Learning Disability Practice

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Newsroom

Photo of nurse associate students in training, illustrating story about their introduction in Wales

NMC agrees to regulate nursing associate role in Wales

First nursing associates expected to begin training in autumn 2025

Picture of filing cabinet tabs with FRAUD in red letters and INVESTIGATIONS and LAW in black letters

Two nurses removed from NMC register for test fraud

Regulator found evidence of fraudulent computer-based tests at a centre in Nigeria

Nursing and Midwifery nameplate outside its HQ

Nurse suspended after trying to get selfie with footballer

NMC gives nurse four-month suspension for breaching code and patient privacy

Striking nurses at Daisy Hill Hospital in Newry

Nurses reject pay offer as it falls short of giving them parity

Nurses in Northern Ireland refuse deal that fails to bring them in line with England

Image of four students turning their backs on a beckoning figure standing at a doorway labelled ‘Nursing Careers’

Why are students turning away from nursing courses?

Promises of a rewarding career fail to halt a decline in applicants for nursing courses

A smiling advanced nurse practitioner in NHS Fife's new purple uniform

Purple uniforms introduced for advanced nurse practitioners

Scottish trust’s uniforms ensure better recognition of ANPs in emergency settings

Evidence and Practice

Exploring the short-term impact of using the Learning Disability Screening Questionnaire in a service for people experiencing homelessness

Using the Learning Disability Screening Questionnaire for homeless people

Homeless services may not recognise service users’ intellectual disabilities

 Obesity and nutrition: supporting positive dietary behaviour change in people with learning disabilities

Supporting positive dietary behaviour change in people with learning disabilities

The importance of nutrition as a controllable factor in preventing long-term conditions

Forensic risk assessment in people with learning disabilities: principles and process

Forensic risk assessment in people with learning disabilities: principles and process

The process aims to provide a nuanced understanding of factors that may lead to offending...

Promoting oral health for people with learning disabilities

Promoting oral health for people with learning disabilities

How interventions such as desensitisation and reasonable adjustments can address challenges

How to support adherence to medicines among people with learning disabilities

How to support adherence to medicines among people with learning disabilities

A strategy is needed that includes education, reasonable adjustments and medication reviews

Supporting people with learning disabilities and a fear of needles to receive the COVID-19 vaccine

Supporting people with learning disabilities and needle phobia to be vaccinated

How a desensitisation programme was used to prepare people for the COVID-19 vaccination

Features

Illustration featuring five different NHS uniform tunic colours, from left to right: indigo, green, sea blue, navy blue and light blue

Uniform approach: what we like about our standardised scrubs

Nurses from Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland on the pros of their nations’ uniforms

Illustration shows healthcare staff around a table formed from a clock face to suggest a team approach to rostering

Rostering: could more control over your shift timings transform your work-life balance?

Team-based rostering pilots point to improved staff retention and greater collaboration

Community nurse arrives at man’s front door. The two greet each other, suggesting a they share a warm bond

Bonding with long-term patients: promoting continuity of care within healthy boundaries

Tips on fostering ongoing therapeutic relationships while avoiding undue attachment

A dynamic illustration of a strand of DNA looking like a blue spiralling ladder with a section highlighted in pink

Rare neurodevelopmental disorders: what you need to know

Getting to know the characteristics of rare disorders can improve patient care

A man with learning disabilities listens carefully to a nurse who has her back to the camera

How you can improve end of life care planning for people with learning disabilities

Guidance and tools to help nurses ensure service users’ wishes are met

A senior nurse sternly talking to two other nurses, one of whom appears upset, looking away from the manager, with her arms folded

How to handle a bullying, weak or incompetent boss

Tips on initiating constructive conversations and where to seek support over poor leadership

Opinion

A nurse sitting at a table with a person with learning disabilities and epilepsy going through the Clive Treacey Safety Checklist

Promoting safe care for people with epilepsy and a learning disability and/or autism

Nurses can use the new Clive Treacey Safety Checklist to support service users

A nurse stands in front of a line of other nurses, looking happy and confident. Yet nurses often downplay their role

Our professional inferiority complex: why you’re never ‘just’ a nurse

Safety-critical care is what we do, yet some of us can’t resist the urge to downplay

Free
Time for change written in sand on a beach

Is it time to retire the title learning disability nurse?

Changing the name could make it more contemporary and reflect changing times

Students

Nursing student Andrew Poole sits at a table in a community hall talking to a parish nursing client while on clinical placement

Community placement: what does working with parish nurses involve?

Parish nursing teams can offer scope to develop communication and health promotion skills

Nurse, face unseen, holds an illuminated lightbulb, with systematically connected dots appearing to radiate from, illustrating the capacity of nurses to be innovative

Care innovations: how to spark ideas on placement and influence change in practice

Hospital-based projects are a chance to gather evidence, present a case and improve care

An illustration showing a nurse in the middle of a circle of six other healthcare staff with arrows pointing away from the nurse to illustrate delegation of work

How can I become more confident in delegating nursing tasks?

Delegation is a key nursing skill but can be challenging, here is some practical advice

Careers

Three young woman huddle together, all looking at their phones. Social media can effective in advertising nurse vacancies

Social media recruitment: how you can turbo-charge interest in vacancies where you work

TikTok and other platforms are proving to be powerful tools for filling nurse roles

Top half of clock-face, with the word deadline emblazoned on it, the time showing six minutes to midnight. Revalidation deadlines can induce panic in NMC registrants

Help! My revalidation is looming and I’m worried I’ve left it too late to get started

Don’t panic – let our portfolio tool take the strain out of organising your documents

Sexual assault referrals: my work as a forensic nurse examiner

A typical day in this demanding role, and the skills and compassion required

Jobs