Nursing staff beliefs and expectations about continence care in nursing homes

The purpose of this qualitative study was to consider the current beliefs of nursing assistants and directors of nursing about management of urinary incontinence (UI) among the residents in nursing homes.

This was a qualitative study using purposive sampling and a focus group methodology.

Three focus groups including 38 participants were held in 2 different regions. Two of the focus groups comprised nursing assistants and 1 comprised directors of nursing.

The focus groups were facilitated by 2 different advanced practice nurses (BR and LJK), and 2 similar interview guides were used: 1 for the nursing assistants and 1 for the nurses. The interviews were tape recorded and transcribed verbatim; data were analyzed via content analysis.

Ten themes were identified from the data; 3 focused on resident factors that influence UI, 4 related to staff and family contributors to UI, and 3 focused on recommendations to improve UI management in the nursing home setting.

The findings from this study can be used to guide interventions to decrease or eliminate barriers to continence care and thereby facilitate the implementation of clinical practice guidelines and evidence-based interventions to improve urinary continence among nursing home residents.