Learning Disabilities Nursing

People with learning disabilities are among the most vulnerable and excluded in society, and experience health inequalities that results in increased morbidity and mortality compared with the general population and can seriously impair their quality of life. Learning disability nurses have a unique role in supporting their clients to achieve their full potential and in breaking down barriers their clients may encounter that prevent them from participating in society, or that result in health inequalities.

This award is open to individual nurses or teams working in acute or community settings, in the NHS or independent sector. Entrants must be able to demonstrate the benefits of their work in terms of improved quality of life or increased independence of their patient or client group.

Examples might include initiatives to:

• Promote participation in community activities for people with learning disabilities
• Ensure people with learning disabilities receive equality within the health system
• Promote opportunities for people with learning disabilities to participate in service design or staff training

Each entry will be judged against the following criteria:

• Innovation: originality of the idea
• Value: impact of the initiative on patient care and/or service effectiveness
• Patient focus: evidence that patient/service user need was central to the work
• Collaboration: evidence of the involvement of other professionals, services and/or patients in the project
• Clinical effectiveness: data demonstrating how this initiative drives clinical enhancements
• Leadership: evidence of entrants championing their innovation in their organisation or more widely
• Adaptability: ideas that could be adapted for use elsewhere in entrants’ organisations or other organisations
• Sustainability: initiatives that can be embedded within organisations to operate without the input of the people who developed them 

Take a look at what our 2019 winner had to say about winning this award: