Clinical Nurse Educators' Experiences on Instructing Student Nurses With Disabilities (SWD's) in the Clinical Arena

In Canada, protections are offered to post-secondary students with disabilities through federal and provincial legislation. At the federal level, the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms section 15(1) identifies the right of Canadians to be treated equally and explicitly identifies disability as a prohibited ground of discrimination with a right to accommodation. Although, each province and territory have their own respective Human Rights Code which detail protected areas, each code explicitly includes disability as a prohibited ground of discrimination and offers a detailed definition of what constitutes a disability [10-12]. Further, the duty to accommodate included in each act details the legal obligation to remove barriers and promote equitable participation. However, the duty to accommodate is not an absolute. For example, the Ontario Human Rights Code describes undue hardship as a justification to deny accommodation for reasons such as health concerns, safety concerns and financial cost.