How nurses can apply spiritual care to improve the daily lives of people with learning disabilities and their families.

BACKGROUND: Most UK nursing research into spirituality overlooks its daily application in certain specialties, notably learning disability nursing. AIMS: Tz explore spirituality over the lifespans of people with learning disabilities and how spiritual care affects their quality of life. To provide practical examples for nurses on how to apply spiritual care in their daily practice. METHODS: A literature review conducted between January 2002 and July 2022) following recommendations from the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA). Thomas and Harden's (2008) approach to thematic synthesis was used to structure 10 full-text articles into three key themes. FINDINGS: The three key themes were: the role of the nurse, the impacts on the individual, and family/carer perspectives. CONCLUSION: The nursing role in using spiritual care encompasses care planning an individual's spiritual activities, facilitating time alone, nurturing values such as self-acceptance, building therapeutic relationships, and advocating for progression in existing social structures and legislation.

Developing online simulated practice placements: a case study.

The Nursing and Midwifery Council recognises that using simulated practice learning within the pre-registration nursing curriculum is a valuable way for students to develop nursing knowledge and skills. The University of Huddersfield developed simulated placements in the pre-registration nursing curriculum in 2021. Simulated placements are now embedded within all fields of the BSc and MSc programmes, providing structured, innovative learning experiences that embrace online technology in supporting the development of skills and knowledge relevant to all fields of nursing. Developing these placements has provided an opportunity for faculty staff to work collaboratively with clinical colleagues, service users and carers, academics and technologists. This article offers an overview of that work, addressing challenges, operational issues, and insight into some of the activities developed to support students' learning.

In search of care strategies for distressed people with communication difficulties and a learning disability in palliative care settings: the lived experiences of registered learning disability nurses and palliative care professionals.

AIMS: The aim of this study was to gain an in-depth phenomenological understanding of the care strategies used by registered learning disability nurses (RNLDs) and palliative care professionals (PCPs) to identify and respond to the distress of people with communication difficulties and a learning disability (PCDLD) in palliative care settings. The objective was to critically explore the lived experiences of RNLDs and PCPs who care for distressed PCDLD in palliative care settings. METHODS: A single-phase hermeneutic phenomenological study following Van Manen provided the framework for the synthesis and structuring of the hermeneutic phenomenological text. Participants were drawn from learning disability nursing homes, community learning disabilities teams and hospices. Purposive sampling was used, and 13 participants comprising eight RNLDs and five PCPs were interviewed. Data were collected by semi-structured, audio-recorded interviews, field notes and a demographic questionnaire. Hermeneutic data analysis was used. Ethical approval was gained from the University Research Ethics Panel and from individual research locations. RESULTS: The primary strategies used by the participants to identify and respond to the distress of PCDLD were encapsulated by seven main themes: knowing by building relationships; positivity in successful caring outcomes; humane care; moral duty of care; time to care; comfortable care environment; and future perspectives. CONCLUSIONS: Effective care strategies based on the above-mentioned findings can reduce the dilemma professionals encounter in addressing the distress of PCDLD and enhance their confidence to care.