'DANMM that's good!': evaluating the feasibility and acceptability of the Deadly Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Nursing and Midwifery Mentoring (DANMM) Programme across rural, regional and metropolitan NSW-a collaborative study protocol.

INTRODUCTION: This paper will describe the research protocol for the Deadly Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Nursing and Midwifery Mentoring (DANMM) Project, which will determine the feasibility and acceptability of a cultural mentoring programme designed for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander nurses and midwives across five diverse local health districts in New South Wales, Australia. Government and health agencies highlight the importance of culturally appropriate and safe environments for Aboriginal people. Specifically, New South Wales Health prioritises workforce strategies that support Aboriginal people to enter and stay in the health workforce. However, retaining Aboriginal nurses and midwives remains challenging. The DANMM Project aligns with these local and state-wide health plans and strategies, addressing critical issues of workforce cultural safety and retention. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: A mixed-methods study design will be employed to assess feasibility, acceptability and preliminary efficacy of the DANMM Programme across five publicly funded local health districts in New South Wales, Australia. Adhering to cultural safety, a project cultural governance group will be formed. Quantitative outcome measures include the use of questionnaires (Nursing Workplace Satisfaction Questionnaire, Ganngaleh nga Yagaleh Cultural Safety assessment tool). Resource implications will be measured using the Organisational Commitment and Health Professional Program Readiness Assessment Compass. These will be triangulated with individual and group yarning circles to provide a holistic evaluation of the programme. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: The study has ethics approval: Aboriginal Health and Medical Research Council (#2054/23); New South Wales Health Human Research Committees (Greater Western Human Research Committee #2022/ETH01971, Murrumbidgee-site-specific approval, Sydney Local Health District-site-specific approval, Western Sydney Local Health District-site-specific approval and Mid North Coast-site-specific approval); and Charles Sturt University Human Research Committee (#2054/23). Findings will be disseminated through peer-reviewed articles, conferences and through roundtable discussions with key stakeholders.

Racially minoritized people's experiences of racism during COVID-19 in Australia: A qualitative study.

OBJECTIVE: Drawing from a broader study exploring how New South Wales community members from racially minoritized backgrounds experienced living through a pandemic, this paper reports specifically on experiences of racism during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. METHODS: Using an in-depth, qualitative interpretive approach, 11 semi-structured interviews and one focus group hosting three participants (n=14) were held via an online videoconferencing platform from September to December 2020. Inductive thematic analysis was undertaken using QRS NVivo as a data management tool. RESULTS: Racism was heightened during the pandemic and experienced in various ways by racially minoritized peoples in New South Wales. All participants in this research cited experiences of racism that impacted their wellbeing during COVID-19. These experiences are represented by the following four themes: experiencing racism is common; how racisms are experienced; increased fear of racism during COVID-19; and ways of coping with racisms. CONCLUSIONS: Racism was heightened during the pandemic and generated fear and anxiety that prevented racially minoritized peoples from participating in everyday life. IMPLICATIONS FOR PUBLIC HEALTH: Messaging from broader public platforms must be harnessed to stop the spread of moral panic so that during times of pandemic, public health strategies need only confirmation, not creation.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander nurses and midwives culturally safe mentoring programmes in Australia: A scoping review.

Objective/Aim: To examine the experiences of culturally safe mentoring programmes described by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander nurses and midwives in Australia.Design: A systematic scoping review.Data Sources: The following databases were accessed: CINAHL Plus with Full Text (EBSCO), EMCARE (Ovid), MEDLINE (Ovid), INFORMIT (Health Collection/Indigenous Collection) and SCOPUS. Support relating to key words and appropriate databases was provided by a university librarian.Review Methods: Search terms across databases were sourced from 1997-2021, identifying a total of 161 papers. Title/abstract searches were screened against the inclusion/exclusion criteria, resulting in 18 papers reaching full-text review. Of the 18 full-text papers reviewed, six were eligible for inclusion in the final review.Results/Findings: Culturally safe mentorship was a positive experience for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander nurses and midwives. Thematic discussion identified three key themes: Mentorship as a way forward, Culture in mentorship, and Cultural safety's role in mentorship.Discussion: Culturally safe mentoring has been a key recommendation in the nursing literature for over 20 years. There is limited knowledge on what constitutes an effective programme as mentoring programmes have not been empirically evaluated or reviewed.Conclusion: This review provides evidence that Cultural Safety and the exploration of culture impact culturally safe mentoring and can impact workforce cultural capability.Impact Statement: This review indicates that culturally safe mentoring has been a key recommendation in nursing literature for over 20 years. This review provides evidence that Cultural Safety and the exploration of culture impact culturally safe mentoring and can impact workforce cultural capability. However, there is limited knowledge of what constitutes an effective programme, as mentoring programmes have not been empirically evaluated or reviewed providing an opportunity for further research.Plain Language Summary: Little is known about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander nurses' and midwives' perspectives of culturally safe mentoring programmes in Australia. However, mentoring programme are seen as a key workforce retention strategy. This scoping review aims to explore and interpret Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander nurses' and midwives' perspectives of culturally safe mentoring programmes in Australia. This review concludes that mentoring programmes require content in Cultural Safety and that programmes need to be empirically evaluated.

