'Disability' in a Nursing Curriculum

Models of disability: their influence in nursing and potential role in challenging discrimination

“…'Disability' has traditionally been viewed within nursing as a medical condition or illness which amounts to a deviation from biological or social norms and resulting in dependency (Scullion 1999a, Murphy et al 2007. Recently, nursing papers on the theme of 'disability' have focused on functional restrictions (Pellatt 2005, Gill et al 2006, illness and measuring various impairments, (Cabrero-Garcia & Lopez-Pina 2008, Chuang et al 2008, rehabilitation (Nolan & Nolan 1999, Song 2005) and quality of life linked to agerelated impairments (Murphy et al 2009), suggesting that a firmly medicalized notion of 'disability' retains dominance.…”

“…About a decade has elapsed since calls began to be made in the nursing literature to recognize the social and equality dimensions of disability, accept the reality of disability discrimination within nursing, and consider the potential of the social model to remedy this situation (Richardson 1997, Northway & Thomas 1999, Scullion 1999a,b, 2000a,b,c, Stalker et al 1999, Marks 2000, Northway 2000. A recent review confirms that this call has gone largely unheeded (Boyles et al 2008).…”

“…That analysis points to the operation of an underlying regime that fails to afford disabled people equal value as citizens (Scullion 2008a). There is a body of literature demonstrating that disabled people commonly face various kinds of discrimination (Barnes 1992, Gallagher 2001, Buzio et al 2002, Thomas 2004, Smith 2005, Swain 2006, Vanhala 2006, even within healthcare settings, (Scullion 1999a, 2000a, 2008a, Carter & Markham 2001, Brett 2002, Bowers et al 2003, Northway 2003, Pellatt 2005, which may be falsely assumed to be among the most disability-friendly environments imaginable (Harrison 1999). Disability discrimination crosses national boundaries, making this an important international issue.…”

Attitudes of Nurses Toward Children With Disabilities: The Attitudes of Nursing Students Toward Children With Disabilities: An Experimental Design

“…Nursing as an independent discipline needs to focus on curriculum based in methodological pluralism and pragmatic approaches to changing societal needs in caring for patients. Questionnaires were devised by faculty from the English National Board of Nursing, Midwifery, and Health Visiting, an educational accrediting body in the United Kingdom that consisted of likert scale and rank order disability questions as well as vignettes [45]. Faculty sought to conceptualize and define disability for nursing students, led by Scullion, one of the first nurse educators to champion disability in nursing curriculum.…”

Screened Out: Women with Disabilities and Preventive Health

“…Research which has focussed particularly on the obstacles confronted by women with intellectual and physical disabilities also found that social barriers were of primary importance. These included: the attitudes of health professionals who did not offer the test to women with disabilities (Stein & Allen 1998, Seymour 1998, Scullion 1999, access to buildings and to the equipment needed to undertake the test (Nosek et al 1997, Stein et al 1998 and, in the case of women with intellectual disabilities, difficulties in obtaining informed consent (Witmeyer 2001). Most of these identified barriers are ones which are social and structural in nature and form part of a larger system of discrimination and exclusion of people with disabilities (Finkelstein 1993, Oliver 1996.…”