An exploratory study to identify if exposure to caring for people with learning disabilities can alter initial perceptions and feelings of pre-registration, general nursing students.
Citation
(2016) An exploratory study to identify if exposure to caring
for people with learning disabilities can alter initial
perceptions and feelings of pre-registration, general
nursing students., no. 90.
Abstract
Background: People with learning disabilities are 2.5 times more likely to have health issues
than the rest of the general population (MENCAP 2016). Despite their heavy reliance on health
services, health inequalities are present for this group (Lacey and Ouvry 2003). The literature
shows that they encounter discrimination and poor care in the health care environment. This
can result in affecting their quality of life and some cases have even resulted in unnecessary
deaths (McArthur et al. 2015). It is essential to face these injustices, especially since 1.5 million
make up the UK population (MENCAP 2016). The perceptions and feelings towards this group
can affect the care provided and a lack of training and skill for working with this population is
apparent (McConkey et al 2002, Thornton 1999).The evidence from the literature suggests that
this educational requirement is needed and identified by nursing staff (Webber at al. 2008).
However, there is little evidence to suggest as to what will be done to address this demand to
improve these educational needs
Aims: The proposed study is to identify if exposure to caring for people with learning disabilities
can alter initial perceptions and feelings of pre-registration, general nursing students. The aims
are to discover if exposure to caring for this group can alter these initial perceptions and
feelings; to explore the initial feelings and perceptions of general student nurses when caring for
people with learning disabilities; to gain an understanding of how current education training
prepares student nurses for caring for this group and to identify if exposure to this care has an
impact on the future practice of student nurses.
Methods: This study will adopt a qualitative exploratory-descriptive approach using audio
recorded focus groups and semi-structured online logs. A combination of purposive and nonprobability
sampling will be used to recruit general student nurses from a large city in Scotland.
The data collected will be over a three-week period and analysed using thematic analysis.