Australia needs more Indigenous nurses. This is widely recognised in both academic literature and government policy. In 2012, only 0.8 percent of the Australian nursing workforce was Indigenous (AIHW, 2012). In spite of the clear need, there is little discussion about how to successfully recruit, retain and graduate Indigenous nursing students. This paper describes a successful programme being implemented at the University of Southern Queensland (USQ). Between 2000 and 2012, USQ graduated 80 Indigenous nurses and midwives, at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels. In this paper, the authors outline the journey they undertook to develop the successful programme at USQ: The Indigenous nursing support model: Helping hands. They argue that four elements underpin success for Indigenous nursing students: The availability of Indigenous academics, Indigenous health content in the nursing curriculum, Indigenous-specific recruitment materials, and individual mentoring and nurturing of Indigenous students.

In Australia, the Indigenous health workforce is in urgent need of Indigenous health professionals with credible qualifications in higher education that they can draw upon when attempting to influence government policies and health strategies. One way that this can be addressed is by Indigenous health workers gaining a Bachelor of Nursing degree. This paper reports on a study that focused on the experiences of Indigenous health workers, and how they have met and overcome significant and specific challenges in higher education to become registered nurses. The active involvement of five Indigenous health worker participants is described and their experiences discussed in relation to cross-cultural awareness; financial, cultural, academic, family and peer support; stress factors; staying motivated; and the many and varied issues that impact on confidence levels. The paper provides a number of recommendations for improving the student support mechanisms for Indigenous health workers to overcome barriers to successfully participating in, and graduating from, higher education degree courses.

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This paper presents the findings of a study that interviewed Aboriginal nurses to explore their experiences of the whiteness of nursing. Despite concerted efforts to improve the health of Aboriginal Australians, it still remains equivalent to third world countries. One strategy identified to address this is to increase the participation rates of Aboriginal registered nurses within the Australian healthcare workforce. Presently Aboriginal nurses account for only a small percentage of the nursing workforce. While there has been research into the recruitment and retention strategies dedicated to improving the numbers of Aboriginal registered nurses, this paper focus on the experiences of Aboriginal registered nurses within Australia's mainstream healthcare system, where they are exposed and subjected on a daily basis to the 'whiteness of nursing.'

Australian healthcare system in view of today's burgeoning Indigenous health crisis. It is a foregone conclusion that Aboriginal nurses are the most suitable nurses to provide optimal cross cultural care for Aboriginal patients, due to having similar cultural backgrounds. The following paper will show how two Aboriginal registered nurses are optimistic about the possibilities of expanding the ranks of Aboriginal registered nurses through role modelling, and are channelling their research to achieve this with the aim of promoting better health outcomes for their people. A qualitative research approach has been used to examine the subjective human experience of the participants.