Abstract
AIM: This qualitative study utilizes Moustakas's psychological phenomenology to explore the lived experiences in the clinical setting of nursing students with disabilities.
BACKGROUND: Overall, the numbers of college students with disabilities are increasing, and more students with disabilities are being admitted into nursing programs.
METHOD: A purposive sample of 13 junior and senior baccalaureate nursing students with self-declared disabilities from two Northeastern baccalaureate nursing programs were interviewed.
FINDINGS: Five main themes and 12 subthemes emerged from the data. The main themes are: masking a disability, revealing a disability, affecting clinical experiences, overcoming challenges in clinical, and sharing experiences with others. The findings include: missing out on clinical experiences, limiting clinical performance, and developing strategies to adapt to a disability. Discrimination was found to exist for nursing students with disabilities who realized that they were now responsible for managing their disabilities
CONCLUSION: Recommendations are offered for faculty orientation programs and disability services offices.