Purpose. Indigenous Peoples are underrepresented in the health professions. This paper examines indigenous identity and the quality and nature of nursing work-life. The knowledge generated should enhance strategies to increase representation of indigenous peoples in nursing to reduce health inequities. Design. Community-based participatory research employing Grounded Theory as the method was the design for this study. Theoretical sampling and constant comparison guided the data collection and analysis, and a number of validation strategies including member checks were employed to ensure rigor of the research process. Sample. Twenty-two Aboriginal nurses in Atlantic Canada. Findings. Six major themes emerged from the study: Cultural Context of Work-life, Becoming a Nurse, Navigating Nursing, Race Racism and Nursing, Socio-Political Context of Aboriginal Nursing, and Way Forward. Race and racism in nursing and related subthemes are the focus of this paper. Implications. The experiences of Aboriginal nurses as described in this paper illuminate the need to understand the interplay of race and racism in the health care system. Our paper concludes with Aboriginal nurses’ suggestions for systemic change at various levels. 1. Introduction Aboriginal people are significantly underrepresented in the health care professions. While statistics indicate that Aboriginal peoples comprise 3.8% of the Canadian population [1], currently less than 1% of Canadian nurses identify as having Aboriginal ancestry [2]. The relationship between Aboriginal Peoples and Western healthcare developed within a specific context of colonization and centralization in which medical professionals saw it as their role to help Aboriginal peoples “negotiate civilization,” while ignoring the detrimental effects of interference [3]. The history of colonization has had a significant impact on the health of Aboriginal peoples. The inclusion of Aboriginal health care professionals in decisions affecting their lives would lead to more equitable decision making in the factors that influence Aboriginal health. This paper presents the findings of a recent study that explored the work-life experiences of Aboriginal nurses in the Atlantic Provinces with the goal of strengthening current nursing recruitment and retention efforts. This paper was carried out with the recognition that efforts to diversify the nursing workforce must include an examination of the experiences of Aboriginal nurses already working within the system. Specifically, the research examined the nature of being an Aboriginal person in
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