6: Conclusions, Limitations and Observations

This monograph has presented a theoretically driven and focussed account of the career trajectories of intellectual disability nurses from the Republic of Ireland and England. Theoretical because the study had sought to collect and analyse data obtained through semi-structured interviewing to support and/or challenge current knowledge of the trajectory of intellectual disability nursing over the last 30 years or so. The use of the oral history method was adopted as the medium for obtaining these unique and authentic accounts from these nurses’ working lives, because it was thought most appropriate to address the questions posed. Our work, we believe, has confirmed much that is already to be found in the discourse of literature and previously undertaken research by those who have worked in this area before us. However, we believe that we have obtained new knowledge and some valuable insights as to the lived experience of these nurses who were the participants of this study. This chapter brings this monograph and the project to a conclusion, and in so doing the projects’ aim, along with its specific objectives, as introduced in the first chapter are reconsidered. Also, in this final chapter, we consider the limitations and strengths of both the method and project itself. These are considered alongside an acknowledgment as to the contribution that this project and this monograph have contributed to document a historiography of intellectual disability nursing in England and the Republic of Ireland.