What do recently qualified learning disability nurses think about keeping themselves professionally updated? Carol Desousa and Sarah Robinson report on some early findings from a major study

Continuing professional development (CPD) for learning disability nurses is well established. The UKCC proposed that after qualification, learning disability nurses, alongside those from other branches, should embark on a planned programme of CPD (UKCC 1986). It was suggested this would not only enhance quality of care but also contribute to job satisfaction and career development, and thus to retention (UKCC 1990, 1994). Subsequently, the Department of Health’s Learning Disability Nursing Project backed the development of CPD resource packages for practitioners (DoH 1995a).