Attitude of Student Nurses’ Toward People With Disabilities
Chapter One
Objective of the study
The purpose of this study is to determine the attitudes of nursing students toward people with disabilities. Specifically,
- To evaluate what influence the attitude of the future nurses.
- To determine how demographic variables (age, gender, level of education, number of contact or cultural background) mostly influence this attitude
- To recommend how student nurses´ attitude be improved
CHAPTER TWO
LITERATURE REVIEW
Systematic literature (S.R) review will be used for the previous articles. Systematic review uses existing primary research for secondary data analysis. In a situation where large volume of data is involved, S. R helps in controlling the data in a logical way and make use of all the relevant information that evolved. Most of the time, it is preferable to try S. R for a study before embarking on a fresh study. (Neale 2009, 63).
There may not be need to conduct a new study anymore. S.R is recommended before designing a new study because they can identify weaknesses in the methodology of existing studies and may prevent unnecessary replication. Systematic literature views systematic review from a very broad angle as a method with the following features: a clearly defined research question; transparent methods, defined a priori to include clear criteria for including and excluding studies; exhaustive searches for published and unpublished studies; explicit reporting of the methods used to appraise, abstract and synthesize information from individual studies, conducted in duplicate to minimize errors; and clear presentation of study findings. (Neale 2009, 65).
DISABILITY DEFINED
According to the Americans with Disabilities Act (2011), disability is defined as a “physical or mental impairment that substantially limits a major life activity.” The World Health Organisation (WHO) has made a functional division between impairment, disability and handicap (Johnson, 1996). According to Gross and Mcilveen (1998,
- 672) WHO defines an impairment as “the objective pathology or psychological difficulty”, disability as “the effects that the impairment has on everyday activities” and lastly handicap as “the effect of the impairment on social and occupational roles”. Kent (1995) adds that a single impairment leads to varying degrees of handicap, depending on the amount of the person’s social and occupational exclusion or involvement.
Disability overview
The common view of disability is as tragedy, disgrace, the result of sin, and God’s punishment. People with disabilities are seen as a burden to others, to their family, to themselves,and to society. In English they are described as being an invalid (not a valid person), as being handicapped (implying a beggar with a cap), or as being disabled (not able). Do these views carry over to the way people in the helping professions relate to people with disabilities? That is the interesting question. (Pfeiffer et al. 2004).
Health was defined in the WHO Constitution as ‘‘a state of complete physical, mental and social wellbeing and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity’’. More recently, the concept has been extended to include health-related quality of life. Today, the International classification of impairments, disabilities and handicaps (ICIDH) provides indicators that allow a more structured approach to health disorders. (Barbotte et al., 2001,1047.)
There are many definitions of disability and many types of disabling conditions. In 1980, the World Health Organization (WHO) defined disability as a limitation in a person’s abilities (eg, mobility, personal care, communication, behavior); impairment as an alteration in body systems (e.g, neurological, respiratory, urologic); and handicap as the disadvantages experienced by people in their environment (e.g, in the workplace, economic sufficiency, and independence). (Lollar & Crews 2003, 201). In 2001, WHO revised its definitions to change the focus from a classification system based on consequences of disease to one that is focused on components of health.
Disability can be classified according to Americans with disabilities Act of 1990 : Physical disability (e.g Mobility, visual, hearing impairment)
Mental disability (e.g Learning disability, schizophrenia, phobia, neurosis)
Developmental disability (e.g Dyslexia,down syndrome, ADHD,autism) Other disabilities (e.g Substance abuse,senility)
Invisible disability (e.g Epilepsy, Asperger syndrome, fibromyalgia).
Models of disability provide a framework for understanding the way in which people with impairments experience disability. They also provide a reference for society as laws, regulations and structures are developed that impact on the lives of disabled people. There are two main models that have influenced modern thinking about disability: the medical model and the social model. Medical model or illness approach is based on the view that disability is caused by disease or trauma and its resolution or solution is intervention provided and controlled by professionals.The social model view as socially constructed and a consequence of society’s lack of awareness and concern about those who may require some modifications to live full,productive lives. (Smeltzer 2007,193).
