A portion of a study designed to explore community health nurses’ (CHNs) perceptions of the concept of empowerment in their work with Australian Aboriginal clients is discussed in this article. The 12 study participants were identified through purposive convenience sampling. During this exploration, contentions regarding the concept of empowerment emerged, revealing the sociopolitical context of CHNs’ work with Aboriginal people that shaped their practice in crucial ways. These issues emerged from the participants’ discussions regarding the meaning of empowerment in their work with Aboriginal clients and the strategies for and challenges to working in empowering ways within the context of Aboriginal health. Selected components of Habermas’s works provided a useful framework to facilitate an understanding of the forces that underpin community health nursing practice.
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