Nurses with Disabilities : Professional Issues and Job Retention

Awarded second place in the 2013 AJN Book of the Year Awards in the Professional Issues category

"This book is a must for all healthcare managers, recruitment, occupational health, human resources and for all nurses working within the healthcare setting to gain a full understanding and dispel the myths and misconceptions surrounding disability. It should be on all student nurses reading lists."--Nursing Times

ìThis book will provide nurses with the information to make objective and fact based assessments...Moreover, it will arm nursing professionals with an understanding of how the issue of disability is affecting workforce supply in nursing, how accommodations can provide assistance to individuals with disabilities, and how a balanced and thoughtful approach can allow nursing professionals to function to their fullest.î

Geraldine Polly Bednash, PhD, RN, FAAN
Chief Executive Officer/Executive Director
American Association of Colleges of Nursing

ì[This book] has brought together information and real-life experiences of nurses who have disabilities. It will serve as an invaluable source of information on the impact of disability on the employment and retention of registered nurses.î

Suzanne C. Smeltzer, EdD, RN, FAAN
Professor and Director, Center for Nursing Research
Villanova University College of Nursing

This is the first research-based book to confront workplace issues facing nurses who have disabilities. It not only examines in-depth their experiences, roadblocks to successful employment, and misperceptions surrounding these nurses, but also provides viable solutions for creating positive attitudes towards them and a welcoming work environment that fosters hiring and retention. From the perspectives and actual voices of nurses with disabilities, nurse leaders, nurse administrators, and patients, the book identifies nurses with disabilities (including sensory, musculoskeletal, emotional, and mental health issues), discusses why they choose to leave nursing or hide their disabilities, and analyzes how their disabilities may influence career choices.

Written by the foremost researcher on nurses with disabilities, the book addresses patient safety, environmental factors, and retention strategies. It discusses why many nurses feel the need to conceal their disability even though it does not affect their ability to carry out their duties. It addresses interactions with colleagues, administrators, and patients and explores the common misperception that nurses with disabilities jeopardize patient safety. The text discusses potential solutions such as changing nursing education, altering nurse job description, and enhancing workplace accommodations. It seeks to influence nurse leaders and administrators, who have the power to institute change and retain nurses with disabilities, and will be a valuable asset to nursing classes in policy and leadership.

• Provides solutions regarding professional issues faced by nurses with disabilities
• Helps nurse recruiters and administrators clarify and strengthen retention strategies
• Features the voices of nurses with disabilities, nurse leaders, recruitment specialists, and patients
• Buttressed by four research studies and written by the leading researcher in the field