Why you should read this article:

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To refresh your knowledge of the importance of effective communication with families of service users

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To understand how to develop a practice template for communicating with families of service users

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To contribute towards revalidation as part of your 35 hours of CPD (UK readers)

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To contribute towards your professional development and local registration renewal requirements (non-UK readers)

Practice templates are a way to empower nurses by providing guidance on nursing techniques that have proved to be effective in practice. However, there is a paucity of literature on the development of practice templates and, at the time of writing, none relating to learning disability care. This means there is an opportunity for learning disability nurses to draw on their clinical experience of collaborating with clients to develop useful practice templates. This article uses the example of how to communicate with the families of service users with learning disabilities to describe the process of developing a practice template and what nurses can include. The author argues that practice templates can assist nurses to outline care standards and help to develop a rapport between themselves and the families of service users.