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| Author | Charmaine Montesin |
| Abstract | This study was designed to investigate nurses' attitudes towards children with a disability in hospital. From the results, it seems that nurses do have a caring attitude towards these children. However, there are many grey areas which appear to need clarification. In fact there seems to be two "sides of the coin". One side shows the nurses' wishes to care for these children and the other side is the apparent presence of stereotyping, labeling and lack of knowledge which still causes the child to be 'pitied'. This however could be more of a cultural than a professional trait. Although the study was small scale, the researcher still experienced the rewards and problems of collecting, analysing, interpreting and presenting data. It may be confidently said that carrying out this study was a beneficial exercise in familiarisation with the research process. It was a worthwhile opportunity at experiencing the satisfaction, together with the difficulties, inherent in carrying out a research study. The researcher also developed increased awareness of the concept of disability and of the importance of this in Maltese society. Additional studies in this area should be encouraged and carried out on larger scales in the health care field. It is recommended that a larger scale study would be carried out, incorporating the whole population of nurses on paediatric wards to provide more conclusive results. Other methods of investigation should be considered. It is recommended that a combination of observation and an interview or questionnaire would be used in which comments written or stated by respondents could be compared to what is observed by the researcher herself and provide a more accurate picture of the attitudes held. There is also a need for better planning of education regarding disability within all health professional courses. This should not only be done at student level but also be an ongoing part of in-training education. This is important, so that all professionals develop increased knowledge of disability, understand the importance of positive attitudes and keep in touch with the latest advances regarding disability. Research, within other health care professions should also be encouraged in Malta. When the person with a disability enters hospital every member of the multi disciplinary team should take an active part in his care. Therefore the attitudes of all the professionals are important to ensure that the person with a disability is receiving the care he deserves. As the issue of disability is still a new one to Malta, there still needs a lot to be done in developing national awareness. This awareness should start from a very young age and should be part of health education given in schools. |
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| Key words | Nurses, Attitudes, Disability, Child, Hospital, Thesis |