Creative Practice

Lesley Salem AM combines nursing with art-making to provide culturally sensitive care 

Dani Neal, APNA Communications Manager

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APNA’s first Reflect Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP) represents our commitment to moving towards reconciliation with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. The RAP includes a newly commissioned artwork by Lesley Salem AM, telling the story of APNA and its members. Lesley is a nurse practitioner and thinks of her creative and nursing practices as complementary and inseparable.  

For APNA’s first Reflect RAP, we looked to commission a First Nations artist to create an artwork representing who we are as an organisation. This search for an artist involved a wish list. We especially hoped to find someone who was a practising nurse and, even better, an APNA member. We could tick every item off that list when we found Lesley Salem AM. 

Lesley is those things and more: a proud Wonnarua woman, a talented artist, an author, an advocate, a nurse practitioner and a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) for significant service to nursing and to Indigenous health. She brings every part of herself when caring for her patients, using her many years of clinical experience alongside her creative skills.  

Long before becoming a nurse, Lesley learned how to paint from her late father, Les Elvin, a Wonnarua Elder, an electrician, and Australia's National NAIDOC Artist of the Year in 2008.    

‘He is my inspiration, and I idolised him,’ Lesley says. ‘He taught me the iconography and symbolism of east coast Aboriginal art as well as Aboriginal art styles, carving and other forms of art.’  

Lesley almost followed in her father's footsteps in a second way, planning to study electrical engineering at university. She worked as a nurse to save money for her degree and soon realised it was a far more exciting career choice. 

‘I loved nursing from my first day at work,’ she says. ‘I was always a person to run towards complicated patient events. I love learning, and nursing has been an inspiration for my learning.’ 

Her early career saw her working in renal and transplant care, where she was encouraged to push her skills further. ‘I worked with a head of renal specialist who encouraged and taught nurses to “be more”.’ 

‘I was already working at an advanced level for years – doing apheresis, acute dialysis, transplant recovery – so becoming a nurse practitioner was about getting recognition for that work.’ 

Her career soon took her all over the country, often to very remote communities, including Doomadgee and Normanton in Queensland; Mornington Island in the Gulf of Carpentaria; and Ngukurr in southern Arnhem Land, Northern Territory. 

Lesley now works in northwest NSW: at Brewarrina for the Brewarrina Aboriginal Health Service and in Bourke for the Bourke Aboriginal Corporation Health Service. She always uses her art practice to help her settle into new communities.  

‘My love of art allows me to connect more easily with Aboriginal elders and Aboriginal artists or those interested in art and allows us to share knowledge.’ 

Lesley's art also serves as a useful icebreaker in her nursing practice, helping her clients feel more connected to health services. For example, she set up art sessions to bring together older members of one community. The ‘price’ of admission was a series of health checks, such as blood pressure and blood glucose levels.  

‘This was very successful socially, emotionally and allowed us to keep monitoring their health twice a month.’ 

In another program, Lesley used art to support a group experiencing grief.  

‘We targeted the art towards those who had passed, with the pieces painted or carved paying respect for each person lost,’ she says. ‘It's a gentle, culturally respectful way of holding space for healing and reflection.’  

How does she balance these creative, cultural approaches with evidence-based medicine? 

‘All patients must have a person-centred approach,’ she says. ‘If their belief lies with traditional healing, then it is my duty to ensure they can continue this safely while combining evidence-based practice. I strive to do this in every community I work in.’ 

Perhaps most importantly, Lesley says, art helps her to ground herself. 

‘It makes me appreciate the places I work at in a different way. It connects me to Country in every aspect – sight, sound, feel, appreciation.’   

‘That gives me balance in my life and destresses me, making it possible to work in harsh environments with genuine enthusiasm. This then makes it possible for me to want to keep learning and working, giving back to all those I care for.’ 

We asked Lesley to explain how her artwork represents APNA’s reconciliation story. 

The APNA Story, Lesley Salem AM 

The Australian Primary Health Care Nurses Association (APNA) is committed to reconciliation and truth telling. This is essential for Aboriginal and Torres Strait peoples and Nurses, as bringing in the past is a foundation from which we build. The past is a place of reference not residence. The past is a place of learning, not living. APNA is committed to truth telling as a way to foster respectful, meaningful relationships to build a way forward together.  

The homebase for APNA is in Melbourne, represented by the largest circle. The smaller circles represent the building of relationships across Australia in urban, rural and remote environments through APNA members. The circles represent inclusive, equitable work environments where the cultural diversity of Aboriginal and non- Aboriginal people is respected, valued, celebrated and becomes the learning environment.  

I have embedded APNA within an Aboriginal interpretation of a map of Australia. The map highlights love of country and connection. The flora of this country, which is a highlight of the painting, is a respectful tribute and celebration of traditional healing practices.  

This painting is a symbol of reconciliation for APNA. They are proud to be embedded in Aboriginal country. I have represented all people of all cultures, within APNA colours, representing inclusiveness. The gathering depicted in Melbourne represents the wisdom that every person contributes to APNA in their fight for nursing rights and in their ability to teach and learn from each other. Each member denoted surrounding the location circle are fully ‘armed’ with tools, message sticks, coolamon/food bowls, symbolising that they provide, hunt, gather, defend, and protect everyone. This is the work done by APNA; fighting for nurses’ and patients’ rights in an inclusive culturally respectful workplace.  

At the circle centre, an elder is teaching, truth telling, and sharing knowledge. This represents the openness of APNA to learn from Aboriginal nurses and peoples. Orange is often seen as a healing colour – the colour of land and what it can provide. So, the circles of APNA headquarters and those members across Australia have been depicted in this healing colour. There are lines linking everyone, showing the APNA network and support they provide.  

The map highlights the beauty of land features, rivers, riverbeds, minerals, oceans, coral reefs and flora of Australia. The flower of each state has been painted in as well, as well as our national flower: wattle.  

The use of symbolism in the painting has been used to highlight the great reconciliation work that APNA has begun. 

 

Lesley Salem AM (centre) with her friends and colleagues Rebecca Foster (left) and Fay Aplin (right) in Doomadgee in northwest Queensland.