Become a registered nurse within a changing health and social care arena by understanding the holistic care needs of those with a learning disability.

A key role of the learning disability nurse is to work in partnership with people with learning disabilities of all ages to maintain their holistic health and wellbeing and to live their lives as fully and independently as possible. Learning disability nurses help and support individuals and their families across the age continuum, from birth until death, in a wide variety of settings, promoting person-centred care and empowering people to make choices, take risks, realise their aspirations and fulfil their potential. In addition, as a nurse for the future, the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) expect you to provide care for people from all fields of nursing, so we will also enhance your knowledge and skills in relation to caring for adults (including older people), those with mental health conditions and children.

This is a dynamic, interactive professional course which places the needs of patients and their families, and Learning Disability Nursing practice at its centre. The Programme Team are committed to supporting students to realise their potential to become compassionate, competent and autonomous Learning Disability Nurse, who is able to meet current and future healthcare demands.

The NHS Learning Support Fund provides additional funding for eligible healthcare students studying nursing. Further details can be found on the NHS Learning Support Fund page on our website.

Nursing and midwifery courses require clinical placements and strict safeguarding, so students must be at least 18 at the course start to meet professional standards and fully take part in all required activities.

Accreditations

Winner at the Student Nursing Times Award 2023

Why You'll Love It

Excellent links with practice learning providers

Delivered by experienced Learning Disability Nurses

woman in uniform talking to other people in classroom

Learn in state-of-the-art skills labs.

Nursing at the University of Chester

What You'll Study

The Professional Studies Foundation Year route is designed to provide you with the knowledge and skills you will need to be successful at university and whilst on a professional and vocational course.

You will study a range of topics relating to your profession and the environment in which you will eventually work. Areas of focus include person-centred care, mental health, children’s development, communication in a professional setting, social inequality, and how to apply psychology in the real world.

Teaching and learning is tailored and designed with specific modules that relate to the profession you are preparing to join. You will also be introduced to the professional codes and standards that you must uphold such as, the Nursing and Midwifery Code, Social Work England, College of Policing, and national Safeguarding guidance.

This module is designed to enable you to explore your future career and provide an environment where you can begin to focus on the professional values, skills and knowledge needed to succeed in your field.

We will explore the history of your chosen profession, the changing nature of the role, and the social and political context surrounding this. You will have the opportunity to consider the professional codes, values and expectations that relate to your career as well as the various roles you can undertake within your field.

You will also reflect on your own skill set and consider your personal and professional development needs.

Indicative content:

How to be a professional practice student: representing your profession
Investigate the historic and socio-political context of your chosen profession (Nursing, Midwifery, Education or Social Work)
The importance of professional values and codes of practice/conduct
The nature and scope of inter-professional working
Core roles and responsibilities within your career and inter-professional working
Theories of professional practice
Equal opportunities, inclusion, diversity and professional practice
Interpersonal communication skills; development of self-awareness and of own communication skills.
Using models of reflection.
Safeguarding of children and vulnerable adults
Personal and professional development knowledge and skills
Your profession and the public
Learning to use and navigate a range of digital spaces specific to your subject
Understanding academic conduct and conventions for communicating information

The module will explore how perceptions, personal circumstances and technology can shape our health. You will investigate areas such as technology, health promotion and inequality and how these can impact individual health experiences and outcomes, as well as considering models of health that inform belief systems.

You will also examine the role of biological concepts in the way our bodies’ function. The relationship between diseases and physiological processes within the context of organ systems will be examined.

Indicative content:

Defining health in relation to the individual, society and social change
The importance of the biomedical, social and biopsychosocial models of health
Investigate factors that influence health outcomes
The role and importance of health promotion in society
Individual health behaviour theories and applications
The future of health and healthcare
The structure of a generalised human cell and organelles
Cellular transport processes including diffusion and osmosis
Specialised cells and tissues in the human body
The role of hormones and enzymes
Human body systems
Homeostasis
The role of genetics in human health and disease
Micro-organisms as a cause of infectious disease
The biological basis of routine investigations
Advancing digital and academic skills introduced during Term 1
Developing research and information literacy in relation to your subject
Creating an academic poster on a chosen research paper

This module will explore how psychology and related disciplines can be applied to real world contexts. We will explore the history of psychology and related disciplines. You will explore key perspectives that include; social psychology, biological psychology, humanism and developmental psychology.