CHAPTER THREE
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Introduction
In this chapter, we would describe how the study was carried out.
Research design
The study employs quantitative descriptive research design to examine the attitude of student nurse towards people with disabilities. Pilot study was used in this Bachelor thesis. Pilot study is a small experimental designed to test logistics and gather information prior to a larger study, in order to improve the latter’s quality and efficiency. A pilot study reveal deficiencies in the design of a proposed experiment or procedure. (Altman et al. 2006, 2.)
In this pilot study nursing students were asked questions related to various aspects of interactions focusing on discomfort in social interactions, coping when meeting people with disabilities, information about disability and a person’s vulnerability.
Sources of Data
The data for this study were generated from two main sources; Primary sources and secondary sources. The primary sources include questionnaire, interviews and observation. The secondary sources include journals, bulletins, textbooks and the internet.
Population of the study
A study population is a group of elements or individuals as the case may be, who share similar characteristics. These similar features can include location, gender, age, sex or specific interest. The emphasis on study population is that it constitute of individuals or elements that are homogeneous in description (Prince Udoyen: 2019). In this study the study population constitute of all the student nurses in Ghana. Since the population is too big the researcher purposively selected a sample population of 100 nurse students in Ghana.
CHAPTER FOUR
PRESENTATION OF DATA AND ANALYSIS
This study aim to identify the attitudes of nursing students in Ghana in relation to the existing findings. The total number of sample was 80 with 21 missing due to incomplete answer of the scale (N=59). Results are presented in the following categories: demographic description, IDP scores with the variables and comparison of the means score with standard deviation classified by age, gender, college year ,contact, how often and with whom do you have contact.
CHAPTER FIVE
CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS
There is a need for significant changes in the preparation of nursing students to practice in the 21st century. Seccombe (2007, 450) implicated nursing education to have a significant role to play in creating a climate of information and experience that is conducive to and in support of a move from medical model of practice to embrace the social model if the attitudes of student nurses are to become more open and accepting of people with disabilities. In the researcher’s view and experience, having a long hours contact, having disabled persons as a relative or friends will go a long way to improve the attitude.
The researcher recommend further studies should be carried out to test for the effect of types and duration of contact. Constant research studies should be carried out on the nursing students to know their attitude status before complete degradation.
REFERENCES
- Altman.; Burton,N.; Cuthill,I.; Festing,M.; Hutton,J. & Playle,L. 2006 . Why do a pilot study? National centre for the Replacement, Refinement and Reduction of Animals in Research. . Consulted 2.2.2011 http://www.nc3rs.org.uk/downloaddoc.asp?id=400
- Au, K.W & Man, D.W. 2006. Attitudes toward people with disabilities: a comparison between health care professionals and students. Int J Rehabil Res. Vol 29(2):155-60. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16609328
- Atkinson,R.L.;Atkinson,R.C.; Smith,E.E.;Bem,D.J.&Hilgard,E.R.1990.Introduction to psychology. Harcourt:Brace Jovanovich .10th.ed.p702.
- Barbotte, E.; Guillemin,F.; Chau,N & the Lorhandicap group. 2001. Prevalence of impairments, disabilities, handicaps and quality of life in the general population: A review of recent literature. Bulletin of the World Health Organization, Vol, 79 No 11. 1047-1055
- Biritwum, R.B.; Devres, J.P.; Ofosu-Amaahs, S.; Marfo, L. & Essah, E.R. 2001. Prevalence of children with disabilities in central region, Ghana. West African Journal of medicine. Abstract, Vol. 20. No 3, 249-55. Consulted 17.9.2010 http://ovidsp.uk.ovid.com/sp
- Boyle,M.J.; Williams,B.; Brown,T.; Molloy,A.; McKenna,L.; Molloy,E.& Lewis,B. 2010. Attitudes of undergraduate health science students towards patients with intellectual disability,substance abuse, and acute mental illness:a cross-sectional study. BMC Medical Education, Vol. 10:71. http://www.biomedcentral.com/1472-6920/10/71
