Date of Conferral

1-19-2026

Date of Award

January 2026

Degree

Ph.D.

School

Nursing

Advisor

Dr. Tresa Kaur

Abstract

There was limited knowledge of First Nations people’s experiences receiving nursing care to meet their wholistic health needs in Northern Ontario. The purpose of this qualitative interpretive description study, grounded in the two-eyed seeing framework and the Indigenous wholistic theory, was to explore First Nations people’s descriptions of receiving nursing care to meet their wholistic health needs in Northern Ontario. The study took place in the community of Fort William First Nation, a First Nations community in Northern Ontario. With approval from the Chief and Council of Fort William First Nation, semistructured interviews were conducted in person and on Zoom with Fort William First Nation participants alongside a local community knowledge holder. Data were analyzed using manual hands-on coding and thematic analysis. Three themes emerged: negative nursing experiences resulting in unmet needs, nursing practice and nursing education needing change, and a need to honor and integrate First Nation beliefs. Addressing racism, discrimination, and prejudice in nursing practice and nursing education is an urgent priority to promote positive social change. Future research that honors and integrates cultural beliefs and traditions into nursing care and nursing education may improve health outcomes and ensure nursing graduates can deliver culturally appropriate care to First Nation people’s that is free from racism and discrimination and honors their cultural beliefs.

Included in

Nursing Commons

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