Reviews of In Our Own Right

Review by: Bryant, R(2005) "RCNA News" Nursing Review, November 2005, p.10.

RCNA representatives, including myself, have attended many functions in October. One that was particularly interesting was the launch of the book In Our Own Right - Black Australian Nurses' Stories. In her opening remarks at the launch in Canberra, Dr Sally Goold OAM FRCNA, co-editor of the book, said that she hoped the new book would help counter the racism and discrimination that is "alive and well" in Australia's health system. "To me and to the contributors it was very important that we let people know the stories of those nurses who had gone before, because they were the trailblazers, particularly many of those women had been excluded from nursing because of their Aboriginality," she said.

The stories are extremely personal as each author gives a frank account of barriers and discrimination encountered in their journey to achieve their goal of completing a nursing program and then rising above all of the negativity to make a significant contribution to the health of Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities. This book is a MUST for all nurses in Australia. At the very least we should examine our own attitudes and behaviours towards people who appear to be different from ourselves. Most especially this book should instill in us a fierce desire to do our part to eradicate discrimination of all forms against Indigenous Australians.

The Board of Directors and staff will be undertaking activities during November and December to review and revise the Strategic Plan for the College. This year an external facilitator will lead us through this exercise as we attempt to reflect on current programs, the environment in which we operate, and make decisions about how the College needs to expend energies to best position itself for the next three-year Strategic Plan cycle.

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