Nursing in children and young people’s services

There are many different types of specialist nursing service for children and young people, including paediatric nursing in hospitals, child and adolescent mental health nursing, health visiting and school nursing.

Increasingly, learning disability nurses are to be found working across the full range of children and young people’s services, where it has been shown that good support in the early years, can lead to people with a learning disability, having healthier, happier and more fulfilling lives, not just during childhood and adolescence but also throughout their adult years.

These roles make sure when children and young people use NHS services, their rights are fully respected and protected and that they and their families are fully involved as partners in their own care.

Working directly with the person and the family and others, the learning disability nurses role can serve a critical function in ensuring timely and effective access to specialist assessment, support and intervention.