Spotlight on learning disabilities nursing

Mahri Carmichael, a healthcare support worker and a second-year learning disabilities nursing degree student with The Open University in Scotland, reflects on her route into nursing and why she has chosen this specialism.  

My experience working within learning disability inpatient services as a healthcare support worker has been one of the most rewarding working roles of my career, so much so that it fuelled me to seek opportunity to do my training to become a registered learning disability nurse. 

I considered leaving employment for the National Health Service to complete my pre-registration nursing programme, when I was informed of The Open University and their opportunities to achieve a nursing degree. 

The Open University offers the flexibility to learn around your own personal life - this may be family commitments, shift working patterns, or your own preferred learning style."

The Open University offers the flexibility to learn around your own personal life - this may be family commitments, shift working patterns, or your own preferred learning style.

It’s not rigid in comparison to full-time university courses which require your physical presence in numerous classes held with a strict timetable. You work through the learning materials at your own pace, in your own comfortable environment. 

It also offers financial stability; being offered the opportunity to continue full-time employment and study removes the stress of creating income during practice placement periods, and times when studying demands increase.

The Open University offers the opportunity to gain additional knowledge and experience within learning disabilities as you continue your employment within your base area.

As a healthcare support worker and student nurse, I work in long stay learning disability inpatient services. I work with a group of adults who have been inpatients for a significant number of years. 

With my colleagues - healthcare support worker and learning disability nurses - I support these individuals to have the highest quality of care available and prepare them for discharge into the community. 

This not only includes the essential clinical care that they receive, ensuring that all their physical and emotional needs are being met, but the dynamic person-centred approach that our service offers. 

In my time within the service I have found that the little things are the things that impact on an individual’s quality of life - the opportunity to take individuals on outings to their favourite activities, personalised holidays to destinations of their choice, celebrating birthdays and Christmases with them.

It’s the gratification you receive from their families for providing a devoted person-centred care approach. It’s developing that rapport with individuals, it’s them choosing you out of everyone to share their Christmas cracker with over Christmas dinner. 

We provide necessary clinical care in a homely environment with each individual at the forefront of every decision made, ensuring they have a high quality of life within our care. 

This is the epitome of learning disability nursing: a flexible and dynamic style of nursing that provides physiological, psychological and social care whilst also at times providing person-centred meaningful activity that can be life-changing for individuals.