title: Treat Me Like Everyone Else: The Experience of Nurses Who Had Disabilities While in School.
abstract: The Americans With Disabilities Act requires that nursing programs not discriminate against students with disabilities. This article describes a qualitative study of RNs who had disabilities while in nursing school. As students, participants tried to hide their disabilities, experienced fear and anger from faculty, were frequently told they could never be nurses, wanted to be treated like everyone else, had to work harder than others to prove themselves worthy, and learned to advocate for themselves.
authors.affiliation: Author Affiliations: Dean and Professor (Dr Neal-Boylan), College of Nursing, University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh; and Assistant Professor, School of Arts and Sciences (Ms Miller), Quinnipiac University, Hamden, Connecticut.
authors.forename: Leslie
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Neal-Boylan
authors.forename: Michelle
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Miller
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D006233:Persons with Disabilities / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005181:Faculty, Nursing / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007400:Interprofessional Relations; D008875:Middle Aged; D015402:Nursing Education Research; D036301:Qualitative Research; D012579:Schools, Nursing / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence / Q000458:organization & administration*; D013338:Students, Nursing / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D014481:United States