News
(55 items total, showing 41 to 50)
RCN Independent Sector event
Published: 17 October 2011
Independent sector LD event. David Currie – Forum committee member. Oct 2011.
News update from the Nurse Adviser
Published: 17 October 2011
News update from the RCN Adviser - Ann Norman Learning Disability nursing students: The RCN has placed high priority on capturing the views of nursing students who are about to begin the 3rd year of their studies into LD nursing. During August and September 2011 calls for expressions of interest in participating were sent and we are delighted that a good number of you have from all corners of the U.K. During the autumn we will be sending out a short series of questions within a survey to gather views and repeating this at 6 monthly intervals. We hope that the data we collect will be invaluable in helping us to better understand how and why nurses choose LD nursing, what their experiences are and what the reality of their first permanent employment is in the future. The Image and Reality of Learning Disability Nursing: We are very excited to have successfully bid for RCN resources to develop a DVD resource which will illustrate both the positive image and reality of LD nursing. We hope to capture the diverse roles that LD nurses have, in a broad range of areas, together with the views of carers and service users for the positive impact that LD nurses offer. We hope to launch our resource during RCN Congress 2012 and in the coming few months will be working with an appointed production team, with members and with other stakeholders. For more information please contact: ann.norman@rcn.org.uk
Modernising Learning Disability Nursing
Published: 17 October 2011
Modernising Learning Disability Nursing Aiming to develop a UK-wide professional framework to modernise and enhance the image, profile and contribution of learning disability nursing and ensure learning disability nurses utilise and develop their specialist knowledge and skills to maximise their contribution to providing the best possible health outcomes for people with a learning disability The framework will focus on four areas: Developing a competent and flexible workforce: quality and service development (Northern Ireland) Preparing and developing learning disability nurses: education and training (Scotland) Career pathways and career choices: leadership, management and supervision (Wales) Modernising the learning disability work force: workforce planning for health and social care (England) All four work streams are underway and a joint statement will be produced in January that gives direction to learning disability nurses and a statement of intent with short and long term recommendations that will then be taken forward. Recommendations will be UK wide wherever possible but the framework will also have a national action plans that take cognisance of the local context and allow maximum impact in each country. We are engaging and working alongside a wide range of stakeholders including; learning disability nurses, people with a learning disability, family carers, RCN, directors of nursing/chief nurses, NMC, commissioners, providers of services, education leads. If you want to find out more you can contact: Hazel Powell (Programme Manager) on hazel.powell@nhslothian.scot.nhs.uk
RCN Congress 2012
Published: 17 October 2011
Congress 2012 – Harrogate The RCN Learning Disability Forum is already making plans for Congress in 2012 which will be held in Harrogate. Having published and hosted a fringe event relating to the RCN Position Statement on Learning Disability Nursing in 2011, the Forum and partners would like to feedback to RCN members as a whole, but particularly Learning Disability Nurses. This will no doubt reflect the more recent issues relating to Winterbourne View and the challenges that this poses to the profession, along with the progress with the Modernising Learning Disability Nursing agenda and how we ensure the profession is fit for purpose and fit for the future. We are enthusiastic to engage as many learning disability nurses in this conversation as possible, as such we are inviting YOU to come along join the debates and have your say relating to people with learning disabilities and with the wider issues facing the health and social care service. In the meantime you can contribute by registering on the RCN website and making the RCN Learning Disability Nursing Forum your first choice. Daniel Marsden
Forum Appointments
Published: 17 October 2011
Simon Jones QN, BSc, RNLD is Care UK’s Behavioural Specialist Nurse. Care UK is a leading independent provider of health and social care services. Working in close partnership with local authorities and primary care trusts, Care UK provide care and support for older people and those with learning disabilities as well as a range of healthcare services. These services include the operation of NHS walk-in centres, GP surgeries and treatment centres and the provision of a range of specialist mental health care including treatment for young people who self harm or have eating disorders. Simon covers the whole of Care UK’s Learning Disability services and holds regular “surgeries” in each part of the country where service users and staff are offered advice, analysis and training on a regular basis. This is in addition to any direct work with specific complex referrals. Prior to working for Care UK Simon worked in and latterly managed NHS Community Learning Disability Teams, NHS Outreach Teams, LD Residential Homes and LD Supported Living schemes, specialising in providing support to people whose behaviours inhibit their quality of life. Simon has two first class degrees in Behavioural Therapy and Community Nursing as well as being a Learning Disability Nurse. In 2008 he was appointed a Queens Nurse and is published author in his field of expertise.
