I read with interest the letter from Christine Smith upon her imminent retirement that she feels the nurse training for RNLD needs to be reconsidered. I agree that it would appear that there are less services for nurses qualified in this field. However as a dual qualified RMN and RNMH (as it was in my day) I feel I have the authority to say that the needs of these two client groups is different and I know my co-colleagues in CAMHS do not feel skilled in this area. I have worked in CAMHS for 22 years and am proud to be moving back to working with children with learning disability in CAMHS.
I feel it is the training establishments and the placements offered that need to ensure the skills for working with clients with LD are fully taken into consideration; they are not mentally ill and therefore need unique skills from a dedicated staff group.
I feel the changes came about with the closing of the institutions and many of the LD clients moving to social services care. Also with the changes to our training, it lost the local school of nursing base allowing for LD to have its own identity. I feared for the issues raised by Christine, hence I jumped ship back then and trained as an RMN but I always said I would go back to my first love and am pleased that my new trust values this role.
It would be good if the RCN could respond to this issue and assist in nursing not losing this valuable training for a much undervalued, but rewarding client group.