Daphne Loads and colleagues describe how holding regular seminars is helping members of a ‘community of practice’ to reflect on and improve nurse training

Learning disability nursing in Scotland can be considered to be facing some difficult times. A recent report looking at workforce planning (Scottish Executive 2004) showed that the proportion of learning disability nurses leaving the profession is relatively high, while the rate of newly qualified nurses joining it is relatively low. Kuhl (2005) argues that one cause is the difficulty that newly qualified nurses face in adapting to the culture that they find themselves working in. This can result in disillusionment, frustration for the nurse and retention difficulties for the NHS. Kuhl (2005) suggests that mentoring offers a way to help training and newly qualified staff learn about, and deal with, the realities of the environment they work in.