Nursing Faculty Knowledge of the Americans With Disabilities Act

Abstract

A survey was conducted to assess nursing faculty (n=231) knowledge of the Americans With Disabilities Act requirements. Only 21% (n=46) of the participants received a passing score of 78%. While 76% (n=161) knew that students must provide documentation of a disability to receive accommodation, 49% (n=104) did not recognize that an individual faculty member may be held personally liable if he/she fails to provide accommodation. Participants' knowledge of the Act was low and could create barriers to student success.

Building Academic Communities to Support Nursing Students with Disabilities: An Integrative Review

“…Counterbalancing these positive developments, the literature also reveals that many educators are not familiar with legal requirements to create reasonable accommodations for disabled students (May, 2014). This lack of awareness creates a situation in which the experience of disabled nursing students is highly variable depending on the individual faculty member or preceptor with whom they are dealing at any given time (Carey, 2012).…”

“…Misinformation and misunderstanding regarding the legal requirements of the ADA as amended by the ADAAA had led to inadvertent and unintended discrimination. Correcting this could enable students of varying disabilities to successfully complete nursing programs (Dupler, Allen, Maheady, Fleming, & Allen, 2012;May, 2013;May, 2014).…”

“…The research continued to demonstrate a correlation between faculty lack of knowledge and confidence regarding the law and how to provide reasonable accommodations, and a preconception of an association between the nurse's disability and patient injury with less willingness to provide accommodations for students. Interestingly, nurse educators and preceptors expressed positive attitudes about supporting students while expressing a lack of confidence in providing accommodations (L'Ecuyer, 2014;May, 2014). Simulation was suggested as a means by which educators could determine the appropriate accommodations needed in the clinical setting (Azzopardi et al, 2014).…”

The procedure in the classroom setting by which nursing faculty construct academic accommodations for undergraduate nursing students with learning disabilities: A scoping review

“…[2] Additionally, students with learning disabilities continue to be underrepresented in nursing education as historically nursing education has excluded students with disabilities. [11,15,[18][19][20][21][22] Since the population of nursing students with disabilities is primarily comprised of students with learning disabilities, it is imperative for nursing faculty to understand how to promote success within this population. [15] While nursing faculty has a high percentage of being exposed to students with learning disabilities, a lack of understanding exists regarding the procedure for how to provide academic accommodations to promote student success with this type of disability.…”

Learning from Our Students: Perceptions from Students with Disabilities

“…The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Amendment maintains the definition of a disability as "a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities…" [5]. However, May [6], surveyed nursing faculty about knowledge of the ADA, and only 46 (21%) received a passing score of 78%.…”