Key Terms

Active listening involves not only hearing words but also receiving, interpreting, and responding to the speaker. An active listener pays complete attention to the person speaking. They note the physical details of the speaker’s appearance, body language, expressions, etc., which play a crucial role in relaying the fullest meaning of the message.

Healthcare practitioners need to “listen” with all senses engaged in picking up on the non-verbal clues that will enable them to more accurately assess each patient or scenario they encounter in a given day. The nature of emergency or life-threatening situations can make it more challenging to engage every sense, yet such occasions present an even greater need to utilize active listening (LeaderStat, n.d.).

Cultural humility is a process of reflection to gain a deeper understanding of cultural differences to improve the way vulnerable groups are treated and researched. Cultural humility does not focus on competence or confidence and recognizes that the more you are exposed to cultures different from your own, the more you realize how much you don’t know about others. That is where humility comes in. Ideas of ethnocentrism and racism, where the underlying idea implies that the problem is due to the difference, are abandoned. Humility requires courage and flexibility. Strengths and challenges of individuals and groups are explored as well as the advantages and privileges of certain group membership (Indigenous Health Learning Lodge, 2021, pg. 3).

Understanding and recognizing the power dynamics within the health care practitioner – patient relationship that contribute to culturally unsafe health care services. Creating a space that has removed racism, discrimination, prejudice and negative bias in services and care creating a culturally safe space for Indigenous patients. When health care practitioners reflect upon their own beliefs, biases and knowledges this contributes to fostering trust and improving in the HCP-patient relationship and ultimately leads to more effective health care for Indigenous patients (Wilkinson, 2021).

Positioning knowledge of one racialized group as superior to another and passing judgement on what constitutes knowledge (Kitching et al, 2020, pg. 41).

Acceptance and internalization of an ideology of racial inferiority (Kitching et al, 2020, pg. 41).

When you explore an experience you have had to identify what happened, and what your role in this experience was – including your behaviour and thinking, and related emotions. This allows you to identify changes to your approach for similar future events. If reflective practice is performed comprehensively and honestly, it will lead to improved performance (Barradell et al., 2024).

Sitting in silence/Compassionate silence: Recognizing a spontaneous moment (or longer) of silence that has emerged in the conversation, often when the clinician and patient share a feeling or the clinician is actively generating a sense of compassion for the patient. These compassionate silences arise spontaneously from the clinician who has developed the mental capacities of stable attention, emotional balance, along with prosocial mental qualities, such as naturally arising empathy and compassion (Back, Bauer-Wu, Rushton, & Halifax, 2009).