Faculty of Nursing’s path toward Indigenization focuses on cultural safety, helping vulnerable populations – U Today
Indigenous Initiatives co-directors use Truth and Reconciliation Commission as springboard for change
When the Wellesley Institute study “First Peoples, Second Class Treatment” was released in 2015, it suggested that racism against Indigenous people within Canada’s health care system was “pervasive” and a contributor to substandard health among native people in Canada. This was far from a surprise to Louise Baptiste, co-director, Indigenous initiatives with the Faculty of Nursing. As a member of the Samson Cree Nation and a nurse educator with the Indigenous Health Team for Alberta Health Services, she had first-hand experience with unconscious bias among health professionals.
“My role is to teach health care providers provincially about the history of Indigenous people in Canada and to help them understand the need for cultural safety training when working with Indigenous clients,” explains Baptiste, who has also taught Bow Valley College students on the Siksika Nation and worked for the Indigenous Health Team at Alberta Health Services. With her new role at UCalgary, Baptiste hopes to carry her mission further by helping answer the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s call to action for nursing schools.
