The prime motivation for this book has come from my ex- perience with
those who suffer from incontinence and from my contact, both in the
clinical area and as a teacher, with those who care for them. Over the
years I have developed a pas- sionate interest in the subject and there
is little doubt that in general terms the level of knowledge and
awareness relating to the topic has increased. Despite this it is still
apparent that continence promotion remains a somewhat fringe subject,
both in practice and in theory. One of the difficulties which has become
clear from discussion with nurses of all grades is that they feel that
the only people who are capable of mastering the practicalities of
continence promotion are full time continence advisers. It is unlikely
that this view has stemmed from con- tinence advisers themselves (those
that I know are usually very grateful for all the help that they can
get), or even from a reluctance on the part of nursing staff to develop
their skills. The root of the difficulty appears to be a lack of
awareness on the part of nurses of the skills that are required for
continence promotion and also how they can be put into practice. The aim
of this book is to provide a reference text to enable all practising
nurses to take an active part in continence pro- motion and the
appropriate management of incontinence.
