Today I had the opportunity to speak with ICU clinicians at Monash Health as part of a Humanitarian Medicine session, bringing my perspective from Lived experience, emergency nursing and community refugee health. One message I wanted to leave with the group was simple: The clinical presentation in front of you may only be a very small part of that person’s story. For people from refugee and asylum seeker backgrounds, there can be barriers that are not immediately visible — language, unfamiliarity with the Australian healthcare system, financial pressures, past experiences of trauma or displacement, difficulty accessing primary care, or uncertainty about what happens after discharge. A patient who repeatedly says “yes” may not fully understand. A patient who misses appointments may not be “non-compliant.” A patient who repeatedly presents to hospital may simply have nowhere else they know how to access. Emergency nursing taught me to ask: “What does this patient need right now?” Refugee health taught me to also ask: “What happened before they arrived here?” “What is going to happen after they leave?” Three key messages I shared: ✅ Healthcare can be available without being accessible. ✅ A referral made is not necessarily a referral completed. ✅ Trauma-informed care should not become trauma-assumed care. You do not need to know everything about every culture to provide culturally safe care. Sometimes it starts with something much simpler: Use a professional interpreter. Be curious. Avoid assumptions. Check understanding. And ask what barrier you might not yet be seeing. This is exactly the kind of practical refugee-health discussion I want to keep building in this community.

Every community starts with someone opening the door. This is the beginning of ours. I’m Nesrudin, a refugee health nurse with a refugee background and experience in emergency and critical care nursing. I’m also an Executive Team Member and Co-Chair of the Victorian Refugee Health Network. I’m building this space for health professionals, students and community workers who want to feel more confident supporting people from refugee and asylum seeker backgrounds. I’ll be sharing education and practical resources on: • Refugee health and barriers to care • Trauma-informed care and building trust • Culturally responsive practice • Working effectively with interpreters • Navigating healthcare and support services My aim is to bring clinical knowledge and lived experience together in ways you can apply in your everyday work. If you’re discovering this group, welcome—you have an opportunity to help shape it from the beginning. I look forward to learning with you.