Robert Jenkins describes developments in post-registration education for learning disability nurses, and ways to attract more students to the field and ensure they can publish more research

In recent years learning disability nurses have had to demonstrate the viability of their profession and ensure that they are viewed as fit for purpose. They are hindered in this because learning disability nursing is one of the smallest fields in the profession, too few universities provide the appropriate specialist post-registration education and too little research into the field is being carried out. This article describes recent developments in the profession and how one university has tried to provide a suitable post-registration programme of study for this often-neglected field of nursing.