Late last year we hosted a webinar with Dr. Anna Valdez on ableism in nursing education and practice; we also highlighted her important contributions to nursing education in a blog post. Dozens of OADN members attended the webinar and listened to Dr. Valdez, herself a disabled nurse educator, give examples of the negative personal and professional impacts of ableism in nursing. It gave our members an opportunity, some for the first time, to hear about ableism in a professional setting from one of our community’s nursing education leaders. Many of you expressed gratitude for the webinar and desire for additional information; as part of our commitment to the topic and to our members, we wanted to continue that conversation here.
Understanding What Ableism Is
Ableism in nursing refers to discriminatory attitudes, practices, and policies that negatively affect people with disabilities in healthcare settings, including academic ones. Ableism often perpetuates stereotypes, excludes individuals, or creates barriers to equitable care. It can impact both patients and nurses and nursing students with disabilities.
As OADN members, we know that our professional development means lifelong learning as one way to improve outcomes for our patients and students. In that spirit, we’re expanding our content on ableism in order to reduce the barriers to meaningful, responsive and effective nursing education and practice. Research and anecdotal evidence points to a variety of concerns:
Impacts on Patients
- Stereotyping: Healthcare providers may make assumptions about the abilities, quality of life, or preferences of patients with disabilities, leading to biased care decisions.
- Communication Barriers: Nurses might not use accessible communication methods, such as sign language interpreters, large-print materials, or alternative communication devices.
- Inadequate Accommodation: Facilities and practices may fail to meet the needs of people with disabilities, such as inaccessible exam tables, diagnostic equipment, or lack of training in disability-specific care.
- Healthcare Disparities: Patients with disabilities often receive less preventive care and may experience delays in diagnosis and treatment due to bias or inaccessibility. Healthcare professionals may also assume patients have less agency for their own healthcare decisions, replacing their own judgment for what a disabled patient needs instead of engaging with them as they do with other patients.
Impacts on Nurses and Nursing Students with Disabilities
- Workplace and School Barriers: Nurses and nursing students with disabilities may face challenges in securing accommodations, such as modified workstations, assistive technology, or flexible scheduling.
- Stigma: Fellow students, colleagues or supervisors may question their competence or assume they are unable to perform essential tasks, leading to discrimination or exclusion.
- Policy Gaps: Nursing policies and practices may not adequately support or include people with disabilities, limiting opportunities for entry into or advancement within the profession.
- Underrepresentation: The lack of visibility of nurses with disabilities perpetuates ableist attitudes and limits advocacy for systemic change.
- Mental Health Impacts: The stigma and barriers faced by nurses and students with disabilities can lead to stress, burnout, and mental health challenges.
Addressing Ableism in Nursing Education & Practice
Ableism in nursing can undermine the profession’s ethical commitment to providing equitable and compassionate care. OADN encourages members to think about these issues, seek resources and continue the conversation in our channels and with colleagues. To that end, we’re providing a few key resources today as well as some overarching recommendations to combat ableism:
Educational Resource Guide: Equal Access for Students with Disabilities. “Now in its second edition, this book on disability inclusion in health sciences education remains the most comprehensive-legally informed guidance available to health science programs.”
Advocacy Groups: Access in Nursing. “Access in Nursing is a nationally representative group of nurses, nurse educators, disability resource professionals (DRP’s), faculty, and researchers addressing disability access barriers in nursing education and practice.”
Foundation Support: The Josiah Macy Jr. Foundation is a leader in support for programs that reduce systemic inequities and aims to improve health by advancing the education and training of health professionals. We encourage schools of nursing to explore the following resources from the Macy Foundation:
- Grants: read grantee stories and search the grantee database for previously funded projects.
- Learn about the Disability Inclusion grant program that, “will provide support for projects, ideally centered in the clinical learning environment, that dismantle ableism in nursing education and practice.”
- Listen to the podcast episode: “Creating Health Professions Learning Environments Inclusive of Those with Disabilities“, Macy Foundation President Dr. Holly Humphrey interviews Dr. Lisa Meeks, an expert in disabilities in medical education, on how ableism affects educational and practice outcomes.
And please consider how you and your institution can implement these ideas:
- Education and Training: Incorporating disability awareness and sensitivity training in nursing education to challenge stereotypes and foster inclusive care.
- Policy Development: Enforcing workplace and school policies that ensure accessibility and reasonable accommodations for both patients and staff with disabilities.
- Advocacy and Representation: Encouraging the inclusion of nurses with disabilities in leadership roles to drive systemic change. Research and Data Collection: Studying ableism’s impact on health outcomes and workplace dynamics to inform evidence-based interventions.
- Cultural Humility: Promoting an inclusive culture that values including disability as a dimension of human experience.
We look forward to having thoughtful discussions this year within our OADN Community spaces, so stay tuned for more blog posts on this and other topics! And please get in touch if you have any questions about ableism or would like to suggest other ideas for the blog.