Supporting disabled students in practice: a tripartite approach

Universities are required to make reasonable adjustments for disabled students. For providers of professional courses, in this case pre-registration nursing, this requirement is perceived to pose significant challenges. In part this is due to the nature of the course, where practice learning is a central component and therefore clinical hands-on experience of the care of patients/clients is an absolute requirement. Concerns around the ability of disabled students' to meet the programme requirements have been expressed. This article describes the co-development of a six-phase tripartite model that provides a supportive framework for disabled student nurses in the practice environment. A brief overview of the literature will be given and a single case study will be used to demonstrate the model in action. The development of broad partnership working between the Practice Learning Team, The Disability Service and the Student Placement Facilitator, taking a student centric approach, is outlined. Finally, the process by which a critical knowledge base, on which decisions around reasonable adjustment can be made is discussed.