BCCNM is pleased to offer our support for the inaugural B.C. Indigenous Nurses Day on April 10, 2022. This is an opportunity for Indigenous nurses and their allies to come together and collaborate towards solutions to preserve the cultural integrity and traditional knowledge of Indigenous nurses.
We recognize that Indigenous nurses are courageously answering calls to action through their leadership in social justice and are the touchstone for transforming colonial systems in healthcare. We honour the tenacity, courage, commitment, and activism of Indigenous nurses and recognize their invaluable role in meeting the healthcare needs of Indigenous Peoples.
As a health profession regulator, our purpose is to protect the public by ensuring that nurses and midwives provide safe, competent, and ethical care. The
release of the
In Plain Sight report in late 2020 underscored the urgent need for all partners in the health-care system to take swift and decisive action to dismantle the systemic racism that has led to such poor health outcomes for First Nations, Métis and Inuit (Indigenous) Peoples. As part of this work, we have created an action plan,
BCCNM's Commitment: Constructive disruption to Indigenous-specific racism amongst B.C. Nurses and Midwives.
This plan reflects our commitment to enacting the recommendations put forth in the report and lays out a roadmap for BCCNM to become a culturally safe and culturally humble regulatory agency. It also reiterates our commitment to uphold the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, the 94 Calls to Action from the National Truth and Reconciliation Commission and the 231 calls to Justice from the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls.
We are also pleased to share that on Feb. 25, 2022, a new
Practice Standard for all nurses and midwives,
Indigenous Cultural Safety, Cultural Humility, and Anti-racism came into effect. This standard sets out expectations for nurses and midwives to provide culturally safe care.
Indigenous health professionals play a vital role as champions of Indigenous sovereignty in healthcare and in helping dismantle the ethnocentrism of the profession. We will take this journey together, knowing that recognizing racism in ourselves and others will not be comfortable or easy. We will be guided by Indigenous elders a nd professionals, the recommendations contained in the
In Plain Sight report, and by the legal and ethical requirements to provide respect, dignity and equitable health care for the Indigenous people of this province.