Registered nurses with disabilities: legal rights and responsibilities

Key wordsNurses with disabilities, legal, discrimination, rightsAbstractPurpose: The purpose of this legal case review and analysis was to determine what kinds of cases involving nurses with disabilities are typically brought to attorneys, which cases tend to be successful, and how and when a nurse with a disability should pursue legal action.Design: The review used the standard legal case analysis method to analyze legal cases that have been brought by registered nurses (RNs) with physical or sensory disabilities from 1995 to 2013. The cases span the period following the enactment of the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990 through the ADA Amendments Act (ADAAA) of 2008.Methods: A nurse attorney reviewed the background material to find every case involving an RN with a disability, excluding those with mental health disabilities or substance abuse issues. Case analysis was conducted using standard legal case analysis procedures. Fifty-six cases were analyzed.Findings: The cases were categorized into five types of legal claims: (a) disability discrimination (84%); (b) failure to accommodate (46%); (c) retaliation (12.5%); (d) association (3.6%); and (e) hostile work environment (7%). The cases were largely unsuccessful, particularly those brought under the ADA instead of the ADAAA.Conclusions: The case analysis revealed that several cases brought by RNs with disabilities using the ADA might have been successful under the ADAAA. In addition, the case analysis has provided vital information for administrators, leaders, and clinical nurses regarding when a case is appropriate for legal action. These findings from this review will help nurses recognize when they are being treated in a discriminatory way in the workplace, what their legal rights and responsibilities are, and at what point they should pursue legal action.Clinical Relevance: This review has relevance to all RNs working in clinical and academic settings who may have a congenital or acquired physical or sensory disability.Research to date on the work life experiences of registered nurses (RN) with physical or sensory disabilities has demonstrated that these nurses tend to feel discriminated against by supervisors and colleagues. Many nurses with disabilities leave the profession because they worry they will jeopardize patient safety or because they feel pushed out (Neal-Boylan, Hopkins, Skeete, Hartmann, Iezzoni, & Nunez-Smith 2012; Neal-Boylan, 2014; Neal-Boylan, 2012). Common themes in the research have included the tendency to try to hide the disability if possible, the feeling that she or he is being treated differently from others, difficulty meeting the expectations of others, concern for patient safety, the decision to go back to school and sometimes change career goals, and compensation for what the nurse cannot do in the usual way.Interestingly, literature regarding nurses with physical disabilities in countries outside of the United States is scant. Camerino et al. (2001) studied 1,159 Italian nurses regarding musculoskeletal symptoms related to the work environment and nursing tasks. They found that female nurses were more likely to suffer from musculoskeletal disorders related to physical exertion and job seniority than were male nurses. Nurses who reported being disabled by their musculoskeletal disorders perceived less social support rather than increased workload or intensity. This was supported in the studies cited in the preceding paragraph by nurses with disabilities who frequently described supportive colleagues and administrators as making a difference in their work life experience.In addition, research data regarding nurses in the United States have revealed a lack of awareness among nurses with disabilities regarding their legal rights and the unlikelihood of pursuing legal recourse in the presence of a good legal case. It seemed logical, therefore, to analyze legal cases involving RNs with disabilities since the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990 was enacted. …