Continence nurse specialty taking hold

The prevalence of urinary, fecal and mixed incontinence is estimated to increase to more than 6.4 million Australians by 2030. This will increase demand for the continence nursing specialty, a leader in the field has said.

The president of the Continence Nurses Society of Australia (CoNSA), Janie Thompson, said although the field still has a long way to go as a specialty, the area is progressing quite well.

Thompson told Nursing Review the next main step for the profession was completing the review of the continence nursing competencies and moving them into the standards of practice. "Then we will be looking at owning the title of the continence nurse … getting the states working more closely together and the national body even stronger,” she said.

In an interview, Thompson discussed CoNSA’s review of the competencies, the key aspects of care that good continence management hinges on and the changes she has seen whilst working in the continence nursing space. Click below to hear the full interview with Janie Thompson.

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