Continence care education: views of students and registered nurses.

Abstract

this article reports on a study of continence education and training for students and qualified nurses. to understand how nurses and nursing students gain their knowledge in continence education and training, to examine nurses' understanding of bladder and bowel care and to discover to what degree nurses are confident in their knowledge of bladder and bowel care. this was a qualitative enquiry and a case study methodology was used to frame the research. The data were captured through a questionnaire and group discussions. continence education comprised support through self-learning, classroom instruction, skills laboratory sessions and on the wards. Feedback from participants indicated that, although continence education enhanced learning, they thought continence education sessions were either too short or did not go into enough detail. Two key factors that limited learning in the workplace were time and work priorities. it is recommended that a combination of learning strategies is useful and valuable in developing the nurse's skills and knowledge of continence care, if time and funding are available.