Public health: community learning disability nurses' perception and experience of their roles - an exploratory sequential multiple methods study

PURPOSE\ud Research into how public health policy is translated into role specifications within job descriptions of community learning disability nurses is important. In addition, the need for research that focuses on describing how community learning disability nurses perceive, and enact their public health roles has been identified. Furthermore, there is need to explain the 'moderators' of how community learning disability nurses enact their public health roles.\ud \ud METHODS\ud This was a 3-stage exploratory sequential multiple methods study. Stage 1 was documentary, and involved collecting and analysing community learning disability nurses' job descriptions, and or person specifications. Stage 2 was descriptive, and used a grounded theory approach. Stage 3 was explanatory, and involved an on-line questionnaire survey.\ud \ud MAIN FINDINGS\ud There were inconsistencies in public role health expectations in community learning disability nurses' job descriptions and person specifications. The public health roles were academic, health education, health prevention, health promotion, health protection, health surveillance, healthcare access facilitation, healthcare delivery, leadership, and policy development and implementation. The moderators of public health role enactment by community nurses identified in this study were complex and extended beyond current explanations of role theory. Some of the correlates of the moderators of public role health enactment by community learning disability nurses included role clarity in job descriptions, periodic review of role expectations, role perception, perceived role value, community learning disability nurses' perceptions of employing organisations' priorities, and community learning disability nurses' perceptions of employing organisations' knowledge of the public health needs of people with learning disabilities, band, and finally the type of employer.\ud \ud SIGNIFICANCE FOR RESEARCH AND PRACTICE\ud There is a need for clarity of community learning disability nurses' public health roles locally, and nationally. It is important that relevant organisations have structures that can respond appropriately to public health policy changes in order to meet the often complex and co-morbid health needs of people with learning disabilities