LD Nursing - Dispelling the Myths

When I was approached to write about my career as a learning disability nurse, I welcomed the opportunity with open arms. I am so proud to have been a learning disability nurse for the past 37 years. I have not regretted one single day and I want to tell my story to hopefully inspire anyone who is thinking about becoming a nurse to choose learning disability nursing as a career. The career opportunities are incredible not only working as a clinician but also in managerial and director roles. I recently read a study that revealed over 100 different job roles in learning disability nursing.

I trained to be a learning disability nurse a long time ago, in 1984 to be precise. I have heard many stories told by learning disabilities nurses about how choosing this branch of nursing only happened by chance. This also applies to me. At the age of 17 I did not know the difference between learning disability (mental handicap was a term still being used at this time) and mental illness.

I have held a variety of roles predominantly working in forensic settings and have had the privilege of impacting on the quality of care through policy development whilst working in senior director positions. I currently hold a National role within Voyage Care as Clinical, Safeguarding ad Standards Lead and have many learning disability nurse colleagues doing an incredible job supporting people with learning disability in social care to live fulfilling lives in the community. Learning disability nurses have never been in more demand than now.

Fortunately, Learning disability nursing has come a long way since the 1980’s. I find it unbelievable that myths around learning disability nursing still exist. Such as “it’s not proper nursing”, “there are no career opportunities for LD nurses” and “LD nurses are glorified support workers”. My eldest son is planning on training to become a learning disability nurse, when he discussed his aspirations to do this with some work colleagues whilst working in a mental health setting he was told “you are wasting your time doing that, learning disability nursing is being phased out”. On hearing about this I felt compelled to put him in the picture, telling him that this statement was completely contrary to what is happening and told him about the campaign to recruit more learning disability nurses and nursing students. I urged him to set the record straight with his work colleagues who are, ashamedly, mental health nurses.

When we look at the difficulties faced by people with a learning disability the myth that “Learning Disability nursing is not proper nursing” is called into question. Evidence suggests the rate of mental health problems in people with a learning disability is double that of the general population. Mental health problems are often comorbid with other conditions such as epilepsy, other physical health problems and sensory impairments. The 2018 Learning Disability Mortality Review (LeDeR) found that men with a learning disability die 23 years younger, and women 27 years younger than the general population for the sole reason they have a learning disability. The role of all nurses is to promote health and wellbeing and to save lives. As a learning disability nurse, you need to have skills, knowledge and expertise to support the person with learning disability from birth to end of life. As a learning disability nurse, you care for and support the person, and their families, to meet their physical, mental, emotional, psychological, educational, spiritual and social needs. I do not know what the definition of “a proper nurse” is but I do know the aspects described here require a highly skilled and knowledgeable professional nurse. We need to change the dominant culture from “learning disability nursing is not proper nursing” to “learning disability nursing is highly specialised nursing”.

Learning disability nursing is unique and needs to be centre stage as an exciting and rewarding career opportunity not to be missed. Training for the privilege of caring for the most vulnerable people in society and making a difference to people’s lives is one of the most worthwhile achievements a person can have. Learning disability nurses make a fundamental difference to the lives of people who deserve to be able to access the best possible care and support and put a stop to the ignorance and prejudice which still exists in modern society.

Community living is the future, shaped by the transforming care agenda and more recently the mental health act reforms which seek to abolish unnecessary hospital admissions for people with learning disability and people continuing to live in hospital wards. I have a son with both a learning and a physical disability who lives in supported living and it means everything to me as his mum to see him living a good life, his best life as an equal member of society and making plans for his future.

Are you that person who is willing to stand up for the rights of others and make a fundamental difference to people’s lives whilst doing a different job everyday – if you are then learning disability nursing is right for you, so come and be part of a unique specialist nursing profession.