Confronting the Cultural Challenge of the Whiteness of Nursing: Aboriginal Registered Nurses' Perspectives

Abstract This paper presents the findings of a study that interviewed Aboriginal nurses to explore their experiences of the whiteness of nursing. Despite concerted efforts to improve the health of Aboriginal Australians, it still remains equivalent to third world countries. One strategy identified to address this is to increase the participation rates of Aboriginal registered nurses within the Australian healthcare workforce. Presently Aboriginal nurses account for only a small percentage of the nursing workforce. While there has been research into the recruitment and retention strategies dedicated to improving the numbers of Aboriginal registered nurses, this paper focus on the experiences of Aboriginal registered nurses within Australia's mainstream healthcare system, where they are exposed and subjected on a daily basis to the 'whiteness of nursing.'