Contributors – Rocedelynn Roan, Jacinda Willeto,
Atheina Tsinijinnie, Cristina Rivera Carpenter
We are honored to share the development of the K’é Nursing Model – A culturally grounded approach to care. This model is rooted in Navajo (Diné) philosophy and aligns nursing practice with Indigenous knowledge systems while honoring sacred relationships and healing practices.
Close your eyes for a moment.
It’s spring, about this time of year, the time of planting. You’ve turned over the earth and prepared it for planting. The earth smells rich and the sun waves lightly on your face, neck and arms. A soft breeze rustles through your clothes and hair. You aren’t alone, your family is there beside you.
You’re preparing to plant. Perhaps you have a prayer, a song, an intention. Perhaps, for you, as for us, planting itself is a ceremony. In your palms you hold life, small hard kernels of corn. These seeds will be planted with intention, a goal to sprout, to live, to thrive, and to sustain. These seeds hold knowledge. They are a living science, perfected over generations.
Imagine planting the seeds in the warm earth, watering them, speaking to them. Imagine them growing tall, taller than you or I, and thriving. See them growing strong, reaching towards the sky, leaves unfurling. These plants will produce corn pollen, to fertilize and to bless. We may collect this for ceremony and prayer. These plants will produce ears of corn: sustenance, sustainability, and sacredness. They will provide corn husks, protectors, to first hold the ears of corn, to wrap our food, to sew and cook with at a young woman’s puberty ceremony.
Open your eyes.
These seeds, and the plants that will grow from them, are nursing. The corn plant stretching upwards is the living conceptualization of the K’e Nursing Model. The rich earth that nourishes these plants is our traditional and cultural knowledge and philosophies. The moisture and rain which supports growth is our academic Nursing knowledge, it is what we learn in our academics, and, along with rich earth and sunlight, is necessary for our professional development as registered nurses.
Let us reconnect with the essence of our nursing profession. A nurse is more than a clinical caregiver; we are also teachers, advocates and protectors of health. A patient is not just a mere recipient of care. They are people, families, and communities that embody the spirit, tell a story and hold purpose & meaning. A community is a living web of relationships; a culturally inclusive circle that holds and heals each of its members. Nursing at its core, is the art and science of caretaking. Individuals, families, and communities may experience events that require nursing care.
The K’é Nursing Model begins with our sacred teachings.
What is K’é?
K’é is the Dine concept of kinship. It defines how we relate to each other with respect, love and accountability. K’é is not just about family lineage. We, as Diné, conduct ourselves as if we are all relatives. It shapes our worldly perspective: “I care for you not because I am compensated to do so, but because you are a sacred living being and we are tied to each other. “
In Nursing, K’é becomes our ethic and guides relational harmony so that every patient, family, and healthcare worker experiences care rooted in compassion, belonging, and shared responsibility.
. This translates to treating our patients as relatives. We listen with humility, we guide with the utmost compassion, and we heal with relationships at the center. We honor relationships through respect, compassion, and mutual support (reciprocity). We recognize belonging through clanship, kinship terms, shared identity, and humanity as five-fingered beings. We breathe and maintain harmony by treating others with kindness and equality, and strengthen community with one another and our patients/relatives.
For us, nursing is life and K’é reminds us that we are all connected and responsible for one another.
In order to begin to understand K’é, it is also helpful to learn about Hózhǫ́.
What is: Hózhǫ́?
Hózhǫ́ refers to the balance, beauty and harmony within an individual, as well as with the individual and their relationships with others and their environment. It is an overall state of well-being that includes physical, psychological, emotional, spiritual and environmental wellness. Hózhǫ́ is not just a representation or a destination- it is a lifelong journey. A way of living. When someone becomes ill, they are said to be out of Hózhǫ́. Our role as Nurses is to help guide them back- to restore harmony and balance. Utilizing the K’é Nursing model, nurses will blend evidence-based practices with Diné knowledge and philosophy to deliver culturally safe and appropriate care. This blends with healing-centered engagement as a truly holistic approach to care.
The Cornstalk in Nursing Practice
As described in the Cornstalk Philosophy of Learning, traditional Diné knowledge can be visualized like a corn plant. The roots are symbolic of our ancestral teachings. The stalk represents growth and strength. The leaves and tassels symbolize the many branches of knowledge: spiritual, physical, emotional, and mental. In nursing, this exists as a living metaphor to develop the K’é Nursing model.
Our Team
Development and implementation of the K’e Nursing Model is led by our Dine Nursing Division staff with guidance and support from traditional practitioners and knowledge holders, community stakeholders, and Nursing Division Leadership. It is also an integral part of our focus on Nursing Shared Governance. We have a small team anchoring this initiative at this time, and will be growing our collective.
Our Timeline
Although we are driven by time constraints and deadlines, the development and implementation of the K’e Nursing Model is intentional and relational. As an important part of our focus on Nursing Shared Governance and culturally safe care, we plan to continue to develop our K’e Nursing model over the next few years, to allow us to do this work in a positive and respectful manner.
The Importance of Having a Culturally-Centered Nursing Model
There is a story behind the birthing and naming of the K’e Nursing Model, and perhaps one day we will share it here. For now, we share that this model is a living, sacred entity that is not owned or controlled. It was birthed from naming philosophies of care which have always been in existence. And naming these became necessary as we progressed through our education and realized that the nursing models that we have been taught were not made for us. They do not best serve our community. Nor do they best serve us. Our ways of knowing, learning, teaching, and healing have remained “othered.”
The K’e Nursing Model centers Navajo intellectual and cultural sovereignty in the nursing process and in healing relationships. Our goal is to build a Navajo healthcare system where K’é guides every interaction, strengthens relationships among patients and providers, and creates a healing environment that restores balance, supports wellness, and empowers future generations of Navajo healers, nurses, and caregivers.
About the Contributors
Roceseelynn (Rose), Jacinda, Atheina, and Cristina are nurses and the Executive Assistant to the Nursing Division. Rose, Jacinda, and Atheina are guided by cultural knowledge as Din’e women, and Cristina is a Mestizx nurse of Indigenous descent who has lived and worked alongside Rose for the past 17 years. This nursing collective is working towards centering Indigenous Knowledge in Nursing.