‘Resetting the Profession’

Introduction

NHS Health Education England has been working together with other organisations to write this plan.

It is about how we can get more Learning Disability Nurses in the NHS.

The NHS wants to improve the quality of care for people with Learning Disabilities or Autism.

But fewer people are becoming Learning Disability Nurses.

This plan explains what we are going to do to make sure we have enough Learning Disability Nurses in the future.

Learning Disability Nurses

Learning Disability Nurses have had training to work with people with Learning Disabilities or Autism.

They help people with Learning Disabilities by:

• Improving their health
• Helping people to be independent
• Supporting people to make the most of their lives

Learning Disability Nurses work in specialist services in a range of places like:

• Hospitals
• Community teams, schools and day centres
• Health centres, local doctor’s surgeries and clinics
• Residential and care homes and prisons

The number of people who are starting to be trained as a Learning Disability Nurse has halved in the last two years.

About 1 in every 5 Learning Disability Nurse jobs is vacant. This means that the NHS is looking for more people to do the job.

What has happened

In 2019 Learning/Intellectual Disability Nursing Academic Network (LIDNAN) and the UK Learning Disability Nurse Consultant network wrote a plan.

In 2019 LIDNAN and UK Learning Disability Nurse Consultant network worked with the NHS and others to write a plan which said we need to:

• Get more people to start to be Learning Disability Nurses
• Keep more of the Learning Disability Nurses that we have
• Have better ways for Learning Disability Nurses to get more skills so they can develop and do more in their roles
• Let people know how important Learning Disability Nurses are to people with Learning Disabilities and their families.

This plan

This plan explains the things we have to do to make the NHS plan work.

Getting more Learning Disability Nurses to start

We plan to:

• Set up a group who explain more about what Learning Disability Nurses do
• Improve the leaflets, posters and online videos that explain what Learning Disability Nurses do
• Have more ways that people can be trained to be a Learning Disability Nurse
• Keep in touch with people who are interested in becoming a Learning Disability Nurse
• Set up a group of people with Learning Disabilities and carers who can explain more about working with people with Learning Disabilities

We hope that these ideas mean that we get twice as many people wanting to be a Learning Disability Nurse.

Keep more of the Learning Disability Nurses that we have

We plan to:

• Work with the organisations that train people with Learning Disabilities to make sure that all training is the same high standard
• Give student nurses better, more interesting opportunities while they are training
• Make sure more student nurses finish their training
• Set up ways that Learning Disability Nurses can support each other
• Set up ways that nurses can get promotion and take on more interesting work
• Write some new information which explains how Learning Disability Nurses can learn new skills as they work, and move up to more interesting work

Have better ways for Learning Disability Nurses to get more skills

We plan to:

• Look at the skills and experience that is needed in all the different types of places where Learning Disability Nurses work
• Help staff to look after themselves as well as the people with Learning Disabilities that they work with
• Write a new statement about Learning Disability Nurses that explains more about the work that they do
• Write new information about the work that Learning Disability Nurses do in:
  • Hospitals
  • In the community, helping people to stay healthy
  • In the community, helping support people who need more complicated support
  • In local doctor’s surgeries, health centres and clinics
• Set up new courses leading to a new certificate for Community Learning Disability Nurses
• Have 1 in every 10 Learning Disability Nurses being qualified as an Advanced Worker
• Set up more ways that nurses can get more training and improve their skills

Let people know how well Learning Disability Nurses work

We plan to work with other organisations involved in the care of people with Learning Disabilities to:

• Tell more people about how we are going get more Learning Disability Nurses
• Hold meetings to explain more about the plan
• Explain more about Learning Disability Nurses at conferences
• Set up a yearly event called a Learning Disability Nursing Harvest, for Learning Disability Nurses across the UK to share and celebrate the great work they do
• Make it clear how a Learning Disability Nurse can move up to more interesting jobs
• Train people to be leaders of Learning Disability Nurses