Urinary incontinence in primary health care. 2. Care routines and consequences--perception of various categories of nursing personnel and care units.
OBJECTIVE
To find out whether the nursing personnel's perceptions of urine incontinence (UI) care routines and patient observations were in agreement with quality of care, and to analyse differences between nursing personnel categories and care units.


METHODS
A quantitative-qualitative questionnaire study.


METHODS
Three different care units; a health care centre, a nursing home, and a geriatric clinic in a county in Sweden.


METHODS
254 nurses, nursing assistants, and auxiliary nurses.


METHODS
Responses to questionnaire.


RESULTS
Faulty perception of UI, diagnosis and treatment possibilities. Care routines about hygiene and integrity, and knowledge about volume frequency chart, selection and changing of pads seemed to be indulgent. Registered nurses showed slightly better results than the other groups, even if the differences were small. There were no significant differences between the care units, but the health care centre had the best total result as regards patient observations.


CONCLUSIONS
The study confirmed that the nurses used faulty procedures to achieve quality of care. The study especially highlighted the role of nurses in primary health care, but since UI is a multidisciplinary symptom it demands interest and UI qualification of all personnel groups in the primary health care team.
Månsson-Lindström
A
A
Health Sciences Centre, University of Lund, Sweden.
Dehlin
O
O
Isacsson
A
A
D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D005851:Geriatric Nursing / Q000592:standards*; D006299:Health Services for the Aged / Q000592:standards*; D006801:Humans; D009740:Nursing Staff / Q000592:standards*; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D011320:Primary Health Care / Q000592:standards; D011361:Professional Competence; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013548:Sweden; D014549:Urinary Incontinence / Q000451:nursing*