Facilitating the retention and success of students with disabilities in health sciences: Experiences and recommendations by nursing faculty members

Abstract

This paper explores the experiences of 19 Spanish faculty members teaching nursing students with disabilities and their recommendations to other colleagues about how to facilitate their retention and success. Students themselves nominated those faculty members they felt had contributed to their learning at university. We carried out a qualitative study with individual interviews and observations. We conducted an analysis of all the information using a system of categories and codes with different themes: experience teaching students with disabilities, personal and professional impact on the faculty and recommendations to other colleagues. The findings indicate that the participants had positive experiences teaching nursing students with disabilities, although they also commented on negative aspects. The impact of students with disabilities was greater at the professional level, as they had helped them become better professionals. Moreover, these participants gave recommendations to help other colleagues contribute to the inclusion of all their students. The study concludes that it is necessary to engage in inclusive pedagogy that contemplates students' needs and develops practices that allow for their learning and participation. Just like their peers, students with disabilities can successfully complete their degrees providing the necessary support is offered, and this includes sensitized, well-informed and properly-trained faculty.

Keywords: Disability; Experiences; Faculty members; Health sciences; Higher education; Nursing; Recommendations.