You will also investigate the following; mental health, bereavement support, and improving patient outcomes with Psychology. You will consider how this knowledge can support and inform your professional practice. You will also examine notions of wellbeing , stress and resilience to prepare you for professional practice.

Indicative content:

The role of social structures and socialisation in society
The role and historical context of Psychology and related disciplines
The social Psychology of human interaction and behaviour
Development psychology from childhood and through the lifespan
Brain structure and functions
Neurodiversity and brain differences - what makes us unique.
An introduction to mental health
Humanism and its importance in professional practice
Cognitive Psychology and its importance in professional practice
Stress, resilience and stress management
What is wellbeing and how this can be applied to professional practice
Supporting patient outcomes with Psychology
Leadership and motivation in nursing practice

The information listed in this section is an overview of the academic content of the course that will take the form of either core or option modules and should be used as a guide. We review the content of our courses regularly, making changes where necessary to improve your experience and graduate prospects. If during a review process, course content is significantly changed, we will contact you to notify you of these changes if you receive an offer from us.

Core Modules

This module will introduce you to the principles of evidence-based practice and its role in delivering high-quality, safe, and effective care. It will also examine how socio-economic and environmental factors influence health and well-being across the lifespan

Indicative content

The cross field content of this module is designed to enable students to meet the needs of service users and carers from all four fields of practice and as such the delivery will include application to all service user groups.

Effective verbal and non-verbal communication strategies; communication tools; active listening skills. Individualised person centred care; family centred care; develop and maintain appropriate relationships with service users, families, carers and MDT. Resilience and coping; role modelling; use of the arts & humanities to enhance communication; mental capacity; advocacy; empowerment.
Barriers to providing person centred care; safeguarding; cross cultural perspectives, diversity & cultural competence; social policy, environment including urban and rural perspectives.
Types, range and strength of evidence used in nursing to provide high quality and safe care, for instance art in health; research, ethics and governance; evidence based practice; links to theory and practice; quality of care; policy.

This module introduces the concept of holistic, person-centred care across the lifespan. You will develop an understanding of human development and recognize the importance of effective communication with service users, their families, and the multidisciplinary team (MDT) across diverse healthcare settings

Indicative content

Define person centred care & holistic care across all fields of nursing; historical context of person centred care; models of person centred care; and factors that influence delivery of person centred care.
Public health and influences on health and social care - socio-economic, psychosocial, epidemiology. Health inequalities - addressing vulnerability and abuse; lifestyle; environment including urban and rural perspectives.
Human development across the lifespan; physical & psychological development; theories of development; developments of self-esteem; ACEs (adverse childhood experiences); identification of vulnerable groups; safeguarding.

To prepare the student to become an effective nurse for the 21st century

This cross field module will integrate learning-to-learn and reflection into a series of linked sessions leading to personal and professional development, including the following:

The context of nursing as a profession, past, present and future, including enhancing resilience, personal awareness, well-being and self- care strategies.
Professional identity, social values and multi-professional working in order to provide creative and collaborative solutions to enhance practice.
Preparation for lifelong learning in theory and practice, including active listening, note-taking, note-making, effective reading, portfolio writing including reflection to develop awareness of self and others, academic integrity.
The use of current practice guidelines, contemporary evidence and political drivers to inform decision making, urban and rural practice differences.
How the Code, ethical and legal frameworks underpin the nursing profession in the 21st century.

This module will engage you in a diverse range of practice-based learning opportunities across a variety of clinical fields. It introduces both cross-field and field-specific nursing skills, enabling you to develop a comprehensive understanding of professional practice and demonstrate the essential competencies required in for nursing practice.

