Indigenous Nurses

Welcome to the first two-part episode of “Mental Health Trailblazers: Psychiatric Nurses Speak Up,” where our host Indrias Kassaye will be connecting with two key guests to discuss essential aspects, important facts, and unknown surprises around Indigenous nurses.

Queued up first is Dr. John Lowe, a Professor and Joseph Blades Centennial Memorial Professorship Chair at The University of Texas at Austin School of Nursing. Dr. Lowe’s research career was launched from his doctoral dissertation “ Talking Circle Intervention” with a focus on the cultural values that contribute to Native American health and well-being.

In a conversation guided by the issue of substance use impacting Native Americans, you’ll hear how structural racism discrimination has impacted Native Americans, the effects of harmful or lacking data collection on these populations, and the importance of continuing cultural foundations to foster aspiration.

Experience powerful stories and tools of the Native American customs first-hand from Dr. Lowe and learn how his PhD course on socio-cultural influences takes a unique approach into this far-reaching topic and offers insights into changing the narrative for younger populations. Together, Dr. Lowe and our host voice their concerns preparing the next generations of Native American nurses as well as growing the number of Native American nurses through the ANA Minority Fellowship Program.

Rounding out the conversation, Indrias is then joined by Dr. Eugenia Millender, the Co-Founding Director and Associate Director of the Center for Population Sciences and Health Equity at Florida State University. The drive of her research program, and of her conversation, is to investigate ways to reduce mental health and substance use disparities related to stress and trauma among indigenous and vulnerable populations.

Sparked from an early passion inspired by a personal family member’s mental health journey, come along as Dr. Millender guides you on a journey through subjects such as potential parallels of mental and psychiatric problems within immigrant vs. indigenous communities, the dialogue of mental health across generations within communities, and the importance of as well as demand for mental health advocates despite economic or cultural inhibitors.

Learn from Dr. Millender how genetics impact mental health issues such as inherited trauma, how early stages of research in testing are leading to innovative progress, and how new cutting-edge programs are in-development for community-based services to inspire change as well as new connections for indigenous nursing students.

You don’t want to miss experiencing this rich conversation featuring multiple perspectives and insights into indigenous nurses and populations as a whole. To learn more about Dr. John Lowe, visit https://nursing.utexas.edu/faculty/john-lowe and to learn more about Dr. Eugenia Millender visit https://nursing.fsu.edu/people/eugenia-millender.