Professional Issues in Continence Nursing Policy, Education and Practice

1. Development and Evaluation of Practice Standards for Australian Nurse Continence Specialists - Ms. Elizabeth Watt

In 2015 the Continence Nurses Society Australia (CoNSA) National Executive Committee established a project to revise and update the ‘Competency Standards for Nurse Continence Advisors’ (2000) to reflect the language and intent of the Registered Nurse Standards for Practice (NMBA, 2016) and the international development and validation of the role profile of the ‘Nurse Continence Specialist’. This project was conducted in two interrelated stages from 2015 to 2017. The project resulted in the development and validation of the final ‘Practice Standards for Nurse Continence Specialists in Australia’ (2nd ed.)
In 2020 the CoNSA National Executive Committee conducted a formal evaluation of the 2nd of the Practice Standards by seeking member feedback on the relevance of the standards statements to their practice, areas of practice that are not covered in the Practice Standards and any areas which need updating or revision. Additionally, the evaluation committee included a review of the Nursing & Midwifery and Midwifery Board Registration Standards and professional codes and guidelines to ensure the standards document complies with the most recent updates. The overall outcome of the evaluation was to produce the 3rd ed. of the Practice Standards document. This presentation will detail the process and findings of the evaluation.

2. The Role of a Nurse Continence Specialist within the Context of a Telephone Advisory Service - Ms Janie Thompson

This presentation will cover the history of the National Continence Helpline including the role requirements of a Nurse Continence Specialist on a telephone advisory service, the clinical governance measures in place to ensure safe and high quality advice is provided plus the impact of COVD-19 on the Helpline and the callers to the Helpline.

3. Principle of Practice For Continence Care in Nursing Homes - a New Model of Care - Dr Joan Ostaszkiewicz

This presentation introduces a new model of continence care for use in Australian residential aged care homes that promotes evidence-based, safe, clinically-informed, person-centred continence care that optimises a person’s functional abilities and responds to their individual needs, choices and dignity.

This session will be followed by an ICS Live Lounge at 15:30 BST.

Enter the Live Lounge