Paramedics’ understandings and perceptions of cultural safety and the provision of culturally safe care

Background: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples experience persistent disadvantage and health inequity in today’s society. It is widely accepted that this is resultant of Australia’s colonial history. Current literature suggests that an increase in culturally safe care may assist in bettering the health outcomes of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander recipients of care. Research in nursing has suggested that cultural safety is largely misunderstood, however, there is no research into paramedic understanding of this approach. Methods: A qualitative descriptive design was adopted for this pilot study. Semi-structured interviews were held with six paramedics from December 2022 – February 2023. Interviews were transcribed verbatim, and data was analysed using reflexive thematic analysis. Findings were then critiqued against the cultural safety framework and the democratic racism framework. Results: Data identified four major themes; characteristics of being culturally safe, approaches to clinical practice, inferiority stereotyping and education. Conclusions: Limited understanding of cultural safety was identified in participant voices. Participants did not display critical cultural reflection, and instead discourses within a democratic racism framework were present. This suggests that for this small qualitative study, paramedic practice is not underpinned by the principles of cultural safety, thus questioning the provision of culturally safe care.