The Global Intellectual Disability Nursing Research Collaboratory: Forming an international transformational nursing network

Aim: This paper explains how we created the Global Intellectual Disability Nurse Research Collaboratory (GIDNRC), a transformative network. The GIDNRC aims to make improvements in the understanding, research, policy, clinical care, and support provided to people with an intellectual disability.

Background: In 2022, the World Health Organization (WHO) called upon healthcare leaders internationally to take actions to promote more equal healthcare for disabled persons. This paper promotes the GIDNRC as a way for professionals to work together to make more equal healthcare throughout the world for people with intellectual disabilities.

Sources of evidence: We created this paper by reviewing peer-reviewed literature and research, international policies, and nursing networking initiatives.

Discussion: This paper explores current policy, research, and practice issues that formed the basis of beginning the GIDNRC, including how the COVID-19 pandemic changed care.

Conclusion: Nurses are over 50% of the world's health workforce. Therefore, they have the potential to make a large impact in making care for people with intellectual disability much more equal than currently exists throughout the world. However, barriers exist. Forming the GIDNRC, as well as using the World Wide Web, offers an opportunity to address barriers to this goal.

Implications for nursing practice: Nurses can address the needs of people with intellectual disability in their daily nursing practice. The GIDNRC aims to strengthen these clinical skills, understand how care may vary throughout the world, and share knowledge, good practices, and new ways to approach care for people with an intellectual disability worldwide.

Implications for nursing policy: International nursing policy should actively focus on the needs of people with intellectual disabilities and the role nurses play in addressing these health needs. The GIDNRC may provide an important way to achieve developments in this policy.