My symbolic story: how have Australian cultural and political paradigms influenced you? by 김보미

bomikim497 — 2024-04-26 17:02:02 UTC

I acknowledge Australia has a history of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders being isolated and discriminated from the healthcare system (Cox, 2022). Medical institutions were established on the policy called White Australia, justifying discrimination and sustaining the socio-political reality of non-indigenous Australians' privilege (Mayes, 2020). Engaging myself in understanding the context of discrimination, I reminded the history of my country, South Korea which was colonized by Japanese Imperialism, and experienced ethnocide policy.

bomikim497 — 2024-04-26 17:02:46 UTC

When I watched the video interviewing an Aboriginal patient, he explained when having a conversation in healthcare services, he felt as if he lost the finishing rod while fishing (NSW Health, 2018). Another interviewee said Aboriginal people use different words to describe a state of health and identity. For example, they call spiritual well-being instead of mental health (NSW Health, 2018).

bomikim497 — 2024-04-26 17:03:07 UTC

As a nursing student, I paid attention to the difference in the meaning of the languages they use because communication is one of the most significant skills of a registered nurse. As referred to in the video, the primary reasons for hesitation to access healthcare services were misunderstanding and discrimination (NSW Health, 2018). Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have preserved their own culture such as a unique concept of self-image and community (NSW Health, 2018). However, the Australian healthcare system has been structured from the perspective of certain ethnic groups (Cox, 2022). In terms of the theory that language determines how people conceptualize the world, it is conceivable why a lot of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people couldn’t be provided with therapeutic connection by healthcare professionals because, even though people use the same English, people embed different meanings related to their cultural and political contexts.

bomikim497 — 2024-04-26 17:03:30 UTC

I remembered Ferdinand de Saussure, the structural linguist. He divided the word into signifier and signified. The signifier directs the text in itself such as a dog; on the contrary, the signified bears the image and concept like a four-legged canine. He asserted that the combination of signifier and signified is artificial, eventually suggesting the meaning of the word is just the consequence of choosing and combining processes.

bomikim497 — 2024-04-26 17:03:48 UTC

The healthcare professional in the video advised non-indigenous healthcare workers to be open to how much they don’t know about the different political and cultural contexts of each indigenous patient. When interacting with them, healthcare workers question the meaning (signified) of the discourse (signifier) concerning their culture, recognizing and comparing with healthcare workers' meaning (signified) of the discourse (signifier) at the same time. In a consequence of this interaction, healthcare professionals and an indigenous patient create the third alternative meaning (signified) of the discourse (signifier) with the newly generated perspective.

bomikim497 — 2024-04-26 17:04:05 UTC

The Australian culture and political context have affected my nursing identity of being ready to challenge what I have accepted unconsciously. Focused on the patient’s recovery and safety, I should be culturally competent in a way of constantly adjusting the meanings shared with patients and colleagues, reconstructing signs used in care following each patient's need.

References

bomikim497 — 2024-04-26 17:05:08 UTC

Cox, L., & Best, O. (2022). Clarifying Cultural Safety: its focus and intent in an Australian context. Contemporary Nurse : A Journal for the Australian Nursing Profession, 58(1), 71–81. https://doi.org/10.1080/10376178.2022.2051572

Mayes, C. (2020). White Medicine, White Ethics: On the Historical Formation of Racism in Australian Healthcare. Journal of Australian Studies, 44(3), 287–302. https://doi.org/10.1080/14443058.2020.1796754

NSW Health. (2018, December 13). Chapter 2: Working with Aboriginal People: Enhancing Clinical Practice in Mental Health Care [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eZgKosilzkE

Storey, J. (2006). Cultural Theory and Popular Culture. University of Georgia Press.

The Interpretation of Dreams by René Magritte (1935)

bomikim497 — 2024-04-26 17:36:44 UTC

Note: The horse is the door in this picture. From The Interpretation of Dreams, by René Magritte, 1935, MoMA (https://www.moma.org/audio/playlist/180/2390)

In the eyes of indigenous people, the language that I take for granted could symbolize different meanings.

Reference

René Magritte. (1935). La Clef des songes (The Interpretation of Dreams) [Photograph]. MoMA. https://www.moma.org/audio/playlist/180/2390