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In Canada, Indigenous peoples bear a greater burden of illness and suffer disproportionate health disparities compared to non-Indigenous people. Difficult access to healthcare services has contributed to this gap. In this article, we present findings from a dissemination grant aimed to engage Indigenous youth in popular theatre to explore inequities in access to health services for Indigenous people in a Western province in Canada. Following an Indigenous and action research approach, we undertook popular theatre as a means to disseminate our research findings. Popular theatre allows audience members to engage with a scene relevant to their own personal situation and to intervene during the performance to create multiple ways of critically understanding and reacting to a difficult situation. Using popular theatre was successful in generating discussion and engaging the community and healthcare professionals to discuss next steps to increasing access to healthcare services. Popular theatre and short dramas provide a venue for mirroring stigmatized care and expose racial biases in the delivery of care. The contributions of the students, their input, and their acting were to increase our awareness even more of the pervasiveness of the stigmatized care that Indigenous people experience.

This paper is the result of coming to know and better understand Indigenous nursing experience in First Nations, Inuit and Métis communities. Using an Indigenous research approach, I (first author) drew from the collective experience of four Indigenous nurse scholars and attended to the question of how Indigenous knowledge manifests itself in the practices of Indigenous nurses and how it can better serve individuals, families, and communities. This research framework centered on Indigenous principles, processes, and practical values as expressed in Indigenous nursing practice. The results were woven from key understandings and meanings of Indigeneity as a way of being. Central to this study was that Indigenous knowledge has always been fundamental to the ways that these Indigenous nurses have undertaken nursing practice, regardless of the systemic and historical barriers they faced in providing healthcare for Indigenous people. The results of this research demonstrated how Indigenous nurses consistently drew on their inherited Indigenous knowledge to deliver nursing care to Indigenous people. Their identity as Indigenous persons was integral to their identities as Indigenous nurses. Of significance is the personal and particular description of how these Indigenous nurse scholars developed their nursing approaches in relevance to how health and healthcare delivery must be integrated into healthcare systems as a pathway to reducing health disparities.

In Canada, diabetes is 3 to 5 times more common among Aboriginal people than in the general population. Women with a diagnosis of gestational diabetes mellitus have an increased risk of developing glucose intolerance later in life, with almost half developing type II diabetes within 15 years. A participatory action research study using a Two-Eyed Seeing approach was conducted. Conversational interviews with 9 Mi'kmaq women who experienced gestational diabetes mellitus and talking circles were held. Hermeneutic phenomenology was used for data analysis. Themes included life-altering experience; barriers limiting access to health care; social support during pregnancy; and feeling compelled to take action.

Indigenous women face many barriers to maternal care during pregnancy in Canada. A participatory study was conducted in two First Nations Communities in Nova Scotia, Canada to gain new knowledge about Mi’kmaw women’s experiences of living with gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM). Relational ethics helped guide this journey. In this paper we describe how Indigenous and Western approaches were used to understand Mi’kmaw women’s experiences with GDM. It was important to us that the research methodology facilitated building relationship and trust. This led to an openness and willingness of the women to express their concerns and offer ways to address GDM in their communities. The challenges of blending Indigenous approaches with Western research are also discussed in the paper. The foundational principles that were used during this research included: 1) Staying true to my word; 2) Mutual Trust; 3) Mutual Respect; 4) Being Flexible; 5) Being Non judgemental; 6) Working in partnership; 7) Taking time to explain; 8) Promoting autonomy; and 9) Genuine connectiveness. The findings revealed that the research assisted the Mi’kmaw women in understanding their experiences in new ways and helped to build capacity so that they could take action to improve their health, while sustaining their Mi’kmaw culture.

