Award winner profile
Simon Jones is a behavioural nurse specialist in learning disabilities at Somerset Partnership NHS and Social Care Trust. We asked Simon how much winning an RCN award supported him in his career development, and whether he has successfully gained further funding from other sources.
How much did an RCN award support you in your career development?
It made an enormous difference. When I qualified as a learning disability nurse in 1999 I initially worked in residential care, as do most learning disability nurses. However, I was keen to gain a community nursing post, but there are very few jobs in this sector and few vacancies, because it is so rewarding; once they are appointed few people move on. In Somerset there are only six posts for the whole county.
My BSc (Hons) in Behaviour Therapy from Wolverhampton University, which I gained as a result of the Margaret Parkinson Scholarship, meant I was only one of perhaps 30 people in the UK with this specialist qualification, which meant that when I applied for a community post I had a head start in the short listing and appointment stakes.
I was appointed as a Community Learning Disability Nurse in Sept 2003. I then studied and gained a diploma in Epilepsy Care from Leeds Metropolitan University. My rational for gaining this qualification was that 30 per cent of people with a learning disability have Epilepsy (and in particular, many can experience non-convulsive seizures which often manifest themselves in "odd/bizarre" behaviours, which is my particular area of expertise).
Before gaining this qualification I wished to gain a degree in Community Nursing, which is what I am currently studying for at University of Central England. I am half way through the two-year part time course. This course was funded by a Trevor Clay Scholarship. I know this may sound a cliché but I am a strong believer in evidence-based practice. Much of the work my colleagues and I do in the community is around teaching and training others (carers and support staff) – and I am not prepared to do this unless I feel fully competent myself in the subject I am teaching.
I have tried to be influential in this area, by becoming learning representative for the RCN and I am the South West Regions representative on the UK Learning Representatives Committee and a member of my Regional Board.
Earlier this year I was appointed as a clinical nurse specialist within a new team that my trust set up to coordinate the needs of those Somerset residents with complex and challenging behaviours. I am now a band 7 nurse, which would have been inconceivable without the qualifications I gained as a result of RCN Scholarships.
Since receiving your RCN awards, have you been successful in gaining funding from other sources?
I'm sorry to say the picture here is less encouraging. I have been largely unsuccessful in gaining any funding from my employing trust. I was able to access a module on Personality Disorder and another on Dementia Care (but only because Somerset Partnership is a Mental Health Trust and is able to access workforce development funding for such modules).
In the current climate of trust deficits, with the need to economise in every area, training within our trust has been cut back to mandatory training only. I reluctantly accept this because if nurses are losing their jobs, then savings have to be made. I will campaign vigorously as soon as the climate is better for a return to a more forward-looking approach.
I have submitted an RCN Congress Motion for next year advocating protected learning time for nurses, similar to that enjoyed by medics. I am also a member of my trust’s Learning & Development Group and a member of the SHA's steering group on Learning Disability Nurse Education, so I'm trying to do my bit to promote the value of learning in improving patient care).