The role of the Intellectual Disability Epilepsy Nurse in the new diagnosis of epilepsy

People with intellectual disabilities are significantly more likely to have a diagnosis of the epilepsies and additional diagnoses and comorbidity. This makes the assessment, treatment and evaluation significantly more complex. Due to the complexity, the rates of misdiagnosis and diagnostic overshadowing lead to health inequalities within this population group. Intellectual disability (ID) nurses will have a working knowledge of epilepsy, however ID epilepsy nurse specialists play a key role in mitigating poor healthcare outcomes and ensuring systematic assessment and appropriate treatment is accessible and person-centred.