The Praxis editorial team has asked me to write about cultural safety over the last ten years. Having accepted the opportunity I have tried to thoughtfully review the growth of an indigenous New Zealand nursing and midwifery educational experience which has rapidly and often raggedly emerged from the New Zealand sociopolitical environment. 

This is a personal reflection based on the original vision for change in nursing education and service which I and many others have worked to achieve.  I have not intended this to be an academic paper but a gathering and presentation of ideas and personal conclusions. 

This essay is informed by relationships with Maori and non-Maori people who use nursing service, students, teachers and their institutions, and practitioners of nursing and midwifery.  Of critical importance has been the opportunity to work in the Department of Education from 1988 to 1992 and with the Nursing Council of New Zealand over the last ten years.  Continued