The experiences of deaf people on becoming and being qualified mental health nurses : a narrative exploration

• Main Author: Sharples, Naomi
• Published: University of Salford 2011
• Subjects: 615.5
• Online Access: http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.539138

Historically Deaf people have been denied access to professional nurse education due to communication and ideological barriers. The aim of the research was to understand the experiences of the first Deaf qualified nurses before they entered the Pre-registration Diploma in Nursing Programme, during the programme and after the programme as they progressed into nursing roles. Throughout the thesis the tradition of big D/deaf and small d/deaf will be used to identify the community versus the socio-medical perspective. The purpose of the research was to gather the nurses' thoughts and feelings about their experiences and to analyse these using thematic analysis within a narrative interpretive tradition against a backdrop of Habermas' critical theory and Freire's critical pedagogy. By drawing out significant themes to structure a deeper understanding of the nurses' unique positions, a model for inclusive education practice was created to support deaf people and people from minority groups into the nursing profession. The signed narratives were video recorded and interpreted into written English transcripts which were then analysed to discover the underlying themes using Boyatzis' thematic analysis model. The findings are set against an historical and contemporary setting of deaf people in Western society, their experiences of education, health and employment. These unique findings illustrate the significance of an accessible language environment for the nurses, the role of the organisation in ensuring access for the nurses and the impact that barriers to education or the clinical environment have on the women. The implications for education and practice address the need to analyse the workforce required in deaf services, to scrutinize the access provided for deaf people, to develop the cultural competence skills of the workforce, enhance the use of additional support mechanisms, generate accessible communities of practice and to use the deaf nurses' own ideas and perspectives to develop accessible provision.