Intellectual disability content within pre-registration nursing curriculum: How is it taught?

Area of Science:

• Healthcare Education
• Nursing Studies
• Intellectual Disability Research

Background:

• People with intellectual disability experience significant health disparities.
• Equitable healthcare access for individuals with intellectual disability remains a challenge.
• Improving healthcare professional education is key to reducing health inequalities.

Purpose of the Study:

• To audit the teaching of intellectual disability content in Australian nursing schools.
• To identify current curricula and teaching methodologies for intellectual disability in nursing education.
• To assess the extent of inclusive practices in nursing education regarding intellectual disability.

Main Methods:

• A two-phase audit of Australian nursing curricula.
• Interviews with course coordinators from 31 nursing schools.
• Online surveys completed by teaching staff from 15 schools.

Main Results:

• Lectures were the most common teaching method (82%), followed by tutorials (59%) and workshops (26%).
• Problem-and/or enquiry-based learning was used in approximately 75% of the content.
• Few schools involved people with intellectual disability in teaching or had specialized staff.

Conclusions:

• Current teaching methods for intellectual disability in nursing schools are varied, with some lacking diversity.
• Nursing students may not be adequately prepared to address health inequalities faced by people with intellectual disability.
• A notable deficit exists in inclusive teaching and clinical contact with people with intellectual disability.