Described by her team, in the nicest possible way, as infectious. Laura a Community Learning Disability Senior Charge Nurse with the Falkirk Learning Disability Team. Laura’s nomination centred around a work programme she leads to support people with a learning disability to develop healthy relationships – an ability she says her patients have often been denied. With a strong and confident team behind her, she set about understanding individual needs to tailor the service and ensure it is adaptable. She developed an eight-week programme on cyber safety and is currently working with the wider multi-disciplinary team to develop support for those who experience gender-based violence – working to embed trauma informed practice and improve the support offered by staff.
One of Laura’s key achievements is ensuring that the team can now provide a consistent and equitable service across her locality, which she has achieved by sharing learning, upskilling colleagues and creating avenues for patients to be educated. Laura has ensured all the team’s work is rooted in strong evidence, working with sexual health nursing, local organisations who support gender-based violence sufferers, and NHS Scotland to produce guidance for practitioners.
Praising Laura for her award win, Colin Poolman, RCN Scotland Director said: “Learning disability nurses are vital in ensuring people with learning disabilities maintain their health and wellbeing, and are able to live their lives as fully and independently as possible. Laura has gone above and beyond to reduce health inequalities and her success is well deserved”.
Congratulations also to runners up, the Learning Disability Intensive Support Service from NHS Tayside, and highly commended Alan Lawson and Jacqueline Cowan, Learning Disability Liaison Nurses from NHS Borders.
