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New Resources Available for Recruiting Nursing Students with Disabilities

All too often, nursing schools’ efforts to recruit more students from underrepresented populations tend to overlook the unique needs of one particular minority group: people with disabilities. Despite the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act nearly 15 years ago, many students with disabilities who dream of becoming nurses must still overcome significant discrimination and other personal, physical and social obstacles to pursue their nursing education.

Last year, Chicago’s Rush University College of Nursing and Rush University Medical Center co-sponsored a symposium titled “Students with Disabilities: Nursing Education and Practice” to discuss strategies for recruiting qualified students with disabilities into nursing schools and, ultimately, the nursing profession. This groundbreaking event drew 117 experts in nursing education, employment, licensure and regulation, health care administration and disability rights advocacy, plus a panel of students with disabilities who have successfully completed a nursing program and licensing exam.

Now the College of Nursing has published a proceedings manual incorporating the information and recommendations that emerged from the symposium. Designed for use by nursing educators, employers and policy-makers as “a guide to allow inclusion for qualified persons with disabilities into the nursing profession,” the manual is available online at www.rushu.rush.edu/nursing/studisable.html and can be accessed at no charge. Hard copies can also be purchased by contacting the college at (312) 942-7117.

The 224-page manual includes the texts of symposium presentations on such issues as legal aspects of accommodations, nursing education curricula and accommodations, and nursing employment and accommodations. Most importantly, the manual offers 26 pages of recommendations and how-to tips for effecting change. For example, it suggests strategies like making nursing career fairs more accessible to people with disabilities, partnering with organizations like the American Association of People with Disabilities to develop career mentoring programs and encouraging nursing schools to hire faculty members with disabilities who can serve as role models.

Another valuable resource for anyone interested in helping to increase students with disabilities’ access to the nursing profession is the new book Nursing Students with Disabilities: Change the Course, by Donna Carol Maheady, RN, EdD, CPNP. According to Maheady, who is the founder of ExceptionalNurse.com, an online resource network for nurses and nursing students with disabilities, the book’s purpose is to inspire students with disabilities to consider a career in nursing. It also offers advice for current nursing students with disabilities, as well as for teachers, professors, guidance counselors and other professionals who are responsible for developing accommodation plans to meet these minority students’ accessibility needs.

Drawing on the real-life stories of eight students nurses with disabilities ranging from deafness to Crohn’s disease, Maheady helps students address such challenges as choosing the right nursing program, conquering fear and self-doubt, and deciding whether to disclose their disability. She then uses these eight examples to present individualized plans showing how the students’ disabilities can be accommodated in a nursing school setting.

Nursing Students with Disabilities: Change the Course sells for $19.95 and can be ordered from the publisher, Exceptional Parent Library, at (800) 535-1910 or www.eplibrary.com.

--Compiled by Pam Chwedyk