Knowledge and performance of healthcare professionals in urinary incontinence

Objective: to study the knowledge and performance of healthcareprofessional in urinary incontinence in four geriatric centres(nursing homes) located in the area of “Alt Empordᔠin the provinceof Girona.Material and method: a cross-sectional descriptive study wasconducted through a self-elaborated survey applied to the nursingteam of each of the four geriatric centres.Results: All nurses and 89,8% of nurse’s aids in geriatrics manifestedthat in their work place there is a protocol in place for urinaryincontinence. 44,4% of the nurses and 50,8% of the nurses aidesstated that their centre had education programs on vesical re-education.As regards the detection of urinary incontinence, 911,5%if the aids and 66,7% of the nurses were of the opinion that it isthe carer who first detects the condition. Bad smell was the firstsign that made them suspect urinary incontinence. 66,7% of nursesand 52,5% of the aids always accompanied the inmate to thetoilet before bedtime. The lack of human resources is the main reasonthat prevents geriatric nurses and aides from performing allthat would be desirable to control urinary incontinence.Conclusions: The opinions of the staff members denote satisfactoryinterventions in urinary incontinence. However, some aspectscould be improved upon (the number of vesical re-education programmesis insufficient): It would be necessary to expand theknowledge and performances with more continued education, improvedteam work and increased availability of human resources)