Term of Award

1999

Degree Name

Doctor of Education in Educational Administration

Document Type and Release Option

Dissertation (restricted to Georgia Southern)

Department

Department of Leadership, Technology, and Human Development

Committee Chair

Michael D. Richardson

Committee Member 1

Illegible

Committee Member 2

James Illegible

Committee Member 3

Barry Illegible

Abstract

Students with learning disabilities have entered colleges and universities in increasing numbers. At the same time, nursing educators have worked to integrate students with learning disabilities into nursing programs by developing policies that affected legislation compliance, nursing practice, and nursing competency issues. Since nurse education administrators are responsible for ensuring that their programs and their faculty are compliant with federal mandates to include students with disabilities into nursing educational programs, it is important to examine whether management factors influenced educational access for students with learning disabilities. In this exploratory study, questionnaires were sent to 600 nursing faculty in baccalaureate, associate and diploma programs across the nation Of the 424 surveys returned, 406 of these were usable. Results were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Results showed that most nursing faculty taught students with learning disabilities in classroom and clinical settings. Faculty who were older and more experienced were more willing to provide accommodations for students with learning disabilities. Factors influencing faculty willingness to provide more accommodations for students were prior contact, previous teaching experiences, and low levels of concern about the abilities of students with learning disabilities to function in nursing practice settings. Analysis indicated that many faculty reported poor to fair knowledge about learning disability issues and this knowledge influenced faculty indecision about providing educational accommodations. Results from the study can be used to assist nursing education administrators as they work to comply with the legal mandates and to safely integrate students with learning disabilities into nursing education programs.

Copyright

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