Cultural safety in New Zealand and the United States: looking at a way forward together

Cultural safety emerged in Aotearoa, New Zealand as a nursing response to bicultural interactions between indigenous Maori and other New Zealanders. The purpose of this research is to describe the meaning and experience of cultural safety as depicted by nurses in New Zealand and to illustrate the potential for this to inform U.S. nursing education and practice. This interpretive hermeneutic study explored cultural safety as described by 12 experienced nurses who were selected through snowball and purposive sampling. Audiotaped interviews were conducted after ethics approval. Interpretive analysis uncovered five themes that are described with data and paradigm cases. Cultural safety considers the perspective of the patient as the norm in contrast to the culture of health care. Understanding historical power differences and personal biases can help challenge victim-blaming responses by health care providers. Incorporating these understandings into reflective practice enhances the possibility of culturally safe learning for students and culturally safe care for patients.