The lived experiences of registered nurses caring for people with intellectual disability in the acute care hospital context in Australia

Background People with intellectual disability (ID) experience poorer health outcomes than the general population. One of the barriers to quality healthcare is lack of knowledge and understanding of ID by nurses (Trollor et al., 2017). The near absence of ID content in pre-registration nursing curricula plays a part in the poor understanding of the varied and complex healthcare needs of this vulnerable population leading to negative attitudes and subsequent shortfalls in the provision of quality care (Howie et al., 2021). Rationale/Justification It is important to understand the experiences of acute care RNs when providing care in the absence of any meaningful ID education, given the recognised extra skills required to facilitate appropriate and quality nursing care. An extensive search of the literature determined no studies have been conducted concerning the lived experience of RNs caring for people with ID in the acute care hospital context, both internationally and in Australia, which provided a rationale for this study to be undertaken. Expected Outcomes Knowledge generated from this proposed study will provide new insights and understanding available to clinicians and health care services. Through an evidenced-based approach, such knowledge has the potential to guide nursing practice, nurse educators and curriculum designers, and policy makers at all levels of health service provision, including the Council of Deans for Nursing and Midwifery. Aims/objectives/research question The aim of this study was to explore the lived experiences of registered nurses (RNs) in caring for people with ID in the acute care hospital context in Australia. The study research objectives were: i) to understand the lived experience of RNs, as described by them, in caring for a person with ID, and ii) to describe how individuals made sense of their experience in caring for a person with ID. The research question posed was: What is the lived experience of registered nurses caring for people with intellectual disability in the acute care hospital context in Australia? Research design and methods The methodological approach chosen to best answer the research question was descriptive phenomenology informed by the works of Husserl (1859-1938) and adopting Colaizzi’s (1978) seven-step data analytical framework. Participant details The number of participants is expected to be between 10 to 15. The inclusion criteria are Registered nurses who: • were involved in the direct care of a person with ID in the past four years. • have worked in a private or public hospital, or who have worked in community settings involving admissions and discharges of people with ID in an acute care facility in any State or Territory of Australia. Participants will be asked to attend two interviews. The first interview will take one hour or more. The second interview is to confirm that data analysed from the first interview is true and correct and will take about 30 minutes. Interviews will be conducted face-to-face, on Skype, or by phone at a mutually agreed place and time. Interviews will be audio recorded and later transcribed by a professional transcriber. Process of Recruitment An advertisement will be placed in a number of nursing magazines or journals that have a national circulation inviting interested potential participants to be part of the study. The advertisement will contain information about the study, level of expected involvement, and contact details of the researcher, inviting interested registered nurses to make contact by phone or by email. Results/outcomes/future plans Participants will be sent a summary of the written report if consent is given. Dissemination of findings will be through a thesis, publications in peer reviewed journals, and at national and international conferences.