Integrating students with disabilities into nursing education : a South African perspective of nurse educators’ experiences

Abstract

Nurse educators play a pivotal role in integrating student nurses who have disabilities (SNWDs) in nursing education. Understanding the specific experiences of nurse educators may help reduce negative attitudes and discriminatory practices and improve the integration of SNWDs. This article aims to explore and describe nurse educators’ experiences of integrating SNWDs into nursing education institutions training programmes in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. A qualitative, descriptive, and exploratory design using a multiple embedded case study approach was adopted. Purposive sampling was used to collect data from five key informants via individual interviews and two focus group discussions comprising of nurse educators who had experience training SNWDs. Trustworthiness and ethical considerations such as obtaining individual written consent from each participant was maintained. Recordings were transcribed verbatim and analysed using conventional content analysis. This study concludes that while every effort was made to integrate SNWDs into nursing education, there are still important gaps not yet captured in the research, relating to the direct experiences of nurse educators. Nurse educators’ understanding of disability accentuates the call for nurse educators to broaden their understanding of disability beyond the medical model. Moreover, the lack of early disability disclosure disadvantages SNWDs from timeous support and reasonable accommodation.