Attitudes Of Nursing Faculty Towards Nursing Students With Disabilities: An Integrative Review

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA, 1990) and Americans with Disabilities Act Amendments Act (ADAAA, 2008) provide students with disabilities access to postsecondary institutions and are applicable to nursing education in all learning environments. Nursing faculty members are charged with admitting, educating, and graduating students, with or without disabilities. Since the enactment of ADA and ADAAA, positive and negative attitudes of faculty towards students with disabilities have emerged in nursing literature. This integrative review focuses on the question: "What are nursing faculty's attitudes towards students with disabilities?" The nursing research was rigorously reviewed and analyzed in order to assess nursing faculty's attitudes towards students with disabilities. Themes emerged from an analysis of nine sources in relation to admission, accommodation, and perception of the success of students with disabilities in nursing programs and the nursing profession. Implications, recommendations, and a call for future nursing research were identified.