Since enactment of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, U.S. employers have been mandated to provide reasonable accommodation for employees with disabilities. Nurses with disabilities have described their experiences, reflecting occurrences that might be noncompliant with these mandates. There is little information available regarding the work experience of nurses with disabilities practicing in hospitals. How these workers view their work world and how they perceive the way others within that environment think of them and their contributions to patient care is important because these individuals must be included as equal participants in a profession that relies on teamwork to function effectively. An exploratory study was conducted to gain a context-based understanding of the lived experiences of hospital-employed nurses with disabilities. Grounded theory methodology was used to uncover themes and to identify factors comprising "disability climate"; such factors might inform the future development of workplace policies supportive of all nurses.

The workforce is aging, and the implications of an older nursing workforce are profound. As nurses age, injuries and disabilities are more prevalent. If disabilities were more commonly recognized and accommodated in the design of our nursing work environments, we could meet future needs. This article explores the literature on accommodations for an aging workforce, reports disabilities commonly seen in this population, and introduces universal design.

The aims of this pilot study were to describe registered nurses' attitudes toward nurses with disabilities in the hospital nursing work force, explore factors contributing to these attitudes and explore the concept of disability climate in the hospital workplace.The web-based 37-item Nurses' Attitudes toward Nurses with Disabilities Scale (NANDS) was administered to a convenience sample of 131 registered nurses working in three urban tertiary care hospitals.Respondents with experience caring for patients with disabilities indicated a significantly more positive perception of accessibility in the workplace and more positive attitudes toward the capability of nurses with disabilities than those without patient exposure. Respondents with higher levels of education indicated a higher level of Americans with Disabilities Act awareness. The disability climate was significantly more positive in outpatient clinics than in intensive care unit environments.Nurses with physical and sensory disabilities may feel more welcomed in areas serving patients with lower acuities. Greater exposure to individuals with disabilities positively impacts attitudes toward this population. The NANDS may be useful to assist employers and nursing administrators in assessing and creating healthy, disability-friendly work environments that promote a positive disability climate and improve the work experience for nurses with disabilities.