Learning Disability Nursing

During the course you will learn about specialist nursing care for people with learning disabilities and the management of their cognitive, psychological, physical and social needs. The primary aim of being a learning disability nurse is to support the well-being and social inclusion of people with learning disabilities; through improving or maintaining physical and mental health to live full and rewarding lives within their communities. You need to be committed and dedicated with the willingness to give time to others with care and compassion.

With an excellent reputation and good links with the local NHS trust and other potential employers, you will benefit from our NMC-accredited course when applying for jobs. This course is structured through Inter-professional (IP) learning. Allowing you to collaborate with other allied healthcare students and professionals and gain a wider understanding of issues and debates in the sector.

During this course – thanks to strong links with service providers across the region – we can offer a range of placement opportunities embedded within all three years of the course. You will find opportunities in areas specific to the field, such as, community learning disability nursing teams, respite and inpatient services, learning disability primary and acute care liaison nursing, forensic and residential nursing.

Placements are typically provided across the East Midlands, in Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland and sometimes in surrounding counties. In your placement, you will work alongside practice supervisors and practice assessors to learn the practical application of nursing relevant to your chosen field. During the course, students also have access to updated facilities, utilising simulation suites, Virtual Reality technology and LearningSpace software.

For further details please contact:

Sam Humphrey

Programme Leader BSc Nursing (hons) with NMC registration

bscnursing@dmu.ac.uk

Key features

• 4,000 work placement opportunities: Our faculty of Health and Life Sciences courses offer more than 4,000 work placements to students, giving you real industry experience.

• Authentic facilities: Study in our purpose-built facilities which comprise clinical skills suites, a moving and handling area, a cardiopulmonary resuscitation room and a sensory room – allowing you to apply theory to practice in a safe environment.

• Build key skills: You'll develop in-demand skills that employers want, including management, communication, leadership and planning.

• Become career ready: Our strong links and integrated work placements with local health and social care providers allow you to experience real-world situations.

• Graduate destinations: Recent graduates have secured roles in specialised care and support for individuals with learning disabilities, working within community and clinical settings including Leicestershire Partnership NHS Trust and Midlands Partnership NHS Foundation Trust.

• Global experience: You can gain valuable international experience as part of their studies through our DMU Global programme.

• Industry informed teaching: The teaching team is made up of highly qualified, highly experienced and skilled nurses with many years of both clinical and academic experience, 2 of whom are also Queens Nurses. DMU has more Learning Disability Nurses educated to doctoral level than any other University in the UK.

Year One:
n first year, students will engage in 917 hours of theory and 720 hours of practice (56% theory and 44% practice).

Practice experience 1
Foundations of Anatomy, Physiology and Pharmacology in Nursing
Influences on Wellbeing
Foundations of Field of Practice

Year Two:
In second year, students will engage in 848 hours of theory and 840hours of practice (50% theory and 50% practice).

Practice experience 2
Evidence Based Practice and Research
Primary Care – Patient Journey 1
Acute Care – Patient Journey 2

YEAR THREE:
In the third year, students will engage in 769 hours of theory and 920 hours of practice (45.5% theory and 54.5% practice).

Practice experience 3
Critical Inquiry and Research proposal
Leadership and Service Improvement
Managing Complexities in Nursing Practice

Learning is supported by a strong system of personal tutors, teaching teams, academic assessors, practice work placements and enthusiastic practice supervisors and assessors. Teaching methods include:

Lectures (face-to-face and online)
Seminars
Webinars
Workshops
Presentations
Tutorials
Simulation activities
Clinical skills learning
Enquiry-based problem solving
Independent e-learning
Peer learning sets
The programme meets the NMC (2018) requirements for an equal split between both theory and practice and the QAA requirements for a BSc (Hons) Award. The programme provides 2,534 hours of theory and 2,480 hours of practice (50.5% theory and 49.5% practice) across the duration of the three years of the programme. The Nursing and Midwifery Council introduced new national educational standards, Future Nurse Standards of Proficiency for registered Nurses, in 2018. The curriculum from September 2021 onwards is based on these standards for nurse education.

You will complete blocks of clinical placements 40 hours per week and blocks comprised of theory and independent learning hours up to an equivalent of 37.5 hours each week.

Students in practice placements are allocated an academic assessor, practice supervisors and practice assessors to help develop and support learning in the practice context.

Assessment
Assessments fall at the end of each block and are used to assess your theory and practice knowledge. We use a variety of methods that are designed to support you with developing skills vital to a career in nursing. These include:

Examinations – demonstrating resilience and working under pressure

Presentations and Vivas – developing verbal communication skills and the ability to effective communicate complex material

Essays – building strong written skills to support with communicating complex nursing information

Reflective practice – develop skills to engage with written reflection as required by the NMC