Helena

Learning disability Nursing - “The beauty of this job is that every day is different”  

Helena loves her job as a Learning Disability Nurse at Hertfordshire Partnership University NHS Foundation trust (HPFT), just as much now, as when she began her career in Learning Disability Nursing seven years ago.

Despite having always wanted to work with people with learning disabilities, nursing hadn’t crossed Helena’s mind until her Grandad pointed out a Learning Disability Open Day at the University of East Anglia. As soon as she saw it, she knew it was what she wanted to do.

Helena works with people with learning disabilities, who also have challenging behaviours and sometimes additional mental health needs or autism. She said: “My job is to help support people’s needs in the community and to prevent them from needing inpatient care wherever possible. I visit our service users in the community and work with them and their families, carers and other professionals to make sure they get the help they need.

“Learning Disability Nurses provide holistic care, which often requires us to think differently and outside the box. We focus on maintaining or improving people’s physical and mental health, helping them to live a fulfilling life, as independently as possible.”

If you’re interested in a career in Learning Disability Nursing, there are a number of different schemes and apprenticeships that provide a gateway into the profession. Helena continued: “I’d say to anyone who might be interested, to read about it, talk to other people and finally go for it as you’ll never look back! The beauty of this job is that every day is different.”