Nursing/Registered Nurse: Learning Disabilities Nursing

Would you like to empower children, young people and adults to gain their best quality of life? On this degree, you will play an important role in delivering specialised and inclusive support, improving healthcare, social inclusion, and quality of life for people with learning disabilities.

There is a strong emphasis on collaborative teaching from all fields of nursing, which is informed by clients’ experiences of learning disability healthcare. Throughout your degree, our expert academic team will support you to ensure your experience is fulfilling and enjoyable.

On campus, you will immerse yourself in learning disability nursing by taking full advantage of our clinical skills and simulation facilities, which provide the opportunity to develop your skills and confidence in safe and supportive environments. This includes using digital simulation as well as our simulated ward areas, high-dependency care areas, home spaces, and cutting-edge immersive simulation room.

You will also spend half of your degree on clinical placements, providing nursing care to individuals and families in a variety of settings. You will have many opportunities to network with local services, and you will become an advocate for people with learning disabilities. Our unique campus locations mean you will gain wide-ranging experience in both rural and city areas.

Course Overview

Taught at our Carlisle Fusehill Street and Lancaster campuses, our learning disabilities nursing course prepares you to work within the Nursing and Midwifery Council’s professional framework, developing the skills and values essential to prioritising people, practising effectively, and promoting professionalism in care.

Throughout the programme, you’ll gain the knowledge and confidence to support individuals with a learning disability in a compassionate, person-centred way. You'll explore complex healthcare needs, health promotion, and health facilitation across the lifespan, while developing critical thinking and evidence-based practice that can make a real difference to people's lives.

Learning is split 50/50 between theory and hands-on experience. You'll undertake six placements alongside qualified learning disability nurses in a range of settings, helping you to grow as a creative, collaborative, and confident practitioner.

On this course you will...

Prepare you to work with people across the lifespan from new families, children and young people, to older adults who require support at various times throughout their lives.

Provide nursing care and support to an individual and families and have a profound impact on their lives.

Experience something new every day, and have the opportunity to make a difference in the lives of others.

Work in a wide variety of settings. The opportunities are endless, allowing you to have a career where you are always motivated and inspired to go to work for another exciting and rewarding day.

Learn to become an advocate for people with learning disabilities, you can make sure that a person's voice is heard, their human rights protected and that discrimination does not occur.