We made a case to expand our nursing team and you could too

How two learning disability and autism specialist nurses used the RCN's Nursing Workforce Standards as an evidence-based springboard for service improvement

There is a national shortage of registered learning disability nurses – most NHS hospitals typically employ only one learning disability nurse per organisation on a Monday to Friday daytime basis.

When the scope of a role covers inpatient, outpatient, emergency and elective care pathways, the role’s capacity is clearly and significantly reduced, especially out of hours. As a result patients often miss out on the care and adjustments they require when accessing hospital services, as reflected across