Evaluation of the effects of an inservice training program on nursing faculty members' perceptions, knowledge, and concerns about students with disabilities

This study evaluated the effects of an inservice program on the perceptions, knowledge, and concerns of nursing faculty members about students with disabilities. Training was delivered to 112 faculty members in eight nursing programs. Using a 6-point Likert scale, faculty members rated their perceptions of whether people with different types of disabilities could succeed as nursing students and professionals, their concerns regarding a number of issues about having these students in their programs, and their knowledge about how to teach and accommodate these students. The changes in faculty members' reported perceptions, before and after the training, regarding the capacity of students with five types of disabilities to be successful in nursing programs and as professionals were all statistically significant. Faculty members' concerns about patient safety, the time required of faculty, and effects on academic and clinical standards decreased significantly from before to after participating in the training. Faculty members' mean ratings of knowledge gained through the training was approximately 4, on the 6-point Likert scale, in the areas of accommodations, legal issues, clinical teaching strategies, and classroom strategies. The results of this study suggest that faculty members' perceptions, knowledge, and concerns can be positively affected through training.