The use of practice guidelines for urinary incontinence following stroke

Incontinence is common following stroke, but there is little stroke-specific evidence to guide treatment and interventions for this condition. National clinical guidelines for stroke specify that all wards should have management protocols for urinary incontinence and yet, according to the recent Sentinel Stroke Audit result, many wards do not have this information available. This article describes the implementation of guidelines on a stroke unit within an NHS associate teaching hospital and describes the impact on patient care using clinical audit. The results indicate that patient care and outcome is improved following implementation. Recommendations are being made for information sharing and further research.