Urinary incontinence

No one has positive feelings about urinary incontinence, but many people experience incontinence at some point in their lives. Numerous risk factors for urinary incontinence have been identified. Urinary incontinence can cause skin breakdown, loss of independence, decreased quality of life, financial problems, and patient dissatisfaction. Adverse psychosocial issues can occur as a result of urinary incontinence, such as the fear of being embarrassed in public. Catheterization is routinely performed on patients diagnosed with bladder malfunction to resolve incontinence and retention. However, hospitalized patients may face serious life threatening side effects, such as urinary tract infections as a result of prolonged urinary catheterization. Few people ask for help to treat their incontinence problem. Therapeutic interventions for urinary incontinence include bladder training strategies. A nurse's knowledge regarding bladder training and proper management of those who are at risk for urinary incontinence is needed to improve the quality of patients' lives. Current research discusses both effective and non-effective bladder training methods including behavioral treatment, pelvic floor muscle exercise, and catheter clamping. These methods can be used to support and treat inpatient and outpatient populations suffering from urinary incontinence. Urinary incontinence is comprehensively examined in this document and research based best practices are reported.