Final Placement of Year 1

Hi all!

I have finished two weeks of my final placement of year 1 already!

It has been amazing.

For my final placement I am in a day centre for adults with learning disabilities. The day centre is brilliant. There are a big mix of students in their abilities and likes and dislikes.  As it is a day centre, I do not have the opportunity to do clinical nursing care, but it is still nursing care all the same.  

So far I have assisted with personal care, eating and drinking and assisting the students (this is what the service users prefer to be called) in activities. 

I have been able to see the students take part in cookery activities; art; snoezelen; music therapy; sensory activities; going to clubs outside of the day centre and soon there will be summer activities as part of summer scheme.

The day centre is big and there are over 150 students on the books.  The students are lovely and so very welcoming to us nursing students! 

There is such a range of learning disabilities and syndromes that the students have, so it has been invaluable as a learning experience.  My mentor has also been able to give me information on the syndromes and how this may affect the students physical health as well as their mental health and well-being.  Each student has a care plan in the day centre that is put together by the centre staff and a learning disability nurse that comes into the centre.  The students may come from referrals or be transitioning from children's services to adult services.  

Each student comes in for short periods to begin with so they can get to know the centre and the centre's routine.  They may go around various rooms to decide which they like better or they be allocated a room depending on their needs and wants.  Each room has different student in it, with differing activities that it is centred around.  I am in a room that does a lot of arts and crafts and hands on activities. There are other rooms, for example, IT (Information Technology), skills and sensory.  There are various rooms and the students have the opportunity to have taster sessions in the other rooms and take part in activities in them.  

I am on placement with 3 others from my cohort so it has been nice being on placement with others that we know so we can all help one another.  It also means we can share knowledge of the room we are in for when we see the other students around the centre.  

I have also had the opportunity to talk to another nursing student who is on placement there as part of their 'out of field' placement.  

Recently, I was able to take part in a focus group for the NMC in relation to the nursing course, the structure and what we were happy or unhappy with.  It did come up that many people are confused about what we do as Learning Disability Nurses. Many of us felt that for those that are having their out of field placements, they should be in those challenging behaviour settings or those who may also have mental health needs.  As there has been some students from other years that said they have heard remarks that Learning Disability Nursing is not hard, or it is like being a 'glorified baby sitter'.  Of course, placements come down to a lot of things, but, by saying such things as the aforementioned, those people are creating inequalities.  Therefore, we want people to experience the challenging part of learning disability nursing.  Not so they may see us as Learning Disability Nurses in a different light (not all people have this view, just a small minority) but so if a person with a Learning Disability is admitted to A&E, or has to use what we may deem as mainstream services, they are given the appropriate level of care for them.  The staff will have a greater understanding and the individual with the learning disability will have a less stressful hospital stay or less waiting time, or even just a more understanding and knowledgeable practitioner in understanding their communication needs.  

So, if this day centre has taught me anything these past 2 weeks, it has been this;

Always get to know the person and be patient. 

Individuals with learning disabilities are amazing people. They may need extra support or they may need a helping hand every now again. 

And more often than not, you'll learn a lot from them!