In May the Nursing Committee held its inaugural meeting in Bristol (UK) and met again at ICS 2009 in San Francisco to develop a strategy. Four sub-committees have now been formed to build different strands of work (research, education, practice and communication).
A lively and participative Nurses’ Forum was held in San Francisco on 1 October, attended by 79 nurses from 18 countries worldwide. This opened with a guest lecture by Robin Gemmill entitled “Quality of Life Outcomes of Cancer Survivors with a Urinary Diversion”, followed by short presentations from sub-committee leads who discussed their work plans.
A multi-national nursing research study based on utilising the ICIQ short form to assess the efficacy of nursing interventions outcomes was outlined and pilot sites are planned for the coming year. New nursing workshops for less economically developed countries are being prepared by the education sub-committee and it is hoped that at least one will be held in the coming year. The clinical practice sub-committee reported on a Delphi study carried out before the meeting to identify priority areas for practice. Fifteen were proposed by members and three priorities emerged:
articulation of the role of the Continence Nurse Advisor from a global perspective.
development of postnatal bladder care guidance for midwives.
use and re-use of catheters for long-term intermittent self-catheterisation and the re-use of drainage bags.
These three issues will be addressed in more detail over the coming year and progress will be discussed at the ICS annual meeting in 2010. The new Nursing Committee website (http://www.icsnurses.org) will be launched shortly and will provide further details and opportunities for members to join in our activities and comment and interact with other members.
There is still much to do in developing continence nursing internationally and we welcome and encourage all nurses to participate. We will let all nurse members know when the website is live and in the meantime please email the office who will pass your comments on to the Nursing Committee.
The mission of the ICS Nursing Committee is to provide leadership to advance the science of bladder, bowel and pelvic floor health by fostering collaboration in research, education and evidence-based practice. Its functions include the development of science and promotion of research into the issues related to nursing care; development of educational materials and programmes; promotion of evidence-based Nursing practice and communication (raising awareness).
By Mandy Fader & Mandy Wells
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