Too many times it is easy to focus on differences-differences among cultures, ethnic backgrounds, educational backgrounds, personal characteristics, demographic profiles, and the like. This editorial however focuses on sameness. The sameness of mission of every reader of the Journal of Wound, Ostomy and Continence Nursing. We care passionately about people with wounds, ostomies, and continence problems and their caregivers. We've devoted our professional lives to providing state-of-the art care, improving patient outcomes, educating patients and others, and engaging in research to advance nursing knowledge, and hence our practice.
It is with this spirit of a common mission to shape the future direction of continence research and clinical care that a symposium was held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on July 13, 2002. This symposium was sponsored by The University of North Carolina Chapel Hill School of Nursing, University of Pennsylvania Health System, Division of Urology, Center for Continence and Pelvic Health, and The American Journal of Nursing. The purpose was to provide a forum to examine past and current incontinence research, develop an agenda for nursing research, and make recommendations for future directions in public policy, nursing education, and practice. This conference was supported by a grant from the Agency for Healthcare Research Quality and by unrestricted grants from corporate sponsors. Approximately 30 nurses and other stakeholders in continence care participated. Deborah Lekan-Rutledge, Carolyn Sampselle, Jean Wyman, and Mikel Gray presented papers that reviewed and critiqued the current state of urinary incontinence research in various clinical settings and with various populations.
Participants worked in small groups facilitated by Nancy Watson, Sandra Engberg, Jean Kincade, Joanne Robinson, and Eileen Toughhill to develop priorities for research and identify barriers to translating research into clinical care. The groups also made recommendations about nursing education, clinical practice, and policy changes.
The papers, recommendations, and other information on urinary incontinence that came out of the symposium have been compiled into a continuing education supplement by The American Journal of Nursing. This supplement is available in its entirety as a continuing education offering online at http://www.AJNonline.com, and http://www.NursingCenter.com, a website owned by Lippincott, Williams and Wilkins. The supplement will also be mailed to select AJN readers along with the monthly journal. Additionally, copies of the supplement will be made available to national nursing organizations for distribution to their members at annual conferences and to the various sponsors of this project for distribution to their target audiences.
One take-away message from the supplement, which will be available March 2003, is this: nurses clearly play a central role in urinary incontinence assessment and treatment, and nurses must now play an even more prominent role in its prevention. By focusing on our common interest of advocating for incontinence prevention, improved incontinence detection, assessment, and treatment, we will continue in our quest towards perfecting care and improving the quality of life of our patients. I urge you to get your hands on a copy of the supplement, read it, and share it with your colleagues. Then, let's plan to act on it-together.