Indicative content

Becoming a professional: NMC code, models of practice learning, legal and ethical frameworks, duty of candour. Self-care including reflective practice, reasonable adjustments in practice plan (RAPP), emotional intelligence, resilience, healthy lifestyle choices and clinical supervision. Advocacy and challenging discrimination. Record keeping, confidentiality, privacy and dignity.
Safeguarding and escalating concerns. Capacity and consent. Interpreting routine investigations. Holistic assessment across the lifespan. Risk assessments, reasonable adjustments for service users. Developing person centred care plans, the nursing process.
Working in partnership with service users, relatives, carers and other professionals. Lived experience connectors. Role modelling. Working with cognitive, behavioural, mental or physical challenges. Communication strategies across the lifespan. Supporting the activities of daily living across the lifespan including sleep, hygiene, nutrition and hydration and skin integrity. Prioritisation of care. Medication administration and management.
Technology for health including manual and electronic recording devices. Team working and data sharing. Evaluation of care. First aid and basic life support (BLS), mental health first aid (MHFA), moving and handling techniques and equipment. Principles of infection prevention and control. Use of personal protective equipment (PPE), barrier and reverser barrier nursing and decontamination practice. Promoting healthy lifestyles in others. Obtaining clinical specimens and interpreting findings.
Risk assessment and improvement tools across the fields and life span. Managing a safe environment.
Integrated approaches to care, rural and urban perspectives. Promoting independence and recognising challenges for safe nursing care including socio-economic, physical, psychological and socio-cultural differences. Handing of effectively including written, verbal and digital techniques.
Medicines management, application in practice of knowledge of pharmacology. Preparation and administration of medications. Accurate documentation for medicines management. Medicines calculations. Recognising and escalating concerns of harm from medication administration and error.

This module is designed to equip you with a foundational understanding of human anatomy and physiology, highlighting their connection to the biological principles underlying pharmacology. Learners will also explore how this knowledge is applied in practical, real-world healthcare settings.

Indicative content

Introduction to the human body across the age continuum; characteristics of life; concept of integration and homeostasis. Levels of structural organisation; systems and cross-system concepts, organs, tissues, cells and chemicals. Geographical navigation of the body; anatomical position and directional terms. Overview of relevant disciplines. Overview of the biological basis of routine investigations.
Basic principles of pharmacology and their application; concept of keeping an ongoing personal formulary diary.
The internal environment, fluid and electrolyte balance; homeostatic control; common disorders; principles of restoring fluid and electrolyte imbalance homeostasis.
Human body systems:

- Integumentary system and cross-system concepts; human microbiome; inflammation, introduction to wound healing; introduction to the physiology of pain; principles of pharmacology/ topical route; common disorders and commonly prescribed medicines.

- Nervous system and cross-system concepts; mental health/learning disability; common disorders; principles of pharmacology and commonly prescribed medicines.

- Endocrine system and cross-system concepts; common disorders and commonly prescribed medicines.

- Cardiovascular system and cross-system concepts; blood; common disorders and commonly prescribed medicines.

- Lymphatic system and immunity; cross-system concepts; common disorders and commonly prescribed medicines.

- Respiratory system and cross-system concepts; common disorders and commonly prescribed medicines.

- Gastro Intestinal system and cross-system concepts; common disorders and commonly prescribed medicines.

- Muscular Skeletal system and cross-system concepts; common disorders and commonly prescribed medicines.

- Urinary system and cross-system concepts; common disorders and commonly prescribed medicines.

- Reproductive system and cross-system concepts; genetics/ genomics; common disorders and commonly prescribed medicines.

Core Modules

This module will facilitate you to explore the principles of evidence-based practice in detail. You will consider the value of interprofessional collaboration, and foundational research skills. It explores how integrating research evidence, clinical expertise, and patient values improves healthcare outcomes, and prepares students to contribute to service improvement through collaborative, research-informed approaches.

Indicative content

Problem solving within an interprofessional context, including evidence-based decision-making, hierarchies of knowledge and service user perspectives.
Interprofessional learning and collaboration: Remit, roles and responsibilities; sharing knowledge in health and social care.
Research: literature searching across evidence bases, research appraisal and critical thinking, ethics and governance.
Service improvement and innovation methodologies: audit, quality assurance, evaluation, continuous improvement, clinical governance, service user co-production.
Drivers influencing interprofessional health and social care: organisational and national policy, socio-political and economic drivers.

To provide students with practice learning opportunities which provide a range of experiences across fields. The module will build on cross field and field specific skills for nursing. The learner will actively participate in and work towards increasing confidence and competence is able to provide care.

You will be provided with practice learning opportunities which provide a range of experiences across fields. The module will build on cross field and field specific skills for nursing. You will actively participate in and work towards increasing confidence and competence is able to provide care with minimal guidance.

This module aims to explore health promotion and prevention of ill health in your chosen field of practice. The aim is to demonstrate understanding of enhanced communication to empower and enable service users, and work effectively across the MDT / range of settings.

This module will focus on learning disability field specific nursing conditions with increasing complexity and service users with co-morbidities. The module will explore identification and management of risk and factors which influence this.

You will learn how to apply knowledge of human anatomy and physiology, principles of pharmacology and how these are applied in field specific nursing practice.

