Exploring adult, children's and mental health nursing students' attitudes towards learning disability nursing.
Why you should read this article: • To find out what students in the three other fields of nursing think about learning disability nursing • To acknowledge the persistence of outdated misconceptions about learning disability nursing • To think about what needs to be done to improve the image of lear...
| Published in: | Learning Disability Practice Vol. 29; no. 4; pp. 25 - 34 |
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| Main Authors: | , , , |
| Format: | research tables/charts Journal Article |
| Published: |
Royal College of Nursing of the United Kingdom (The)
Aug2026
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| Online Access: | View this record in EBSCOhost |
| fields | @attributes: recordID: 1 pdfLink: plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ccm&AN=196119552&site=ehost-live header: @attributes: shortDbName: ccm uiTerm: 196119552 longDbName: CINAHL Complete uiTag: AN controlInfo: bkinfo: dissinfo: jinfo: jid: 14658712 FTU jtl: Learning Disability Practice issn: 14658712 maglogo: N pubinfo: dt: Aug2026 vid: 29 iid: 4 pid: 6040 pub: Royal College of Nursing of the United Kingdom (The) artinfo: ui: 196119552 196119552 196119552 10.7748/ldp.2025.e2277 196119552 ppf: 25 ppct: 9 formats: tig: atl: Exploring adult, children's and mental health nursing students' attitudes towards learning disability nursing. aug: au: Hodgson, Joshua Andrew Gressman, Marie Elizabeth Giles, Emma Louise McNaughton, Rebekah affil: National lead nurse for learning disabilities and autism, Keys Group, Birmingham, England sug: subj: Intellectual Disability Psychiatric Nursing Psychosocial Factors Students, Nursing Psychosocial Factors Student Attitudes Pediatric Nursing Psychosocial Factors Human Funding Source England Descriptive Research Phenomenological Research Methodological Research Semi-Structured Interview Purposive Sample Interview Guides Learning Environment Videoconferencing Thematic Analysis Descriptive Statistics Persons with Disabilities Professional Identity ab: Why you should read this article: • To find out what students in the three other fields of nursing think about learning disability nursing • To acknowledge the persistence of outdated misconceptions about learning disability nursing • To think about what needs to be done to improve the image of learning disability nursing. Background: Registered learning disability nurses (RNLDs) work to enhance the lives of people with learning disabilities and reduce the health inequities experienced by this population. Yet since its inception, the validity of the RNLD role and its place within the nursing profession have been questioned. Aim: To understand the attitudes of adult, children's and mental health nursing students towards learning disability nursing. Method: A descriptive phenomenological methodology design was used. Semi-structured interviews were undertaken with 18 students in adult nursing, children's nursing or mental health nursing at one university in north east England. Findings: Participants perceived learning disability nursing as less 'clinical' than other fields of nursing and felt that RNLDs lack visibility and have a narrow scope of practice and limited career prospects. Participants also felt that the lack of awareness of learning disability nursing, in the nursing profession and among the public, was due in part to its absence from the media, while its image was also tarnished by widely reported care failings in certain settings, for example Winterbourne View Hospital. Participants also had positive views of the RNLD role, regarding it as diverse, autonomous and relationship focused. Conclusion: Nursing students' exposure to learning disability nursing and to people with learning disabilities should be increased. There is also a need for improved career guidance which showcases the varied skill set of RNLDs and rectifies outdated stereotypes about their role and about people with learning disabilities. pubtype: Academic Journal doctype: research tables/charts Journal Article ougenre: Article language: English refInfo: holdings: @attributes: islocal: N |
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