Attitudes of nurses in a general hospital towards people with learning disabilities: influences of contact, and graduate‐non‐graduate status, a comparative study

Abstract

A review of the literature suggests people with learning disabilities are viewed negatively by others in society. Such negative views have also been found among many health care professionals, including nurses. This study measured the attitudes of a randomly selected sample of nurses in a general hospital (n = 31) towards people with learning disabilities. The study involved a triangulation approach utilizing a Likert scale attitude measurement questionnaire. Two comparisons between subjects in the study were undertaken-a comparison of the attitudes of graduate nurses and those who were non-graduates; a comparison between nurses who had most contact, and those who had least contact with people who have learning disabilities. From the sample of 31 nurses, 10 subjects were selected for more in-depth interviews which were tape recorded, transcribed and, using the process of 'content analysis', quantified. Findings suggest the attitudes held by the total sample towards people with learning disabilities were more negative than would be expected from those in a caring profession. The graduate nurses were found to be more positive in their perceived attitudes towards people with learning disabilities than non-graduate nurses. Nurses in the sample who had high contact were found to have more positive attitudes than nurses who had lower amounts of contact with people who had learning disabilities.

Teachers’ attitudes to mainstream schooling

“…No relationships were found between years of experience of teaching children with a learning disability or currently having a child with a learning disability in the classroom and attitude scores. This is at odds with research which has indicated that previous experience of or contact with people with a learning disability can improve attitudes (Slevin & Sines, 1996).…”

“…Research in both the health and education sector has indicated that previous experience of or contact with people with a learning disability can improve knowledge (Johnson & Cartwright, 1991), reported knowledge (Golder et al, 2005) and attitudes (Slevin & Sines, 1996).…”

The attitudes of nurses towards people with disabilities

“…Navedeno potvrđuju Slevin i Sines u istraživanju stavova medicinskih sestara prema osobama s invaliditetom. Oni naglašavaju da češći kontakt medicinskih sestara s tim osobama rezultira pozitivnijim stavovima prema njima, ali i da medicinske sestre s većim stupnjem obrazovanja imaju veći stupanj razumijevanja [8].…”

What do residents learn by meeting with families of children with disabilities?: A qualitative analysis of an experiential learning module

“…In particular, a study comparing the attitudes of physicians to those of parents of children with cognitive impairments found that physicians under-estimated parents' beliefs about their families' quality of life and about the place of people with cognitive impairments in society [4]. Another study documented that nurses, compared with the general population, had more negative attitudes towards people with cognitive impairments [5]. Finally, as the practice of medicine becomes increasingly business-like, a study of business-school students' views regarding employment of people with disabilities revealed disadvantageous biases [6].…”