Core Modules

This module will enable you to critically examine the complexities of human anatomy, physiology, and pharmacology in preparation for professional registration and readiness to prescribe

Indicative content

Revision of anatomy and physiology, relevant pathophysiology, homeostasis across field specific nursing and beyond.
Consolidate understanding of pharmacological principles in order to become prescribing ready, completion of personal formulary. Use of BNF. Application of how illness affects pharmacology, adverse drug reactions, polypharmacy, Drug Interactions - Pharmacokinetic and Pharmaco-dynamic Interactions, prescribing errors and management of field specific issues which includes the individual variation for people of all ages.
Understanding the role of the nurse prescriber, developing consultation skills apply knowledge of pharmacology to the care of people, the role of generic, unlicensed, and off-label prescribing and the potential risks associated with these approaches to prescribing. and consideration to the psychosocial impact. Knowledge of how prescriptions can be generated, consent, concordance, adherence and duty of care in prescribing with consideration to the psychosocial impact. Influences on prescribing including organisational and pharmaceutical companies. Preparation to progress to a prescribing qualification following registration.

This module will support you in your transition to professional registration by fostering leadership and teaching skills essential for delivering safe, effective, and forward-thinking care in 21st-century nursing

Indicative content

Continuing professional development and accountability: the role of practice supervisor, practice assessor, academic assessor and practice clinical supervision, delegation, action planning for personal development and principles of lifelong learning.
Supporting learning: preparation for a teaching role; learning and teaching strategies; peer supervision; skills of teaching and facilitation; Inter-professional Learning (IPL), coaching.
Developing leadership through an examination of effective leadership traits, intelligent kindness, compassionate leadership, role modelling and reflection. Consideration of delegation and team working.
Nurturing the future generation of nurses through compassion, empathy, prevention of burnout, time management, self awareness.

This module aims to develop your understanding of the processes involved in creating a service improvement proposal, with the goal of enhancing care delivery in 21st-century healthcare settings and supporting your transition to professional registration.

Indicative content

Continuing professional development: Understanding the political drivers for 21st century healthcare, decision making strategies, types of power used in managing teams.
Supporting innovation: preparing the culture for innovation; change theories and models; quality and governance.
Developing leadership potential: Leadership theory and styles, positive and negative leadership traits, using emotional intelligence.
Development of service improvement artefact.
Developing a business case for innovation, using evidence to support innovation, pitching and rationalising innovation.

This will provide you with practice learning opportunities which provide a range of experiences across fields. The module will build on cross field and field specific skills for nursing. You will actively participate in, and work towards increasing confidence and competence in your ability to provide care with minimal guidance.

How You'll Learn

How we teach at the University of Chester

You will develop your knowledge and skills of nursing care through lectures, seminars, tutorials, e-learning, practice-based workshops, practice clinical skills within our state-of-the-art simulation suites along with self and guided independent study.

You will be assessed through a variety of methods including written essays, a written exam, oral assessment such as presentations and practical assessment within clinical practice placements.

If studied, the Foundation Year, as with the following years of study, will be taught in three 10-week blocks across an academic year. Each block will comprise 40 credits of learning that include a breadth of topics and practice skills. You will have on average 12-14 hours of contact time per week during the Foundation Year. There may be variations to this where subject practical or specialist space teaching is included.

This course comprises 50% teaching within university and 50% within clinical practice placements. You will be allocated a range of practice placements to facilitate a wide experience of healthcare across both hospital and community care settings.

Your Future Career

Job Prospects

Successful graduates are registered with Nursing and Midwifery Council as Learning Disability Nurse.

Once registered, graduates have an opportunity to work in both the private and public sector including hospital or community-based roles along with research and teaching.

In addition to working within the UK, registered graduates can explore working abroad.

Careers Service

The University has an award-winning Careers and Employability service which provides a variety of employability-enhancing experiences; through the curriculum, through employer contact, tailored group sessions, individual information, advice and guidance.

Careers and Employability aims to deliver a service which is inclusive, impartial, welcoming, informed and tailored to your personal goals and aspirations, to enable you to develop as an individual and contribute to the business and community in which you will live and work.

We are here to help you plan your future, make the most of your time at University and to enhance your employability. We provide access to part-time jobs, extra-curricular employability-enhancing workshops and offer practical one-to-one help with career planning, including help with CVs, applications and mock interviews. We also deliver group sessions on career planning within each course and we have a wide range of extensive information covering graduate jobs and postgraduate study.