Gweneth Moulster - The Moulster and Griffiths Learning Disability Nursing Model

THE MOULSTER
AND GRIFFITHS
LEARNING
DISABILITY
NURSING MODEL

A FRAMEWORK FOR PRACTICE

Edited by
Gweneth Moulster, Jane Iorizzo,
Sarah Ames and Joshua Kernohan

Forewords by
Hayley Goleniowska, Tom Griffiths, Helen Laverty MBE and Emily Smith

Contents

Forewords

Emily Smith, expert by experience

Well done for buying this book! My name is Emily and I am an expert by experience. That means I have Downs Syndrome, but thats not what I am! I am a young woman who has a life and gets poorly, and well again. I also have dreams and wishes and goals I want to achieve. This book will help all staff see me for who I am and what I want to be, not what a list of labels tries to tell you I am supposed to be. Thank you to the authors for writing it and to you for reading it.

Hayley Goleniowska, author, blogger, speaker and Downs Syndrome advocate

For most of us, being told that our child has an unexpected genetic condition is a challenging time. When my daughter was born, layers of shock and pre-conceived ideas about Downs Syndrome created a very real fear of the unknown that lay ahead.

Each parents emotional journey is different of course, but the words used to convey that message will stay with us forever, be they positive and supportive or outdated, even bleak.

Often those who impart this unexpected news have little or no lived experience of someone with a learning disability and are relying on a few hasty minutes of training on delivering bad news or the memory of a list of co-morbidities from a page in a medical journal.

The result is that families dont get off to the best start with their newborn, and bonding can be compromised. Instead of enjoying each moment and facing each challenge one at a time, they are sent spinning into a deep, overwhelming pit of lifelong worry.

However, there could be a better way working with someone who knows, who is unemotional yet focused on the uniqueness and strengths of each individual rather than a purely medical standpoint. Learning disability nurses possess all these attributes.

I have forged relationships with these nurses throughout my daughters life and hope that they will continue to believe in everyones potential and insist on the best possible equitable healthcare. For me, they are a mouthpiece for our family, a bridge with other medical professionals and a never-ending pool of innovative resources and solutions for the challenges we face.

Helen Laverty MBE, Professional Lead, Learning Disability Nursing, University of Nottingham

When I was a student learning disability nurse (and dinosaurs roamed the earth!) we worked in long-stay hospitals with individuals across the lifespan. Our work was hidden and often held little value within the wider nursing family. The body of evidence we worked from was often orientated towards a very medical model and didnt reflect the way we wanted to work with and for people who have a learning disability, neither did it do anything to enhance our image within that corporate identity of the registered nurse.

Fortunately, we continued to evolve, we took professional stands and demonstrated that we were true lifestyle facilitators and advocates for people who have a learning disability and their families.

Significant changes in policy and establishment priorities have, over this last century, seen another shift, sometimes away from what essentially should be our core priority, that being to ensure that across all spheres of holistic health people with a learning disability and their families get what you and I take for granted.

This book not only equips the new student with essential tools for their RNLD (Registered Nurses Learning Disability) toolbox but also gives value added tools to the wider nursing and social care context to ensure that we always get it right for people with a learning disability. #Togetherwearebetter.

Tom Griffiths, Project Manager, North Central London Transforming Care Programme

The idea to develop a nursing model specifically for learning disability nursing originated when I was working in a joint health and social care team based in Haringey, North London.

My consultant nurse colleague, Gwen Moulster, and I wanted to capture the holistic expertise learning disability nurses have. We wanted the model to promote person-centred learning disability nursing interventions that were based on up-to-date evidence. I am confident that the model meets these expectations and am hopeful that this book will support learning disability nurses to improve the healthcare and lives of people who have learning disabilities.

About this Book

JOSHUA KERNOHAN

The Moulster and Griffiths Learning Disability Nursing Model was named after its leading developers, Gwen Moulster and Tom Griffiths. The editors of this book have all been involved in the development and evolution of the model, leading to the 2018 version featured in this book. The Moulster and Griffiths model is person-centred, evidence-based, reflective and outcomes-focused.

Who is this book for?

This book is aimed at learning disability nurses, intellectual disability nurses and other nurses working across the United Kingdom (UK) and the Republic of Ireland, to support and develop their practice when working with individuals who have a learning disability and their families and carers.

The use of the Moulster and Griffiths nursing model will help student nurses shape their clinical decision making from the start of their careers; contributions for this book have been included from both practising learning disability nurses and students who have used the model in practice settings.

The book also includes the experiences of nurse educators, to whom the nursing model may be of interest in both their academic and research practices, and who play a key part in the development of nursing skills in their students.

While the context of this text relates closely to the health and social care provision in the UK, the book will be of benefit to colleagues working with people who have learning disabilities across the globe.

Nurses working in other fields of practice may find some of the concepts and tools useful in their own area of clinical practice. For example, the person-centred care planning approach and tools are transferable.

The book is also relevant to other stakeholders, such as the person, their families and supporters and other professional groups who can explore some of the ideas and experiences from their own perspective. It may provide an increased insight into the role of the learning disability nurse and the context and settings in which they work, as well as supporting the development of individual practice outside the nursing profession. The chapter written from a family perspective provides just such an insight, demonstrating how the learning disability nurse can work with individuals and parents to achieve good quality outcomes through the structured application of the nursing model.