BACKGROUND In families where genetic testing for the breast cancer 1 and 2 genes (BRCA1/2) has not identified a deleterious mutation, the risk for hereditary breast cancer (HBC) can still be high when there is a strong family history. Little is known about how an awareness of risk for HBC impacts the everyday lives of unaffected women (no personal history for breast and/or ovarian cancer) in these families. OBJECTIVE The aim of this study is to explore how unaffected women, living in BRCA1/2-negative families, experience living with risk for HBC. METHODS van Manen's hermeneutic phenomenological approach guided this study. Unaffected at-risk women were recruited from a hereditary breast and ovarian cancer clinic in Western Canada. RESULTS Nine women participated in 20 open-ended conversations. Phenomenological reflection on the 4 life existentials (lived space, body, time, and relations) revealed "Moving In and Out of the What-Ifs" as an overarching description that was communicated through the following themes: "Just Moving Along: Living a Normal Life," "Moving Into Those Dark Spaces," "Is there Something Wrong With Me"? "Markings in Time," "Living in the Moment," "Being Cared For," and "Keeping Me Grounded." CONCLUSIONS The findings reveal how knowledge from predictive medicine impacts the lives of women and the importance of supportive relations and provides a foundation for future research into how health is perceived. IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE The findings inform the practices of healthcare professionals as they engage in discussions with women living with risk for HBC and highlight the importance of a supportive relationship.

We present findings from an Access Research Initiative to reduce health disparities and promote equitable access with Aboriginal peoples in Canada. We employed Indigenous, interpretive, and participatory research methodologies in partnership with Aboriginal people. Participants reported stories of bullying, fear, intimidation, and lack of cultural understanding. This research reveals the urgent need to enhance the delivery of culturally appropriate practices in emergency. As nurses, if we wish to affect equity of access, then attention is required to structural injustices that act as barriers to access such as addressing the stigma, stereotyping, and discrimination experienced by Aboriginal people in this study.

Understanding how a nurse acts in a particular situation reveals how nurses enact their ethics in day-to-day nursing. Our ethical frameworks assist us when we experience serious ethical dilemmas. Yet how a nurse responds in situations of daily practice is contingent upon all the presenting cues that build the current moment. In this article, we look at how a home care nurse responds to the ethical opening that arises when the nurse enters a person’s home. We discuss how the home presents the nurse with knowledge that informs the provision of ethical nursing care. The analysis is based on findings from an interpretive research study in palliative home care in Canada. Through interpretive analysis of a nursing situation we delineate how the nurse engages with the whole and acts inside the moment. The analysis shows how home care nurses are ethically determined to engage with whatever is going on in a patient’s home.

The aim of this study was to explore the experiences of Muslim Afghan refugee children living in Canada. War has an impact on a child's life, including education and protection by the family and community. The actual course of events of war can never be told completely due to the occurrence of simultaneous adversities. Hermeneutic photography was used to understand the experiences of Afghan children. Data were collected through photo conversations. Building and sustaining resilience was a theme that emerged from the data analysis. The findings of the study provide a useful guide for education, practice, and policy development to benefit Afghan refugee children and their families to overcome adversities in a new country.

Context Social and health inequalities are a reality around the world and one of the most important challenges in the current age. Nurse educators can respond to these challenges by incorporating curricular components to identify and intervene in social and health inequalities. Objective To examine how social and health inequalities have been addressed in the nursing curriculum. Design Informed by the work of Paulo Freire, a critical literature review was performed to examine how social and health inequalities have been addressed in the nursing curriculum. Data Sources and Review Methods In July 2015, we searched for articles published from 2000 to 2015 in ERIC, CINAHL, Web of Science, Scielo, MEDLINE and LILACS databases. Main search terms included “disparity” or “inequality” and “curriculum” and “nursing.” We included studies published in academic journals in English, Portuguese and Spanish. Results A total of 20 articles were included in this review. Most of the articles (15) were from the United States and described educational experiences in implementing courses in nursing undergraduate curricula. Limited experiences with graduate nursing education were identified. Social and health inequalities were approached in these articles through elements such as social justice, cultural competence, cultural safety, and advocacy. A concern to reduce social and health disparities was noted. We identified three major themes in the articles included in this review: 1) elements in the curricula that can contribute to reducing social and health inequalities; 2) educational and research strategies used to address the theme of inequalities; 3) a focus on socially vulnerable populations to increase awareness on social and health inequalities. Conclusion Findings suggest that nursing education initiatives align with the recommendations from the World Health Organization to address disparities. There is also a need to identify existing conceptual and practical content on inequalities in the nursing curriculum through future research.

