Do nurses promote urinary continence in hospitalized older people?: an exploratory study

Abstract

Nursing staff need to be aware of the impact of untreated urinary incontinence on older people. Practitioners should promote continence rather than employing containment strategies. A validated assessment tool for older people needs to be developed. Views of older people should be sought regarding their attitudes towards urinary incontinence.

Nursing Staff’s Experiences of Providing Toilet Assistance to Elderly Nursing Home Residents with Urinary Incontinence

“…The nurse is responsible for the entire prescription process and plays an essential role in teaching pad-weight testing [22]. Nurses play a key role in preventing and treating UI within elderly care [23] [24]. Moreover, the nurse is also responsible for supporting dissemination and use of national and local guidelines [25] [26].…”

Cultivating Responsive Systems for the Care of Acutely and Critically Ill Older Adults

“…Using the information from careful assessment to ensure that patient safety is protected, individualize aspects of hospitalization like meal choice and nutrition to support long-established self-regulation of diet and elimination patterns [28]. Nursing should also support and develop innovative approaches to older adults that minimize involuntary immobility [11] and maximize mobility and walking.…”

Psychocultural meanings of urinary incontinence in women: a review

“…Like women from American and European countries (7)(8)(9)(10)(11) , the body was experienced as being uncontrolled; insecurity, despair and powerlessness were experienced when the women could not control the accidents, leading to feelings of helplessness and anguish (17) .…”

“…Since it is one of the so-called silent problems in Geriatrics, caused by the physiological decline of the elderly person, it can influence a certain lack of interest by healthcare professionals (6) , particularly nurses, who, in turn, base themselves on old myths and stereotypes, such as the belief that the elderly accept UI as a natural consequence of their advancing age (7) .…”

“…The conflict of establishing clinical priorities for the nursing team, as well as educational deficits for UI, is mentioned as a barrier to promote continence. Therefore, the professional team needs to be aware of the impact of not treating UI for the elderly, and should then promote the state of continence and develop strategies for the containment of urinary loss (7) .…”