Academic publisher Cambridge University Press has announced that it will publish Yatdjuligin: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Nursing and Midwifery Care.
This new textbook introduces students to the fundamentals of the healthcare of Indigenous Australians, from the perspective of both the patient and the professional. It also addresses the urgent need to educate non-Indigenous nursing and midwifery students about the health crisis facing Indigenous people.
Aboriginal Elder Ivy Molly Booth gifted the word Yatdjuligin to the authors to use as the title of this textbook. The word Yatdjuligin literally translates to 'talking in a good way'.
Written by a team of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander nursing and midwifery academics, and practising nurses, this book is designed for both non-Indigenous and Indigenous nurses, who will work with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander patients. The book includes chapters on the history of health service provision for Australian Indigenous people, gender, midwifery, community-controlled health services, remote area nursing, mental health and caring for Indigenous Elders, and features case studies and critical thinking questions. Until now, no textbook has been available to support the teaching and learning of nursing and midwifery students in this field.
The book's foreword is written by the Honourable Quentin Bryce AD CVO, former Governor General of Australia. Bryce describes Yatdjuligin as a text which highlights, indeed celebrates, the achievements and contributions of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander nurses and midwives working in so many fields of their profession.
Editors Dr Odette Best and Professor Bronwyn Fredericks are congratulated on 'their scholarship and leadership' and Bryce predicts that the book 'will be acclaimed by all who want to be part of the urgent task of closing the gap.'
This is one of the first of a number of new nursing and health textbooks to be published by Cambridge University Press in Australia.
