: it is something that has stuck with me since the conference and I am honoured to have been a part of such a wonderful discussion.’
T’Kea also strongly encouraged other ANMF members to apply for grant and scholarship opportunities. Attending the conference wouldn’t have been financially viable for her without the grant. ‘I was so overjoyed at this opportunity, I actually cried,’ she said. ‘Without the scholarship, I would never have been able to have this incredible experience. So apply for those opportunities. You never know your luck!’
