How an Academic Course about Disability Affected Nursing Students Attitudes Toward Persons with Disabilities

Paper

Thursday, 20 July 2006

This presentation is part of : Evaluating the Attitudes and Perceptions of Student Nurses

Beverly Bryce Bowers, PhD, RN, CNS, College of Nursing, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City, OK, USA, Janet Sullivan Wilson, PhD, RN, College of Nursing, The University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City, OK, USA, and Linda Rider, MS, RNC, College of Nursing, University of Central Oklahoma, Edmond, OK, USA.

Learning Objective #1: discuss 2 reasons that nursing students need knowledge about persons with disabilities.
Learning Objective #2: describe differences in the attitudes towards persons with disabilities of baccalaureate nursing students who either did or did not take the Dis-Ability course.

Problem: Beginning nursing students, as well as other health caregivers tend to have more negative attitudes towards persons with disabilities (PWD) than the general public. These negative attitudes may divert the focus away from the PWD’s strengths or potential abilities and could result in unequal treatment or poor quality of care. Educational interventions may cause short-term change in attitudes towards PWD, making health providers more optimistic about outcomes and capabilities. Purpose: This quasi-experimental study was designed to assess the attitudes of baccalaureate nursing students towards PWD by comparing those who did or did not complete a structured ‘Dis-Ability’ course. Methods: The sample included 244 BSN students from two nursing schools. The ATDP-PFB was administered upon admission to the nursing program, at the end of the second semester of the nursing program, and at completion of the program. Students in one program received the intervention, a 2-credit hour 'Dis-Ability' course, in the second semester of the junior year. Findings: Scores on the ATDP-PFB were similar for both groups at the beginning of the program, but after one year in the nursing program, students taking the ‘Dis-Ability’ course scored higher (mean=130.61) than those not taking the course (mean=116.25) indicating better attitudes towards PWD [t=5.415, df204, p=.0001]. Differences between groups were not sustained at the end of the nursing program, however both groups showed improvement in mean ATDP-PFB scores at that point as compared with their scores at the beginning of the nursing program [t=-4.440, df141, p=.0001]. Conclusions: Structured coursework aimed at improving attitudes toward disabled persons is effective, although nursing school itself brings about similar results. More work on identifying critical experiences is crucial to assure these aims are met for all nursing students.

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