Intellectual Disability Nursing

Registered Nurses in Intellectual Disability (RNID) promote the physical, psychological, emotional, spiritual and social care needs of people with an intellectual disability across all age groups.

A guiding philosophy of Intellectual Disability Nursing practice is person-centred care and support, with respect and consideration to equity and human rights at its core.

Intellectual Disability nurses can work with children, adolescents, adults and their families.

Their compassionate and patient-centred approach plays a vital role in enhancing the well-being and overall development of their patients.

The duties for a Registered Nurse in Intellectual Disability (RNID) may include: 

• Conducting comprehensive assessments to evaluate the specific needs and abilities of people with intellectual disabilities.
• Developing and implementing tailored care plans created for the unique requirements of each patient.
• All aspects of medication management.
• Administering treatments and therapies as required for the services user and monitoring for effectiveness of same.
• Monitoring and documenting service user’s health conditions, progress, and any changes in behaviour or symptoms.
• Providing ongoing emotional and psychological support to service users and their families.
• Offering appropriate nursing interventions based on the individual needs of the service user.
• Collaborating with a multidisciplinary healthcare team, including doctors, psychologists, social workers and occupational therapists.
• Promoting health education and encouraging healthy lifestyle choices for patients.
• Facilitating access to community resources, services and social activities.
• Acting as an advocate for service users when appropriate.
• Engaging in continuing professional development relevant to your area of practice, services user’s needs and any new developments in care and treatment for the person living with an intellectual disability.
• The ability to recognise emergency situations and providing immediate nursing care and support as needed.
• Fostering a safe, inclusive and supportive environment that promotes the overall well-being and development of service users.

Skills required:

Nurses should have a wide range of skills, including exceptional communication that can be adjusted to each individual service users’ needs. Nurses should possess emotional intelligence with the ability to show empathy and understanding. The necessary skills include:

• The ability to provide person-centred, therapeutic interventions to support the service user in their daily life.
• The ability to carry out all aspects of nursing assessments including, but not limited to, physical health, care planning, risk assessment and safety planning.
• Strong organisational and critical-thinking skills, which support informed decision-making.
• Excellent communication skills and the capacity to engage with service users and their families.
• The ability to collaborate with other members of the multidisciplinary team.
• The ability to respond to emergency situations professionally.

Further details can be found on the Careers Portal