Winterbourne
Published: 17 October 2011
Winterbourne View and the future of Learning Disability Nursing. The shocking scenes in the Panorama programme from 31st May this year will not have gone unnoticed by all Nurses, however for learning disability nurses this has required a period of reflection. Once the feelings of revulsion had subsided we are left with the question as to how this happen in the 21st Century? The UK Learning Disability Consultant Nurse Network along with representatives of the Royal College of Nursing – Learning Disability Nursing Forum and the Department of Health met recently to unpick these very issues. The group cited the Position Statement of Learning Disability Nursing as key for gathering together the main influencing factors, that of Education, Leadership and Workforce. Learning Disability Nurses have contributed to the transformation of society over the last thirty years, enabling the move away from institutional hospital care to that of community living, and have forged new paths presenting evidence, creating positions in mainstream organisations and articulating new specialist knowledge. However the challenges for the future are clearly identified; as the public health profile changes, the number of Learning Disability Nurses reduces and the nature of health and social care delivery and education transforms a co-ordinated response is required to ensure Learning Disability Nursing is fit for purpose and fit for the future. The collaborative work the RCN is embarking upon with the four countries Department’s of Health, the Consultant Nurses Network and private and voluntary providers relating to workforce, leadership and education will deliver this coordinated approach to modernise learning disability nursing. The Royal College of Nursing’s Position Statement on Learning Disability Nursing Learning from the Past, Setting out the Future is available at http://www.rcn.org.uk/development/researchanddevelopment/newsevents/research_policy_and_practice/rcn_position_statement_on_the_role_of_the_learning_disability_nurse For more information please contact Daniel.marsden@nhs.net
Join your forum steering committee
Published: 11 July 2011
We have two vacancies on the Learning Disability Nursing Forum Steering Committee this year. The forum welcomes applications for these voluntary posts from individuals working in the independent sector and with a strategic focus across education, research and leadership.
BBC Panorama – RCN statement
Published: 14 June 2011
Commenting on the BBC Panorama programme, Undercover Care: The Abuse Exposed, Dr Peter Carter, Chief Executive & General Secretary of the Royal College of Nursing, said: “The sickening abuse revealed in this programme is more shocking than anything we could have imagined. Physical or verbal abuse of any patient is totally unacceptable, but what makes these events particularly disturbing is that they were carried out against some of the most vulnerable people in society. “All of the individuals involved in abusing patients, and the registered nurses who appeared to condone it, must be held to account as a matter of urgency. Without wishing to prejudice an investigation by the police it appears that these actions could be criminal. The Employers of these people must also be held to account. “There is an urgent need to investigate failures in the system which have contributed to leaving these vulnerable people betrayed. It is apparent from the programme that there was a failure on the part of the CQC to act when Terry Bryan took it upon himself to bring forward his concerns. The government must also examine the issue of regulating healthcare assistants as well as their training - it cannot be right that there are no national standards for those caring for vulnerable patients. “It is vitally important that staff are given a safe route to speak up about poor patient care, and that their concerns are listened to and acted upon. This clearly did not happen in this case and it is deeply disturbing that it has taken undercover filming to reveal these shocking lapses in standards.”
British Dietetic Association: Weight management in adults with learning disability living in the Community (2011).
Published: 05 April 2011
The British Deitetic Association: Weight Management for Adults with a Learning Disability living in the Community (2011).