Registered Learning Disability Nurse

Jo Wilcox

Learning Disability Nurse Jo

Jo has been a Registered Nurse (Learning Disabilities) for the last thirty years with a broad ranging career that has involved working predominantly with children across the age range and their families. Jo has worked in children's residential placements and extensively for Barnardos in a range of children's services. For the 17 years Jo has worked within the NHS as a highly specialist Community Nurse, as well as a clinical lead and team manager. Jo works for the University of Central Lancashire (UCLan) as a senior lecturer and course lead on the Learning Disabilities Nursing BSc programme.

Jo's areas of interest and expertise are the health and emotional wellbeing of young people with learning disabilities, autism or neurodiversity. Jo has worked directly with children from pre school through to older teenagers. Understanding each person's individual needs and aspirations is at the centre of Jo's therapeutic work. In more recent years she has focused on the crucial relationships with family carers and has worked extensively developing and delivering high quality group based programmes that value parent's knowledge and skills and support them to develop their understanding of their child's unique needs.

Person centred and strengths based approaches are at the heart of Jo's therapeutic work with children and families. Although an in depth understanding of specific conditions, such as autism or learning disabilities, is necessary Jo takes a more holistic and less medical approach to a child and family's needs. Jo works with an underpinning framework aligned with Positive Behavioural Support and systemic family therapy. Supporting young people and their families to develop collaborative goals, and understand the functions of their behaviour and how to make changes, to improve their quality of life and wellbeing, is central to Jo's therapeutic work. Jo has extensive experience working with autistic young people and their families. Specifically she has worked with young people to understand their diagnosis and its impact on who they are. Also she has developed therapeutic relationships to allow for young people to manage anxiety, develop independence skills and autonomy, friendships and relationships. In addition she has supported young people with a range of transitions, including through to adulthood, when they have a long term health condition.

When working with families Jo has supported parents with issues relating to behaviours of concern (challenging behaviour), behaviours that put themselves or others at risk, sleep difficulties, avoidant and resistant food intake, and continence (particularly behavioural-based).

Jo has also been involved in autism diagnostic pathways for the past two decades, completing a range of assessments, working with the multiagency team and supporting post diagnostically. She has also been committed to service improvement through audit and service development. Jo is trained in the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule 2.

For many years Jo has championed collaborative working both with other professionals and family carers and was instrumental in developing and delivering autism and early intervention programmes for parents across Cumbria. She has a wealth of experience in early years development, as well as generic and specialist group-based interventions for family carers. These have focused on communication, sleep, sensory issues, behaviour and supporting parents to recognise what they are already doing well and how they can develop these skills.

She is a trained facilitator in Stepping Stones, NAS EarlyBird, Confident Parenting, Cygnet, and What Now?

Jo's professional qualifications and training include:

Jo is a member of the RCN (Royal College of Nursing) and her practice is governed by the NMC (Nursing and midwifery Council) Code of professional conduct.

NMC Pin No: 88B0756E

RCN membership no: 3230844

She has an up to date enhanced certificate to work with children from HM disclosure and barring service (DBS) no: 001734303686 (valid from 06.05.21)

 

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