In Our Own Right: Black Australian Nurses’ Stories

Abstract

IN OUR OWN RIGHT: BLACK AUSTRALIAN NURSES' STORIES Sally Goold and Kerrynne Uddle (eds) Maleny, Queensland: eContent Management 2005, PB, AUD 29.95 ISBN 0-9750436-3-3This was supposed to be a simple task: a book review for a journal. I was asked, I believe, because I share a small part of these stories. I was a nurse and a contemporary of some of these authors in the 1960s and early 70s. However, reading the stories I was struck by the enormity of the task. How can a non-Aboriginal Australian, who lives in the same world as these women and men, presume to comment on this book? The other challenge I face in my own academic work is a growing reluctance to reduce other people's experience through interpretation, and an increasing enthusiasm for the power of narrative or story. For stories to yield their power, however, requires they be situated. In this case the stories are 'situated' in a preface written by Sally Goold OAM who, probably more than any other single nurse, has done the most for Aboriginal nurses and nursing within the mainstream of the profession.The book is disturbing, as it should be. Twenty-three Indigenous Australian nurses from all over the Australian mainland, Tasmania and the Torres Strait tell their stories. Some are short, some longer, but all describe their triumph in becoming professional nurses. This is the joy of the book: hearing the voices of people who persevered and succeeded despite almost being buried in a mire of institutionalised racism and disadvantage. Filtered through the memories of the successful people the narrators have become, I suspect many more painful and humiliating moments remain hidden. These 23 are extraordinary people, whose attainments are remarkable, and measured in the number of awards and honours they share. Other characteristics they share include their capacity for, and acceptance of, leadership. This is expressed in work for their people, services they helped develop, and their role in the education and mentoring of others. However, the stories also illuminate why the proportion of Aboriginal professionals in Australia is so low, and the magnitude of persistence and determination required to deal with political, institutional, educational and attitudinal barriers.Key themes weave throughout the narratives. One compelling theme is the supportive family, friends and mentors who counteract the racist attitudes and hurtful comments of some of the non-Aboriginal staff and of patients with whom the narrators had to deal. The enormous pressure on the nurses to succeed, and prove themselves, and the strong discipline that was part of the culture of the profession and seen as 'character building', appears part of their success. Lowitja O'Donoghue had to have the shiniest shoes, the whitest uniform, and absolutely everything in its place'. Sally Goold as the first in her family to 'do something', felt she always had to 'walk the extra mile', while Carmen Parter reveals her 'need to work ten times harder than a non-Aboriginal person so as to gain the recognition and experience necessary to be successful in society'. Above all the stories are about the power of education and life-long learning to transform and make meaningful any person's life.Sally Goold's own story is included in the collection and demonstrates the courage and resilience necessary to succeed as an Aboriginal professional. She was supported by a loving and stable family, as were some of the other nurses who have contributed to this book. …