Perception of student-nurses towards provision of health care services to persons with disabilities at the College of Community Health Nursing, Winneba

Abstract

The purpose of the study was to investigate the perceptions student nurses have toward people with disabilities. One hundred and fifteen respondents were polled, including five tutors, ten preceptors, and 100 third-year student nurses. The study adopted a descriptive survey design and used a questionnaire as the main instrument for data collection. Purposive sampling was used for selecting the respondents for the study. Frequencies and percentages were used to analysed the data. The study's findings revealed that the care provided to people with disabilities is not always based on the good attitudes of health professionals. Nurses have diverse views about people with disabilities. The perception of student nurses toward care provision for persons with disabilities depends on a number of factors. From the findings, it was recommended that the College of Community Health Nursing put in efforts to help Students Nurses (SN) have access to disability-related information and build more practical rooms to augment teaching and learning in the college. The management of the college should appropriately allocate courses to competent tutors and preceptors with regular field trips to help in the practical knowledge acquisition by the student nurses. Community Base Rehabilitation (CBR) should remain examinable for licensing, and access to online searching for student nurses. Workshops in relation to special education and disabilities are periodically organized. Research project work on disability-related topics should be part of the selected topics for student nurses' final-year projects.