Clinical collection on achieving good-quality continence care

At the core of this series is recognition that continence care is an essential nursing skill and all nurses need to be aware of their vital role in continence assessment and management.

Under the overarching theme of achieving good-quality continence care, this collection explores in detail a variety of topics, from raising awareness of national guidance to discussions around gender identity to getting best value from products.

• Continue reading to find links to the articles in this clinical collection or download a print-friendly PDF here (if the PDF fails to fully download please try again using a different browser)

The first article examines guidelines relating to continence care and how their transference into service specifications and policies can offer a framework for person-centred care.

Among the UK guidelines considered are those published by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, the Association for Continence Professionals and the Royal College of Nursing.

The second article, meanwhile, focuses on the need to respect and acknowledge a patient’s gender identity when taking care of their continence needs.

It considers some of the literature on the conflicting experiences gender can present in health and care outcomes, explores the commonalities that may exist, and shares one practitioner’s insight in ensuring gender-affirming care is offered in the setting of specialist bladder and bowel services.

The third article takes into account the impact of the current financial landscape on continence care, highlighting that the concept of value is becoming commonplace and of increasing importance.

It explores value in healthcare settings and considers some of the definitions of value-based healthcare. It also describes a project that was undertaken to deliver a value-based healthcare pilot by an acute trust.

Last but not least, the fourth article summarises the current landscape of continence care in the UK and discusses the challenges that must be overcome to improve it, for example, disparities in quality of clinical education, increasing care costs and variations in the care that patients receive.

“Under the overarching theme of achieving good-quality continence care, this collection explores in detail a variety of topics”

I hope you will find this clinical collection, which was funded by an unrestricted educational grant from Essity, a useful guide to improving continence care. This is the third clinical collection that we have created in partnership with Essity.

The first, Incontinence-associated dermatitis, was published in October 2021 and the second, Patient-centred continence care, was published in April 2023. Both are available in the continence section of the Nursing Times website.

Once you have read this latest clinical collection, you can also access some of the additional educational resources mentioned in the articles to help support your own journey to achieving good-quality continence care.

For further information on the area of incontinence and support with value-based procurement, please do not hesitate to contact your local Essity representative/strategic healthcare partner or email hcmarketing@essity.com

Alternatively, for more information on Essity’s Professional Accredited Training for Healthcare Professionals (PATH) education platform, and to register for it, please visit academieshm.essity.uk/learn/register

The articles included in the collection:

This clinical collection was funded by an unrestricted educational grant from Essity.

Clinical collection: Achieving good-quality continence care is available for download. Click on the ‘Related files’ link below to open a PDF version of the supplement.