Barriers to Nursing School Admissions for Students With Physical or Sensory Disabilities: Do Essential Abilities Requirements Align With Licensure Standards and Legal Precedence?

Aim: The aim of the study was to examine sensory and motor essential abilities required by nursing boards and assess their inclusion in prelicensure nursing program admissions.

Background: The nursing workforce should mirror diverse patient populations for better concordance; however, essential abilities restrictions hinder admissions for students with disabilities.

Method: Requirements for licensure were collected from state boards of nursing and compared with essential abilities admissions requirements from 58 prelicensure programs.

Results: No state boards mandated sensory or motor abilities for licensure. Thirty-one (53%) programs had restrictive essential abilities criteria. Some criteria conflicted with safety standards or the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Conclusion: Disparity of essential abilities requirements was observed. Restrictive essential abilities criteria may create barriers to admission of students with disabilities, thus limiting the diversity and capacity of the nursing workforce.