Enuresis: nursing diagnoses and treatment

Living with a child with enuresis is not a major or critical problem, but it is a difficult and frustrating one. Wet sheets, wet pajamas, and rooms that smell of urine all add to the dismay felt by child and parents. Enuresis is a common problem which affects 22% of 5 year olds and 10% of 10 year olds (Scipien, Barnhart, Chard, Howe, & Phillips, 1986). Boys are affected more often than girls. There tends to be few answers given in the health-care system for the problem other than, "he'll out-grow it." Community health nurses (CHNs), working in the clinic, in the school setting, or in the home, may find parents and sometimes the child asking for help with this problem. This article presents the most common nursing diagnoses that apply to the family of an enuretic, and nursing interventions that can guide the nurse in working with the family to secure successful methods of treatment.