부산대학교 도서관

The philosophy of a curriculum can influence nursing students' attitudes to particular patient groups. Despite nursing claiming to focus on meeting the needs of all, the development of an understanding of patients with disabilities is one area that is generally not given specific attention in undergraduate nursing curricula. A small pilot study was conducted to explore the effect of a clinical placement in a rehabilitation setting on nursing students' attitudes towards, and effectiveness in caring for, adult patients with acquired disabilities from head and spinal injuries. The students arrived with unexpectedly positive attitudes towards persons with a disability, which remained relatively unchanged at the end of the clinical placement. This article reports on the pre/post-test results of the students' attitude changes employing the Attitudes Towards Disablement Scale (ATDS) and the Scale of Attitudes Towards Disabled Persons (SADP). The students' participation in a disability-specific preparation programme, prior to the placement, may explain these findings, thereby supporting other studies that report the value of such programmes in increasing positive attitudes to persons with disability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]