Background Many approaches and efforts have been used to better understand chronic diseases worldwide. Yet, little is known about the meaning of living with chronic illness under the pressures of globalization and neoliberal ideologies. Through Freire's participatory educational method, this article presents an innovative approach to understanding the multiple dimensions of living with chronic illness. In this way, we hope to use an innovative approach to address the impact of globalization on the daily life of chronically ill people and thus expand to the body of knowledge on nursing. Purpose This article uses Freire's participatory educational method to understand the multiple dimensions of living with chronic illness. Methods This qualitative study follows an interpretive inquiry approach and uses a critical hermeneutic phenomenological method and critical research methodologies. Five participants were recruited for this participatory educational activity. Data collection methods included digitally recorded semistructured individual interviews and a Freire's participatory educational method session. Data analysis included a thematic analysis. Results Participants reported lacking adequate access to healthcare services because of insurance policies; a general perception that they were an unwanted burden on the healthcare system; and a general lack of government support, advocacy, and political interest. This research activity assisted participants to gain a new critical perspective about the condition of others with chronic diseases and thus provided an enlightening opportunity to learn about the illnesses and experiences of others and to realize that others experienced the same oppression from the healthcare system. Participants became agents of change within their own families and communities. Conclusions Chronic diseases cause many economic and social consequences in their victims. These findings urge us to move from merely acknowledging the difficulties of people who live with chronic illness in an age of globalization to taking the actions necessary to bring about healthcare, social, and political reform through a process of conscientization and mutual transformation.

In seeking for an understanding of ethical practices in health care situations, our challenge is always both to recognize and respond to the call of individuals in need. In attuning ourselves to the call of the vulnerable other an ethical moment arises. Asking ‘how are you?’ in health care practice is our very first possibility to learn how a particular person finds herself or himself in this particular situation. Here, ‘how are you?’ shows itself as an ethical question that opens up a relational space that calls forth a response. It is a way to understand the situated moments in which we are already that enables us to act respectfully. Our ethical frameworks assist us in trying to decide what is the right thing to do given a set of circumstances. Yet there is a prior step that already calls us to ethical attention; this is when we ask ‘how are you?’, which transforms a seemingly small interaction into an ethical moment. ‘How are you?’ is a question that turns us back to who we are as health care professionals and calls us to be more deeply attentive to the moment. When we sincerely ask ‘how are you?’ we enact our ethical commitments to one another.

The lived experience of people with long-term indwelling urethral catheters is described and interpreted. This hermeneutic (interpretive) phenomenologic study used Merleau-Ponty's philosophy and van Manen's methodology. Fourteen adults aged 35 to 95 years who had worn a catheter more than 4 months (range = 6 months to 18 years) comprised the purposive sample. Data were obtained through audiotaped and transcribed interviews conducted in the homes of participants. The study provided both meanings and practical knowledge related to the experience of catheter use. Despite its drawbacks, participants recognized the device's value in their daily lives and weighed its positive features against concerns associated with long-term use. Individual meanings included making aesthetic harmony with a new catheter, the convenience of the catheter compared with the inconvenience of incontinence, and the catheter as a symbol and reminder of one's mortality. Practical knowledge related to participants' awareness of their catheter needs and practices, such as features of supplies, intervals for changes, catheter insertions, emptying the urine bag, and changes associated with sex. Knowledge of the lived experience with a urinary catheter can assist nurses in sensitive decision making about care and help them become better patient advocates.

This hermeneutic-phenomenological study explores the lived experiences of patients on hemodialysis in regard to the adherence to treatment and quality of life. Fifteen patients were interviewed, including six women and nine men from three dialysis centers in Chile. Two main themes derived from the analysis: 1) embracing the disease and dialysis, and 2) preventing progression of the disease through treatment management. The findings suggest that patients recognize adherence to treatment and quality of life as conditions that derive from self-care and environmental conditions, which the healthcare provider must constantly assess for care planning to improve the adherence and quality of life in this population.

The aim of this article is to explore how a neoliberal-oriented health care system affects the experience of people living with chronic illness. We report findings from a critical hermeneutic phenomenological research study that explored how the social, economic, and political structures impinge on the lives of people with chronic illness. Research findings of this study show how the people with chronic illness in Colombia live through the effects and pressures of globalization and corporate agendas. Results also showed how the marked social inequities caused by the unequal distribution of power, services, and goods leads to health inequities and social exclusion of research participants.

