TITLE:
Perceptions and barriers that influence the ability to provide appropriate incontinence care in nursing home residents: Statements from nursing staff
AUTHORS:
Liv Heidi Skotnes, Ove Hellzen, Esther Kuhry
KEYWORDS:
Content Analysis; Focus Groups; Incontinence Care; Nursing Homes; Urinary Incontinence
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Nursing,
Vol.3 No.6,
October
24,
2013
ABSTRACT: Urinary
incontinence is a common medical condition among nursing home residents.
Urinary incontinence in older people has a multifactorial etiology and is
therefore more difficult to assess and treat than urinary incontinence in
younger people. Previous research has shown that incontinence care in nursing
home residents often is inadequate and little systematized. The aim of this
study was to identify perceptions and barriers that influence the ability of
the nursing staff to provide appropriate
incontinence care. This was a qualitative study using focus-group methodology.
Data were collected from three focus-group interviews with 15 members of the
nursing staff from six different units in a nursing home. The focus-group
interviews were recorded on tape, transcribed verbatim and analyzed according
to qualitative content analysis. Three topics and eight categories were identified.
The first topic, Perceptions and barriers associated with residents, consisted
of one category: “physical and cognitive problems”. The second topic, Perceptions and barriers associated with nursing staff, consisted of three
categories: “lack of knowledge”, “attitudes and beliefs” and “lack of accessibility”.
The third topic, Perceptions and barriers associated with organizational
culture, consisted of four categories: “rigid routines”, “lack of
resource”, “lack of documentation” and “lack of leadership”. The findings from this study show that there are many
barriers that might influence the possibilities of nursing staff to provide
appropriate incontinence care to residents in nursing homes. However, it can
nevertheless seem like opinions and the attitude of nursing staff, together
with a lack of knowledge about UI, are the most important barriers to provide appropriate incontinence care.