The Role of an Epilepsy Specialist Nurse

Whether you’re a nurse or student who’s considering specialising a future in epilepsy, understanding what the role entails is important. 

An incredibly rewarding role, epilepsy specialist nurses provide a key role in ensuring that people with epilepsy have consistent care. Working exclusively with adults and children who have epilepsy, they provide specialised care services and support. Much like many nursing roles, epilepsy specialist nurses can carry out their work in a hospital-based environment or in the community.  

In this post, we have outlined some of the common questions that can help nurses and students to decide if a specialism in epilepsy nursing could be for them.

Common Responsibilities of Epilepsy Specialist Nurses

An epilepsy specialist nurse is a key part of the care team for a person with epilepsy and provides a conduit for support and advice to help people and their families live with epilepsy every day. Epilepsy specialist nurses undertake a wide range of responsibilities which can vary between roles. However, some common provisions include: 

• Care planning
• Provide effective care services
• Performing risk assessments
• Liaison between different elements of the care team
• Providing rescue medication training 
• Providing advice, education and guidance to people with epilepsy and their families 
• Working to minimise the psychosocial impact of epilepsy

Which Fields Can Epilepsy Specialist Nurses Work In?

There are a variety of fields or areas of expertise that an epilepsy specialist nurse might operate within. Choosing to work with adults or children, for example. However, they may also choose to work within: 

• Acute care
• Neurology services
• Community services
• Neurosurgery
• Learning disability services 

The role is varied and there are many paths a nurse specialising in epilepsy might take as they grow and develop during their career. 

Becoming an Epilepsy Specialist Nurse  

Epilepsy specialist nurses can have a variety of backgrounds and prior training, with past roles such as general nursing, learning disability nurses or paediatric nursing. Developing specialised competencies is the first step towards becoming an epilepsy specialist nurse. A minimum of 5 years clinical experience in a relevant practice is often a requirement before a specialism in epilepsy can be undertaken. 

The competencies required can differ depending on whether the nurse chooses to work with children, adults or those with learning disabilities. These competencies are likely to include:

• Developing a specialised knowledge of epilepsy
• Providing clinical management of epilepsy 
• Personal planning and organisation 
• Assessments for independent living 
• Joint working and professional relationships 
• Teaching skills for patients
• Auditing 
• Researching 

For those who already possess the necessary experience in nursing, it’s often a case of developing specific epilepsy knowledge. Our epilepsy awareness training courses can be a fantastic first step for nurses who are considering a specialism in epilepsy.