Fintan Killian Sheerin

Describing Intellectual Disability Nursing: an Exploration of Nurse and Non-nurse Caring in Intellectual Disability Service Provision Fintan Killian Sheerin

This thesis sought to describe the unique interventions of intellectual disability nursing in Irish residential services, through the employment of standardised nursing language. The study specifically set out to identify: 1) the interventional foci of nursing; 2) the current contribution of nursing; and 3) the usefulness of a terminological approach for describing the unique contribution of nursing. The central finding suggests that interventional caring in is a generic entity which transcends professional boundaries. It posits that intellectual disability nursing has, with the exceptions of physical care and technical health management, no unique interventional complement to add to such caring in residential settings for this population. It is acknowledged that, whilst this study expressly set out to address the empirical component of such such nursing, there may be a unique qualitative aspect which will require further investigation