Knowledge and preparedness of student nurses to provide healthcare to patients with deafness

Abstract

Investigating student nurses’ knowledge and preparedness to provide healthcare to the Deaf is an important step in improving access to quality health for individuals who are Deaf. Specifically, this study brings to light the level of knowledge student nurses have about; Deaf culture, health needs of the Deaf, communicating in sign language, as well as preparedness to provide healthcare to patients with deafness. The study utilised the Critical Disability Theory. The study adopted the descriptive survey design and used questionnaire for data collection. A purposive sample of 110 final year student nurses in Tepa Nursing and Midwifery Training College participated in the study. Data from the questionnaire were entered into Statistical Package for Social Sciences version 29.0 (IBM SPSS, 29.0) and analysed using descriptive statistics such as frequency, means, and standard deviation. The findings were that majority of student nurses have limited knowledge about Deaf culture (M = 1.90; SD = 0.22). The study further revealed that majority student nurses have poor knowledge about the health needs of the Deaf (M = 1.59; SD = 0.57). Furthermore, the study reported a high proportion of student nurses having poor knowledge to communicate with the Deaf even though student nurses reported to have studied Ghanaian Sign Language for a semester (M = 1.74; SD = 0.12). Finally, the study revealed that majority of student nurses in Tepa Nursing and Midwifery Training College were not adequately prepared to provide healthcare to Deaf patients (M = 1.63; SD = 0.35). In view of these, the study recommends an inclusion of Deaf culture and Deaf awareness education, as well as sign language into the coursework for student nurses in all levels by the management of Tepa Nursing and Midwifery Training College. Again, the management of the College should integrate educational programmes, such as visiting some Schools for the Deaf. This could contribute to the improvement of student nurses’ knowledge and behaviour toward the Deaf