An investigation into the public health roles of community learning disability nurses

Abstract

Accessible summary People with learning disabilities find it difficult to get their health checked and to get information about their health. Community learning disability nurses play an important role in supporting people with learning disabilities to stay healthy. Community learning disability nurses support people with learning disabilities to get their health checked and to get information about their health. Summary International studies have shown poor uptake of public health initiatives by people with learning disabilities. In addition, studies have shown that people with learning disabilities experience poor access to public health services. The contribution of community learning disability nurses in meeting the public health needs of people with learning disabilities has evolved differently across the UK resulting in conflicting understanding of this role. This paper reports on a study that explored and explained the contribution of community learning disability nurses in the implementation of public health policies for people with learning disabilities. The study demonstrates that community learning disability nurses are involved in health surveillance, health promotion, health facilitation, health prevention and protection, health education, and healthcare delivery.

Understanding the contemporary role of the intellectual disability nurse: A review of the literature

“…Tasks conducted least frequently included intravenous drug administration, discharge planning, peri‐operative care and tracheostomy care (McKeon, ). Community nurses working with people with ID most commonly facilitate access to health care services for people with ID and least commonly deliver direct physical care (Mafuba & Gates, ). Several authors discussed the role of nurses working with people with ID in supporting specific physical tasks such as breast examination and screening (Taggart et al., ), cervical cancer screening (Lloyd & Coulson, ), and mobility and falls risk assessment (Nelson & Carey, ), although Jenkins () found little evidence of nursing research being undertaken focused on effective interventions to meet the needs of older people with ID.…”

“…Supporting the health and well-being of people with ID at times means providing a range of medical care (Sheerin & McConkey, 2008) such as drug administration, vital sign observations and wound management (McKeon, 2009), as well as aspiration precautions and seizure management (Sheerin, 2008 (Mafuba & Gates, 2015). Several authors discussed the role of nurses working with people with ID in supporting specific physical tasks such as breast examination and screening (Taggart et al, 2011), cervical cancer screening (Lloyd & Coulson, 2014), and mobility and falls risk assessment (Nelson & Carey, 2016), although Jenkins (2012) found little evidence of nursing research being undertaken focused on effective interventions to meet the needs of older people with ID.…”

An exploration of the practice, policy and legislative issues of the specialist area of nursing people with intellectual disability: A scoping review

“…Although equitable access to primary health care is vital, Caan and Hampton‐Matthews () also highlighted that this is only one element of the delivery of care, and access to secondary health care such as heart surgery or cancer treatment is also critical in addressing known health disparities. Further, Mafuba () and Mafuba and Gates () have advocated for the ID nurse to be involved in mainstream public health roles, including public health facilitation, health promotion, health education and policy development.…”

A national survey of nurses who care for people with intellectual and developmental disability

“…14 By contrast, many UK and Irish nurses are employed within acute hospital contexts as liaison nurses, 15 forensic settings, 16 as well as within community nursing teams. 17 Specialisation within the nurses' role has also emerged in the areas of endof-life care, epilepsy management, challenging behaviour and early onset dementia. The most common activities for the community IDD nurse in the UK are health promotion, health surveillance, facilitating access to healthcare, health prevention, health education, and healthcare delivery.…”

“…The most common activities for the community IDD nurse in the UK are health promotion, health surveillance, facilitating access to healthcare, health prevention, health education, and healthcare delivery. 17 Australian nurses are primarily employed within IDD services with a small number employed within state-based specialist health units. The only current data available for this workforce does not report its total size -without a dedicated IDD health workforce category under the annual Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA) registration process these data are missing -but suggests that they are mainly older (mean age = 52.31 years) and female, but male nurses were significantly older than female nurses.…”