Simon Gibson-Mee uses a case study to show how people can be helped to cope with an unfamiliar setting

Staff face many challenges when caring for patients with a learning disability in a general hospital ward, and the author describes how clients’ confusion and anxiety can arise. Daily activities of living can be compromised for patients with communication difficulties if staff do not try to see situations from their viewpoints. Continuous nursing assessment, empathy and multidisciplinary input are necessary to respond appropriately to patients’ varying communication abilities and requirements.