Appraising community driven health research with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities: a scoping review using the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Quality Appraisal Tool.

Most research involving Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples has been conducted by non-Indigenous people and has not been a positive experience for many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. This scoping review maps approaches to health research involving Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and communities in Australia from the last two decades. A literature search found 198 papers, of which 34 studies met the inclusion criteria. The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Quality Appraisal Tool was then used to map the quality of the reported community driven research. The Quality Appraisal Tool privileges, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people's epistemologies and ethical research governance. The findings reported on strengths and identified areas for improvement in reporting community driven research.

Through scooping design this study sought to comprehensively map published community driven health research with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities in the past two decades. Using the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Quality Appraisal Tool the we were able to identify key strengths and areas for improvement that will guide researchers reporting on research focussed on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and communities.

Pandemic-related racial discrimination and its health impact among non-Indigenous racially minoritized peoples in high-income contexts: a systematic review.

This study aims to review articles reporting the perspectives and experiences of pandemic-related discrimination among racially minoritized peoples in high-income contexts. We searched online databases (Medline, EMBASE, PsycINFO, Web of Science, and ProQuest) for peer-reviewed articles published between January 2002 and October 2020. Eligible studies reported either quantitative or qualitative accounts of pandemic-related discrimination from the perspectives of racially minoritized peoples in high-income contexts. Two authors screened 30% of titles/abstracts, and all full-text articles. Each article included for extraction underwent a quality assessment by two reviewers. Data were extracted and categorized thematically using NVivo 12, followed by a secondary analysis informed by critical race theory. Of the 1289 articles screened, 16 articles from five countries met the inclusion criteria. Racial discrimination is heightened during pandemic periods, due to the social association of specific racial groups with pandemic diseases including COVID-19, SARS (Asian), H1N1 (Hispanic) and Ebola (African). Fear based responses to racially minoritized peoples during pandemic periods included verbal/physical abuse, hypersurveillance, and avoidance, often occurring in public spaces. Pandemic-related racism had subsequent impacts on mental health and health care accessibility. Various coping strategies, including community support, avoidance, and problem solving, were documented in response to racial discrimination. Racialized discrimination and violence is a serious threat to the health and wellbeing of racially minoritized peoples, particularly due to its increase during pandemic periods. Racism must be recognized as a public health issue, and efforts to address its increased impact in pandemic contexts should be made, including ensuring that adequate representation of racially minoritized groups is present in policy, planning, and implementation.

Undergraduate nursing students' course expectations, actual experiences, and associated satisfaction levels: A mixed methods survey.

BACKGROUND: Student satisfaction is related to experiences and expectations. It is challenging for educational administrators to deliver quality experiences without student expectation insight. Without this insight, student satisfaction is at risk. AIM: This study aims to develop a better understanding of the gaps that exist between student expectations and student experiences in a nursing program to inform and potentially improve student satisfaction in undergraduate nursing programs. METHODS: This research was a mixed methods survey undertaken at an Australian regional university. A total of 82 nursing students completed the survey, which contained open and closed questions addressing various domains of course experience. The questions were mostly categorical (respondents selected from predetermined ordinal options), with opportunities to elaborate on some questions. FINDINGS: The survey responses showed that flexibility in subject requirements, the helpfulness of academic/teaching staff (lecturers and tutors), and clarity of teacher communications correlated strongly with satisfaction in those respective areas. Expectation-experience discrepancy correlated strongly with satisfaction in these areas: support to navigate university systems, the timing of subject availability, the helpfulness of academic staff, and timetable suitability. The strongest predictor of students' overall satisfaction with their course was the extent to which they felt "supported to navigate university systems." CONCLUSION: The findings indicate that a better understanding of student course expectations can lead to better student satisfaction and, as such, educational administrators should work to innovate methods to discover and address student expectations.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Subjects in a Graduate Diploma of Midwifery: A pilot study.

