Culturally Safe Nursing Research

Abstract

Cultural safety is a familiar concept used in nursing education, research, and practice. It is also an important concept in nursing research and is one way of providing safety for indigenous participants and researchers, but it raises several questions, for one, who is the most appropriate person or persons to work in partnership with indigenous participants in research? Furthermore, who is the most appropriate person to critique the academic research of an indigenous researcher? These questions are usually not considered when ethic committees review a researcher’s application for research approval or funding. This article defines cultural safety and the concern that indigenous students put aside their culture when they commit to study within an education steeped in Westernized thinking. It discusses the decolonization of research and the part that nonindigenous researchers play within an indigenous research project. This article also outlines the application of an indigenous methodology and method in a project that enabled participants and the researcher to develop a culturally safe process in the form of a metaphorical whanau (family). This was also reflected in the findings of the project when Maori students within a bachelor of nursing program formed whanau groups, which enabled them to succeed in their study.