By
Andrea Thomson, Catherine Baxter, Michelle Magnusson, and Sherri Dyck
March 2025
Print Version
What you need to know
Health-care professionals who experience disabilities have the potential to improve patient care and reduce inequities within care provision. Yet, a key challenge for building an inclusive health workforce involves barriers encountered within educational programs. Nursing students who experience disabilities have reported inaccessible educational instruction, challenges accessing accommodations, and discriminatory practices.
Why this research is important
Overall, the experiences and perspectives of nursing and psychiatric nursing students with disabilities are generally unexplored in literature. The purpose of the study was to identify strategies that will assist nursing and psychiatric nursing students with disabilities in classroom and clinical practice settings.
How the research was conducted
A narrative inquiry approach was utilized to answer the question: How do nursing and psychiatric nursing students with disabilities narrate the trajectory of their experiences during their undergraduate education? Six nursing and psychiatric nursing students who self-identified with experiencing a disability shared their stories. The students were enrolled in year 3 or 4 of a nursing or psychiatric nursing undergraduate program at the time of the interview.
What the researchers found
The narratives indicated that accommodations, adaptive technology, and faculty support promoted success in both classroom and clinical settings. However, the findings also highlighted systemic barriers that distracted students from overall learning. Those who had accommodations and ongoing support appeared to do well, while those who identified a lack of support and faced stigma encountered additional burdens and obstacles to overcome. The participants shared that they are required to work harder than their peers to be successful in academia due to additional steps required to meet their needs.
Stories of vulnerability surrounding self-disclosure of disability to nursing educators and/or accessibility service professionals were prominent. The narratives also highlighted unique obstacles faced by nursing and psychiatric nursing students with disabilities. They communicated challenges balancing theory and clinical responsibilities when offered concurrently, which led to fatigue and burnout. In addition, the clinical schedules made it difficult for students to access student services and, therefore, resulted in delays in receiving accommodations.
How this research can be used
Focusing on strengths, providing reasonable accommodations, and fostering a culture of inclusivity and support can ensure that aspiring nurses have equal opportunities to pursue their education and contribute to the nursing profession. Reasonable accommodations are one approach to support students. Nevertheless, reliance on an accommodation model does not address the underlying issues associated with inequality and the obstacles experienced. The participants discussed strategies that could be universally applied to improve accessibility and reduce the need for individualized accommodations, such as recorded lectures, which enhanced academic performance. While all students commonly had access to recorded lectures during online learning during the COVID-19 pandemic, individual accommodations for recording lectures became necessary upon the return to classroom settings. Adhering to the principles of Universal Design for Learning—a framework to improve and optimize teaching and learning for all people—can help create accessible learning environments to better meet the needs of most.
Acknowledgements
The research team would like to acknowledge Morganna Malyon for her role and contributions to project conception. The research project was funded by the Brandon University Research Committee (BURC) Grant.
About the Researchers
Keywords
- accomodations
- disability
- nursing and psychiatric nursing education
Publications Based on the Research
Thomson, A. E., Baxter, C., Brassier, N., Magnusson, M., & Dyck, S. (2025). Overcoming obstacles: The stories of nursing and psychiatric nursing students who experience disabilities. Journal of Nursing Education, 64(2), 109–114. https://doi.org.10.3928/01484834-20241030-01
Editor: Christiane Ramsey
Read more BU Research
Research at Brandon University follows comprehensive policies designed to safeguard ethics, to ensure academic integrity, to protect human and animal welfare and to prevent conflicts of interest.