Tameside & Glossop, Greater Manchester.
Pennine Care NHS Foundation Trust

I consider it to be a real honour to be a community Learning disability nurse. Since relocating from Ireland in 2012, I have worked in a variety of settings and community nursing is definitely my forte! I work within a dynamic multi-disciplinary team, helping to deliver a range of support and interventions, all delivered with the intention of enabling people to achieve optimum independence and to lead enriched, healthy lives.

One of my passions is being part of a drive to improve the involvement, care, and treatment for the people I support within generic services across Greater Manchester. I feel strongly about changing attitudes and behaviours, enabling colleagues from all disciplines to gain a more informed understanding of the needs of people with learning disabilities. By delivering training across different types of provider forums and networks it becomes possible to drive these improvements. In my role, I observe that there are significant opportunities to harness people’s experiences of local services in order to shape and inform national policy and strategy, and ultimately help enhance the care people receive. As a community nurse learning disability nurse meaningful engagement and co-production is at the heart of what we do.

A day in the life of a community learning disability nurse is almost impossible to describe. It can change by the hour! What I can say, is that we are a skilled collective who are able to think outside of the box in order to achieve effective health outcomes for the people and families we support. My advice to my younger self when starting out a learning disability nurse… Don’t ever be afraid to challenge!! I am proud of the work myself and the team I work in deliver, and it is a pleasure to be a part of the wider national network of passionate learning disability nurses!