FSU indigenous nursing research center seminar to feature Aboriginal nursing expert

Odette Best, associate professor and Aboriginal health research coordinator in the School of Nursing and Midwifery at University of Southern Queensland, Australia
Odette Best, associate professor and Aboriginal health research coordinator in the School of Nursing and Midwifery at University of Southern Queensland, Australia

The Florida State University College of Nursing’s Center for Indigenous Nursing Research for Health Equity will present a seminar by an Australian registered nurse, researcher and historian of Aboriginal nurses and midwives.

Odette Best, associate professor and Aboriginal health research coordinator in the School of Nursing and Midwifery at University of Southern Queensland, Australia, is a Boonthamurra and Gorreng Gorreng woman through bloodlines and a Koomumberii woman through adoption.

Best will discuss “Training ‘The Natives’ as Nurses: So What Went Wrong? – An Australian Context.” The presentation will highlight the disconnection between the Colonial Nurses Association’s endeavor to train indigenous nurses in the colonies and the obstruction by the Australian government.

The seminar, which is free and open to the public, will take place at 1 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 19, in Room 006 of the Shores Building, 142 Collegiate Loop.

The seminar is part of the center’s effort to encourage collaboration and to develop cultural competency in researchers and health professionals who work with indigenous communities in Florida, nationally and worldwide. Seminars will feature internationally renowned speakers on topics relating to developing partnerships with indigenous peoples, communities, organizations and stakeholders worldwide.

Best served as a sexual health nurse in Aboriginal medical services and women’s prisons before entering academia.

During her career, Best received a Churchill Fellowship in 2002 and an International Council of Nursing Fellowship in 2009. She was awarded the 2015 Tertiary Teaching and Learning Award from the Australian Educational Publishing Awards for her textbook “Yatdjuligin: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Nursing and Midwifery Care.” She is committed to primary health care and passionate about uncovering the hidden histories of Aboriginal women and saving their stories from historical oblivion.