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Course overview

As a learning disabilities nurse you are an important member of a multi-professional team working in partnership with people with a learning disability and/or autism, family, relatives and carers with a range of complex needs.

You are in a unique and privileged position and play a key role in assessing, planning, implementing and evaluating the wide-ranging care needs of people with a learning disability and their families. This requires hard work, commitment and excellent interpersonal skills.

During the course you develop the essential knowledge and nursing skills required to care for people and their families in a variety of diverse settings, including hospital and community care. During these placements you participate in shift work, including weekends and night.

This innovative course prepares you to become a confident and competent skilled practitioner, capable of leading and managing the care of people and their families. It also helps you to become a resilient and future-ready nurse who holds strong professional values, is able to exercise clinical judgement, challenge inequality, champion diversity and uphold the integrity of the profession whilst delivering high quality, person-centred compassionate care.

The course content reflects the changing and challenging nature of providing healthcare in the 21st century and the evolving and diverse role of the registered nurse. Leadership is embedded over two years of the course, recognising the crucial role nurses play in moving practice forward. You study the course full-time, with two years of university-based theory, self-directed study and practice placements, leading to the award of 180 credits at master's level. You work together with students from the adult, learning disabilities and mental health fields of nursing courses to share your learning and experiences. In the new nursing curriculum, there is increased emphasis on mental health and cognitive issues impacting on physical health and vice versa, and the essential need to consider biological, psychological and social care across the age continuum, bridging the existing gaps between healthcare services.

Professional accreditation

On successful completion of the course you are eligible to register with the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) on the nurses' part of the Professional Register (Learning Disabilities Nursing).

How you are assessed

A variety of assessment methods consider different learning styles including written assignments, presentations and timed exams. The assessments help you develop the transferable skills sought by managers within the NHS such as delivering presentations, developing a business case, designing and defending posters, and action plans, being able to engage in personal reflection and write for publication.

You demonstrate achievement of your practice learning outcomes through completion of a Practice Assessment Document. This document is mapped against the NMC Standards for Pre-registration Nursing (2018) and recognises the importance of skill development and knowledge in practice.

Career opportunities

A diverse range of career opportunities are available within the NHS and private sectors in the UK and overseas. This course provides a stepping stone from which you can develop your expertise. You have the opportunity to explore future career and academic development opportunities, including becoming an NMC professional registrant, plus possible progression to becoming a non-medical prescriber, an advanced practitioner, alumni member or graduate researcher. Progression to doctoral studies may also be considered on completion of the course.