Recognizing the Role of Cultural Safety in Supporting Indigenous Voices in an Intensive Care Unit

Abstract

Conceptual approaches such as cultural safety have developed in nursing to address issues of power and oppression, emerging from Indigenous knowledge and the pain of colonization. Cultural safety aims to improve the safety of individuals and families, recognizing the role of power and oppression in health care, to return power to the recipient of care. Purpose: This research was designed to study the perceptions of intensive care nurses and to identify the degree to which cultural safety was incorporated into their nursing practice. Methods: This is a secondary analysis of a single-country data set, extracted from a qualitative-descriptive multisite study. The data set contains individual, in-depth, qualitative interviews with registered nurses working in intensive care (N = 8). Reflexive deductive thematic analysis was used to generate findings. Conclusions: This study illustrated the use of cultural safety and the application of Treaty of Waitangi principles by intensive care nurses in New Zealand, demonstrating the integration of principles of equity, partnership, active protection, and options. The use of cultural safety is identified as a means by which Indigenous voices can be supported in health care.