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Published on: June 21, 2010
Nurse Educator Attitudes Toward People With Disabilities
1About the Authors Lori Lyon, EdD, RN, is a professor, Capstone College of Nursing, University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Rick Houser, PhD, is a professor, College of Education, University of Alabama. The authors are grateful to the nurse educators who participated in this survey and to Robert Findlay for his constructive comments. For more information, contact Dr. Lyon at llyon@ua.edu.
Aim:
As educators strongly influence the attitudes of their students, the purpose of this study was to determine nurse educator attitudes toward people with disabilities.
Background:
Inadequate education of health professionals is a known barrier to care for people with disability. Continuing calls for improved education of health professionals compel an assessment of nurse educator attitudes.
Method:
This was a cross-sectional, correlational web-based survey of nurse educators (n = 126). Nurse educator attitudes were analyzed using descriptive statistics, analysis of variance, and multiple regression analysis.
Results:
Nurse educators held discriminatory attitudes toward people with disabilities, though most preferred a biopsychosocial model of disability. Forty-four percent lacked knowledge of disability-related aims, objectives, or outcomes within the curriculum.
Conclusion:
To advance equity in health care, nurse educators must confront personal bias and teach competent care of people with disabilities.
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