Methods: The study design was a two group, posttest design. Senior level nursing students from two different colleges of nursing were the participants. The colleges were both private catholic universities, and the participants included students from traditional undergraduate 4-year programs and accelerated BSN programs. Students from one school received the intervention, which was a program of simulation that included simulation-based experiences across the curriculum using standardized patients with disabilities. Students from the intervention and the control groups completed the following posttest at the end of their program: The Attitudes Towards Disabled Persons (ATDP) Scale (Yuker, Block, & Younng, 1966; 1970) and the Interactions with Disabled Persons (IDP) Survey (Gething, 1991) to measure attitudes and comfort with interactions with people with disability.
Results: Descriptive statistics were used to summarize demographics and mean scores on the surveys. Independent t-tests on the ADTP had a statistically significant positive difference for students who participated in the SBEs with SPWD than for those that did not, with a higher mean score for the intervention group; there was no statistically significant difference for the IDP. Reliabilities for both surveys were above .70. Responses to open-ended questions were coded into categories and reflected a positive experience for the students who participated in the simulations with patients with disability.
Conclusion: This study provides evidence that these simulation-based learning experiences with standardized patients with disabilities had positive outcomes for students who participated in the program of simulation across their curriculum. This study focused specifically on end of program evaluation of this intervention, future research could include a pretest-posttest design and identified patient outcomes for people with disability.