title: Addressing the need for education: curriculum development for nurses about intellectual and developmental disabilities.
abstract: People with disabilities and national and international agencies are voicing their views, forcing health care providers to look at how people with disabilities are treated in the health care system and to find ways to help them achieve equal access to quality care. Education about nursing care of patients with I/DD is limited in basic nursing education programs and for nurses who are in practice. A number of developmental disabilities nursing projects are addressing this need with curriculum development that has validated the need for education and has begun testing the various methods of instruction. As the curriculum is disseminated in written or Internet-accessible formats, nurses in education and practice will be able to find resources that target a specific topic area or a set of comprehensive instructions to acquire a better understanding of the comprehensive needs of people with I/DD and better ways to provide care. There is a need for a greater integration of curriculum about nursing care of people with developmental disabilities into basic nursing education at all levels and further evaluation of the impact of this curriculum on nursing care for people with I/DD. The hope is that these efforts can improve the education of nurses and other health care providers for the direct benefit of individuals with intellectual disabilities.
authors.affiliation: University of California Los Angeles School of Nursing, Factor Building Room 5-145, 700 Tiverton, Box 956919, Los Angeles, CA 90095-6919, USA. jhahn@sonnet.ucla.edu
authors.forename: Joan Earle
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Hahn
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D003194:Computer-Assisted Instruction; D003479:Curriculum; D002658:Developmental Disabilities / Q000451:nursing*; D004506:Education, Nursing; D006801:Humans; D008607:Intellectual Disability / Q000451:nursing*; D020380:Needs Assessment