Toni Azzopardi
Western Sydney University, Sydney Australia
Title: Experiences of Undergraduate nursing students with disability on clinical placement with their reasonable adjustments in place: A qualitative research study
Biography
Biography: Toni Azzopardi
Abstract
Access to tertiary education for people with disabilities has become increasingly important in recent decades as the international community recognises the social and economic benefits that continuing education offers as a pathway to employment and society participation (Grigal & Hart, 2010; O’Connor, Kubiak, Espiner & O’Brien, 2012). Within the literature there is also a prominent focus on disability policy and the education institutions ensuring the facilitation of inclusive and effective teaching strategies to support students with disabilities (Bleich, Faan, McWilliams & Schmidt, 2015; Madriaga, Hanson, Heaton, Kay, Newitt & Walker, 2010; Mortmore, 2012;Shpigelman, Zlotnick & Brand, 2016).
A qualitative exploratory research study was conducted to understand and explore what is meant to be a student with disability requiring a reasonable adjustment/s for an undergraduate nursing clinical placement. The study was conducted at the School of Nursing and Midwifery of an Australian university. Six participants were recruited and semi-structured interviews were selected as the data collection strategy. All data was thematically analysed using the six phases outlined by Braun & Clarke (2006). This paper presents the themes resulting from the data analysis: Feeling targeted and unsupported: an emotional journey; Experiencing adjustments and accommodations on clinical; Challenging stereotypes and pushing boundaries; and Empowering strategies. The implications drawn from the findings will have a wide ranging impact on clinical education, clinical practice and further research