The authors designed a participatory qualitative research study to develop a collaborative partnership between palliative care practitioners in Canada and in Chile. The research goal was to support the provision of palliative care in vulnerable settings through a participatory knowledge exchange process using qualitative and participatory methodologies. The study involved an interprofessional palliative care team from a primary health care centre in Chile and 5 adults receiving palliative care and their relatives. It also involved the participation of registered nurses and allied health professionals from a palliative home care team in Canada. Participatory knowledge exchange activities included teamwork with the primary health care team in Chile and a process of participatory knowledge exchange with palliative care clinicians in Chile and Canada. The study produced qualitative evidence on the efficacy of a process of participatory knowledge exchange with palliative care practitioners from 2 diverse settings.

Historically, comfort has been a quintessential aspect of nursing practice. Currently, it is questionable whether or not comfort remains an integral facet of nursing care. The increasing trend to focus on the technological and institutional aspects of patient care rather than the individual's response to illness and subsequent treatment is heard again and again from the growing vocal consumer movement. This study of comfort from a patient's viewpoint (a grounded theory) attempted to address both the current state of comfort care found within nursing practice and the patient's view of what constituted comfort while in hospital. The most significant finding was that comfort was not a passive process whereby the patients waited in hope of receiving comfort (i.e. such as someone to come and soothe their fevered brows). Comfort was found to be a dynamic process, with each patient actively engaged in increasing personal comfort levels. Indeed, the lack of comfort was found to be the stimulus for patients to embark on a process called 'integrative balancing'.

This pilot study looked at the provision of palliative care in the context of primary health care in a developing setting in Chile.The study aimed to delineate the experience of palliative care from the perspective of patients and health care professionals; to examine primary health care as a propitious milieu for palliative care in developing countries; and to generate opportunities for international collaboration between Chile and Canada.The study followed tenets of hermeneutic phenomenology and participatory research. Research activities included audio-taped, in-depth individual interviews and participant observation in the home.Patients expressed contentment with the services provided by the program. The support of family members, friends, neighbours, and the palliative team was critical to their home care. Health care professionals showed great enthusiasm for keeping the palliative care program going in the primary health care setting despite limited resources. They followed WHO and national guidelines for symptom relief and involved families in the care of the sick person.The provision of palliative care through primary health care increases access in developing countries.

International clinical practica are a strategy to integrate a global dimension in nursing curricula and achieve culturally sensitive nursing practice. In this paper, a review of the history and development of international practica for nursing students is presented, and research evaluating the effectiveness and impact of international experiences is analyzed. A description of experiences working with Canadian nursing students is used to highlight the challenges and opportunities inherent to international clinical practica. International student experiences involving clinical practica pose challenges that are additional to, and often more complex than, those faced in traditional international, course-based exchanges. The significant opportunities, however, continue to make international student practica a desirable and positive experience for Canadian nursing students.

While nursing practice embodies certain observable and sometimes habitual actions, much inheres in these actions that is not immediately discernible. Taking on Lyotard's exegesis of the unpresentable, I undertake an analysis of the unpresentable as it occurs in nursing practices. The unpresentable is a place of alterity often excluded from dominant discourses. Yet this very alterity is what practising nurses face day after day. Drawing from two nursing situations, one from a hermeneutic phenomenological study and the other from the literature, I elucidate the unpresentable from a nursing point of view. Evoking Lyotard as well as selected philosophers from the continental philosophical tradition, I also question whether nursing in its present discourse is capable of responding to the unpresentable in nursing situations. Through the philosophical stance of presentation and representation, I delineate the urgent need to bring the otherness of the unpresentable into our nursing discourse. Nurses in practice confront a wide array of human differences and diversities and come to the realization that no framework alone can ever really have primacy over the multiform presentations of human suffering that so strikingly evoke alterity.

Nursing education courses often require students to write about their learning experiences in a journal or a log book. Students write the journal/log and submit it to the instructor. The instructor reads, comments, and may or may not grade it. This paper is a reflection on the use and misuse of journals in nursing education from the viewpoints of students and instructors. Related literature is integrated into a dialogue with concepts that relate to nursing education. A theoretical framework, a format and guidelines for peer journals are presented, along with the rationale for having students keep peer journals rather than student/instructor logs.