Please note that content on this page is of a sensitive nature as it relates to colonialism, residential schools and trauma.
Mental Health Supports
- Hope for Wellness Helpline: 1-855-242-3310
- KUU-US Crisis Line Society
- MMIWG Health Support: 1-844-413-6649
- Residential School Crisis Line: 1-866-925-4419
NNPBC Statement on the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation
September 30, 2025
The National Day for Truth and Reconciliation on September 30 is a time to honour the Indigenous children taken from their families and forced into residential schools, many of whom never returned home. Residential schools were part of a broader system designed to erase Indigenous cultures, languages and identities. Survivors, along with their families and communities, continue to live with the deep and lasting impacts of these harms.
This day is about looking back and also moving forward. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Calls to Action ask all of us to learn about this history and recognize how colonialism and racism continue to affect Indigenous people today. These impacts are felt in many areas, including health and nursing.
The In Plain Sight report (2020) documented widespread Indigenous-specific racism in BC’s healthcare system and issued 24 recommendations including strengthening cultural safety education, increasing Indigenous leadership, improving accountability and centering Indigenous voices in system change. The report makes it clear that racism in health care is not isolated; it is systemic, ongoing and requires collective action from healthcare providers, organizations and governments alike.
Our Role as Nurses
For nurses and NPs, the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation is an opportunity to recommit to the values at the heart of our profession — listening with compassion, advocating for equity and providing person-centred care. We are also being challenged to grow: to deepen our understanding, reflect on our practice, build meaningful partnerships with Indigenous patients and communities and support the leadership of Indigenous nurses.
There are more than 75,000 nurses and nurse practitioners in British Columbia. Together, we have the power to help move truth and reconciliation forward in real and lasting ways.
The BCCNM Indigenous Cultural Safety, Cultural Humility, and Anti-Racism Practice Standard makes this responsibility clear: every nurse must provide culturally safe care and speak up when they witness Indigenous-specific racism. This is now a foundational requirement for safe and competent nursing practice across all designations and settings. Reconciliation calls us to go further and use our roles to rebuild relationships, restore trust and help shape a new way of supporting health and wellness in this province.
As the professional association for all nurses in the province, Nurses and Nurse Practitioners of BC shares these responsibilities. We continue to build our capacity to recognize and challenge racism, be a safe and meaningful home to Indigenous nurses, and support the broader profession in providing culturally safe, equitable care.
While the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation is a powerful moment to pause and reflect, reconciliation is not limited to one day. It’s ongoing work that takes humility and persistence. As nurses, we have the skills, the ethics and the collective strength to transform systems and make care safer and more equitable for Indigenous Peoples. This is our responsibility and our opportunity as a profession.
Learning Resources for Nurses and NPs
Events
- CNA’s Anti-Indigenous Racism Knowledge Sharing Event 2025, September 29, 2025, 12-4 pm ET
Courses
- FNHA’s Cultural Safety and Humility, First Nations Health Authority
- BCCNM Cultural Safety and Humility, British Columbia College of Nurses and Midwives
- San’yas Anti-Racism Indigenous Cultural Safety Training Program, PHSA Indigenous Health
- UBC 23 24 – Indigenous Cultural Safety Program, UBC Centre for Excellence in Indigenous Health
- Equipping for Equity Online Modules, EQUIP Health Care
- Indigenous cultural safety training program, BC Provincial Health Services Authority, Aboriginal Health
- Introduction to Indigenous Health, Fraser Health
- Seven Generations, Island Health
- PHSA - TCBC - Indigenous Gender Diversity: Creating Culturally Relevant and Gender-Affirming Services, PHSA, Trans Care BC
- Introduction to Health Equity, National Collaborating Centre for Determinants of Health
- Gender-Based Violence: We All Can Help, BC Women’s
Webinars
- Indigenous Cultural Safety Learning Series, PHSA, PHSA Indigenous Health, Southwest Ontario Aboriginal Health Access Centre
- Advancing Inclusive Research in Medicine: Anti-Racist and Decolonial Approaches, UBC Faculty of Medicine
- Indigenous Cultural Safety in Clinical Trials and Indigenous-led Health Research: Knowledge, Understandings, and Wisdom, Island Health Research Week 2025
- PHSA’s Strengthen Your Core! Domain 2: Cultural Safety and Humility, PHSA