A distinctive profession? Building professional identity and knowledge for intellectual disability nursing education

Intellectual disability nursing students can struggle to build a professional identity and make sense of their extensive curriculum and its application to practice. In this article Legitimation Code Theory (LCT) and Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) are used to facilitate an examination of the organising principles underlying intellectual disability nursing and the relationships agents construct between intellectual disability and other nursing divisions. In particular this paper explores the relationship with general nursing, and examines the connections and boundaries that intellectual disability nursing builds with general nursing, and their implications. LCT and CDA are used to examine how access to theory for intellectual disability nursing students, as compared to their general nursing peers, is facilitated. The bases of specialisation in intellectual disability nursing is also explored. This article considers how these findings can contribute to strengthening the professional identity of the intellectual disability nurse and building the related knowledge base.