Access to nursing education by disabled students: rights and duties of nursing programs

This paper outlines the rights and duties of nursing programs regarding access to nursing education for disabled students and the subsequent provision of services for them in the UK. Discussed briefly are the implications of these duties for nursing programs when disabled students are treated less favourably than their peers such as through a failure to make reasonable adjustments within the curriculum. Part IV of the Disability Discrimination Act (1995), as amended by the Special Educational Needs and Disability Act (2001), identifies such statutory duties and rights for nursing programs. For the purpose of this article, access to nursing education by disabled students and the subsequent service provision for these students in nursing programs is described as a game, using a conceptual framework by North. Different roles identified within the formal and informal legal rules, such as attitudes toward disabled students in nursing programs throughout the UK, are discussed briefly using this framework. It is noted that the rules of the game very much mirror the rules under Part II and Part III of the Disability Discrimination Act (1995) relating to disabled employees and disabled service users of public services, in force since December 1996. It is argued that lecturers and senior management teams in both nursing education and the health services occupy historical roles in the efficient design and playing of this game. The next step is to gradually align informal rules with formal rules, which can only be done through proper and correct education of key players.