Exploring the Accessibility Benefits of Online Learning in the US

Continuing education after high school, particularly if you have a disability, can be a challenging experience. While attempts have been made to provide support for those who are disadvantaged in a classroom, sometimes it’s the disabilities that are unseen that can limit the ability of students to participate.

The recent pandemic forced a rethink in the way students engage with classrooms. For a few years, students were not forced to attend the classroom - and instead, allowed to use their support structures and external resources to connect to the classroom over the web. Studies observing this trend noticed that the shift to remote learning has shifted the status quo with a valuable secondary effect - where students are encouraged and supported through coursework such as an accelerated nursing degree online.

As the US healthcare system experiences ongoing nursing shortages, is opening the door to innovative and diverse ways of education a simple way to introduce a diverse field of healthcare workers to the medical sector? Let’s discover how this focus on supporting a unique and diverse culture of nurses may transform how authorities tackle the nursing shortage in the years ahead.

Studying Online Eliminates Key Obstacles

Studying online is a rapidly developing channel for students. Facing the inflationary pressures of transport and regular living expenses, being able to study online offers learners from rural and remote communities the opportunity to study advanced courses, without the need to migrate to a large urban center. For example, a parent who lives and works in Fredericksburg may be able to study one of a few accelerated online nursing programs in Texas, being able to complete their studies without needing to constantly travel to campus or pay for expensive accommodation and childcare options.

While studying online benefits those who may have dependents and travel restrictions, curiously, it also enables a group of learners that may not have previously been able to access traditional university settings as a result of disadvantage or disability. It’s well documented that behavioral conditions such as ADHD and autism can have significant effects on the ability of students to succeed in classrooms, as they may need additional assistance to get the most out of learning opportunities. Compounded by the relative strangeness of a new environment such as a strange new campus, traditional university study can cause significant discomfort.

Image Credit: Freepik

A Framework For More Diverse Education

If more students are able to access programs and learning through online degrees, what does that represent in terms of the quality of nurses? Recent research offers us an insight into the potential benefits of being able to study online - with some studies suggesting that while students may study to the same level as they may in a face-to-face environment, they are significantly more capable at being able to retain knowledge when studying online. When considering this fact, thinking about how students with learning disabilities are embracing online coursework makes a lot more sense - by being presented with an environment that is able to work with their requirements, students are less likely to be left behind and churned out by a system that is unable to support them adequately.

Online education has pivoted from being the loner of education practice to being seriously embraced as a changemaker in the lives of learners across the nation. Providing the opportunity for students to study online can yield significant benefits for learners, and in some cases may also help reduce the costs for universities (particularly for those that operate in expensive real estate markets such as New York). Consider that these are just a few of the benefits that can be yielded by studying online:

• Being able to study online can provide the opportunity for flexible scheduling. As a learner, you may find that you’re more productive at different intervals than a standard daytime university course. As such, you can tweak your studies to maintain a work-life balance that works for you.
• Given that these courses are predominantly online, it’s almost certain that sessions will be recorded and available for replay while you complete your studies. This can have a compounding benefit for learners who struggle - if you’re unable to attend a study session, you have the opportunity to catch up in your own time, often without penalty.

Tackling The Nationwide Nursing Shortage

It’s well known that there is an ongoing nursing shortage nationwide. An estimate by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics found that to account for population growth, the impacts of an aging workforce, and increased demand for medical services, the United States will need to hire approximately 275,000 additional nurses between 2020 and 2030.

In fact, nursing is expected to be one of the most in-demand jobs over the next decade. As such, registrars and regulatory authorities are embracing the benefits of online nursing study with open arms. They’re able to engage with a broader range of potential nurses with a breadth of experience - allowing for a more diverse institution.

Tackling the nursing shortage is undoubtedly one of the most pressing issues that exist within the health sector in the United States - while chronic conditions take their toll on the vulnerable, having a shortage of medical professionals makes it hard to get conditions treated in an adequate and timely fashion. As more and more opportunities become available to study online, the potential will exist to close the skills gap - and administrators will undoubtedly embrace this.

This may have an additional benefit - the students of today may begin to see roles such as nursing staffed with people who look like them, with their own range of life experiences. It’s hoped that this may help break down dangerous stigmas.

Image Credit: Nick Morrison on Unsplash

Where To From Here?

It’s important that as learners, we’re aware of the study pathways that are available to us - even if they’re not a typically campus-based opportunity. Online study presents significant benefits for students - providing them with the support and structures necessary to succeed, while also being flexible enough to cater to students with unique and diverse stressors.

As administrators look to tackle the nursing shortage, nurses will be in high demand - and there’s no doubt that online nursing graduates will be held in the same high regard as their traditional university peers. If you’re looking to pursue a course in nursing, now has never been a better time to explore your options - you never know what opportunities may lie around the corner.

(Disclaimer: Devdiscourse's journalists were not involved in the production of this article. The facts and opinions appearing in the article do not reflect the views of Devdiscourse and Devdiscourse does not claim any responsibility for the same.)