Background: Australian Nursing and Midwifery Accreditation Council prescribes midwifery accreditation standards that support students' development in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health and cultural safety to be deemed practice ready. However, the impact of training programmes are not widely explored.Aim: This study aimed to assess the impact of a mandatory 8-week online subject focussed on the development of culturally safe practices among midwifery students.Methods: The Ganngaleh nga Yagaleh cultural safety assessment tool was used to collect online quantitative data from post graduate midwifery students at the commencement and completion of an online subject.Results: Through a purposive sample (n = 10) participant perceptions of culturally safe practices remained relatively unchanged, except for three items of the Ganngaleh nga Yagaleh cultural safety assessment tool.Discussion: Findings demonstrate that when post graduate midwifery students are exposed to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander perspectives of Australia's colonial history it impacts their sense of optimism, personal values and beliefs about the healthcare they will provide to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. However, midwifery students who self-identified as Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people, reported a decline in optimism when imagining a healthcare system free of racism.Conclusion: The subject did not impact on cultural safety scores. This may be due to prior learning of student midwives. Educators should consider building on prior knowledge in post graduate midwifery to ensure the content is contextualised to midwifery.

Learnings from a mentoring project to support Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander nurses and midwives to remain in the workforce.

Background: This article provides the findings of a research project which explored the experiences of participants in a mentoring programme designed to support Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander nurses and midwives in a rural health district.Aims: It seeks to understand how a mentoring programme achieved its aims and anticipated outcomes that would ultimately inform future Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander workforce support programmes.Design: The research project used a hermeneutic phenomenological philosophical framework to conduct Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people's methods of yarning, which engaged in conversation around key topics with participants, followed by the research team's analysis of yarns.Methods: A qualitative study utilising purposive sampling to select participants. Participants were drawn from those who had undertaken the cultural mentoring programme and could have been either mentors or mentees. Interviews were conducted once the 12-month mentoring programme had ceased.Results: The five main themes that were drawn from the data were cultural safety, motivations, relationships, learning and support.Conclusion: Participant experiences indicate that mentoring can be an avenue for providing appropriate clinical and cultural support and a safe space for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander nurses and midwives. They also show that identified support roles and Aboriginal-led projects can have larger impacts; fostering organisational connections and broader feelings of cultural respect amongst Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander staff beyond programme participation.

Exploring Nurses' Meaning and Experiences of Compassion: An International Online Survey Involving 15 Countries.

PURPOSE: In recent years, there has been much focus on compassion in nursing care, and concern has been raised in a number of reports and media stories regarding decreased compassion. The aim of this study was to explore similarities and differences in the understanding and demonstration of compassion in nursing practice across 15 countries. DESIGN: A total of 1,323 nurses from 15 countries responded to questions in relation to compassion, via an international online survey. RESULTS: The data revealed the impact of sociopolitical influences on perceptions of compassion, and the conscious and intentional nature of compassion. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: The study demonstrated shared understandings of the importance of compassion as well as some common perceptions of the attributes of compassionate care. The differences reported were not as significant as had been expected. IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: Further research is needed to explore the country and culture differences in the enactment of compassion.

Indigenous community participation: how does it relate to student centered learning and embrace primary health care philosophies?

The health and well-being of Indigenous Australians has been identified as a critical problem with high levels of chronic illness, morbidity and mortality compared to other Australian population groups. However, as health professionals we continue to discuss and theorise components of Indigenous health addressing issues in a piecemeal way. The concept of primary health care has been shown to have an independent effect on improving the health status of populations and having the ability to reduce health inequalities. Countries with well developed primary care systems have healthier populations and reduced health care costs (Macinko et al., 2003, p. 407). Primary health care combined with a community holistic approach and the defined use of student centered learning in Indigenous education has the potential to provide optimal health care and thus be an effective way to improve Indigenous Community health (McMurray, 2003, p. 296).