Jumping Through Hoops, Walking On Eggshells: An updated look at the experiences of student nurses with disabilities
Posted by Amanda Nichols
10 years ago, a study with the title mentioned above was published to little fanfare in a few nursing journals. It chronicled the situations of a specific group of student nurses with various types of disabilities, and the challenges that they faced while in school. The title comes from their collected feeling that they were "jumping through hoops" with regards to school policies and paperwork, often to the detriment of their schoolwork, and "walking on eggshells" in their clinical rotations, knowing that the would be judged far more harshly should they make a mistake than their non-disabled peers.
In some cases, those same peers made degrading comments to these students, saying that they were "taking slots away from those of us who aren't disabled."
That was 10 years ago, though. Surely we've come far from the stereotype of the young, healthy nurse?
Sadly, that is not the case. Professors refer to their students as being "young and healthy," despite the inclusion of much-older a ... more »
Posted: March 13, 2009 5:48 pm | 0 comments
Tags: ADA, disabilities, nursing