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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.
Nurse educators exhibit discriminatory attitudes toward people with disabilities, impacting healthcare equity. Addressing this bias and enhancing disability education are crucial for competent patient care.
Area of Science:
- Nursing Education
- Healthcare Disparities
- Disability Studies
Background:
- Inadequate health professional education is a significant barrier to effective care for individuals with disabilities.
- There is an ongoing need to improve the education of healthcare professionals regarding disability.
- Assessing nurse educator attitudes is essential to address educational deficits.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the attitudes of nurse educators toward people with disabilities.
- To understand the influence of nurse educators on student attitudes regarding disability.
Main Methods:
- A cross-sectional, correlational web-based survey was conducted.
- The study included 126 nurse educators.
- Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, ANOVA, and multiple regression.
Main Results:
- Nurse educators demonstrated discriminatory attitudes towards people with disabilities.
- A majority of nurse educators favored a biopsychosocial model of disability.
- 44% of nurse educators lacked knowledge of disability-specific curriculum objectives.
Conclusions:
- Nurse educators must acknowledge and address their own biases to promote health equity.
- Integrating competent care for people with disabilities into nursing curricula is imperative.
- Improving nurse educator attitudes is vital for advancing equitable healthcare practices.
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