Learning Disability Nurse jobs

Learning Disability Nurse jobs: frequently asked questions

(Updated Dec 2024)

Welcome to our Learning Disability Nurse jobs page, featuring the latest jobs throughout the UK as well as FAQs below.

What is a Learning Disability Nurse?

Learning Disability Nurses care for people of all ages with learning disabilities. They support their health and wellbeing, and work to help them to live as independently as possible.

Jobs come up both in the NHS and private sector, and across a variety of settings, including mental health wards, specialist care homes, respite wards and general wards. Learning Disability Nurses also take on community roles, including at people’s homes, prisons, workplaces or within specialist community centres.

What are the daily duties of a Learning Disability Nurse?

The nature of a Learning Disability Nurse’s responsibilities vary according to the setting.

However, they often include:

• Assessing needs

• Developing individual care packages

• Co-ordinating care plans with other professionals

• Planning home visits and attending GP clinics to check on progress

• Supporting patients with simple activities like dressing and personal hygiene

• Supporting staff and carers in the community

• Conducting tests, evaluations and observations

Working hours are typically shift-based, which means flexibility is on offer but some weekend work is likely too.

What qualifications do you need to become a Learning Disability Nurse?

To become a Learning Disability Nurse you need to be registered with the Nursing & Midwifery Council (NMC) – and in order to register, you’ll need to complete an undergraduate degree in nursing.

Courses typically last three years and are available at universities and institutions throughout the UK.

Once you complete your degree and register, you’ll be ready to apply for your first role – any further training will happen on the job.

How much do Learning Disability Nurses get paid?

The starting salary for a Learning Disability Nurse is currently more than £29,000 a year. That’s a Band 5 salary, which is the banding attributed to all newly qualified Nurses.

As your experience builds you can move up within this banding and therefore increase your earnings. 

With more experience, you can apply for more senior Band 6 roles, which can lead to salaries of closer to, and beyond, £40,000 a year.

To push your career beyond this level, it’s likely that you’ll need to become more specialised. You could pursue a position in health management, research, nurse education, or within a specific field of learning disabilities, such as autism.

In the private sector, pay is harder to pinpoint because there is no regulated payscale. Anecdotally however, it’s said that LD Nurses tend to earn a higher salary than in the NHS.

Find your next Learning Disability Nurse job today

View our latest jobs above, or if you can’t find what you’re looking for, create an account, register your CV here and we’ll send you relevant roles as soon as we get them.