The impact of the nursecontinence advisor on continence care

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate the impact of the nurse continence advisor (NCA) on reducingincontinence of patients receiving home care services. Design: A prospective 6-month pilot study of NCA service provided to incontinent patients was conducted. Setting: The study sample was drawn from three contiguous regional governmentfunded Home Care Programs (HCP) in southern Ontario Participants: Incontinent patients admitted to Home Care from June to December 1996 were assessed by four NCAs from participating visiting nursing agencies. Main outcome measures: A modified version of the Wyman Incontinence Impact Questionnaire (Wyman 1987) was completed by patients on admission and discharge. Descriptive data about patients was collected using an incontinence assessment form. Findings: One hundred and seventy-four patients (54 men and 120 women) were seen by the four NCAs over a period of 6 months. Twenty-nine percent of the patients completed the Impact Questionnaire. The greatest change noted was in patients' knowledge about and ability to control and cope with their incontinence. Forty-two percent of the patients were moderately improved or continent. There was a positive correlation between the number of NCA visits and a better overall outcome (p Conclusions: The findings of this pilot study suggest that the role of the NCA has the potential to contribute significantly to the resolution of incontinence and decreasing the cost of incontinence care in home care programs.