Bowel and urinary incontinence stand for the involuntary release of urine or feces by the patient (Bardsley, 2018). There are numerous reasons for such a development to occur, ranging from bodily dysfunctions to trauma. The most frequently-occurring reasons for bowel or urinary incontinence include multiple sclerosis, diabetes, Parkinson’s disease, and stroke (Bardsley, 2018). Bladder and bowel infections, stones, and side effects of certain medications could also cause it. In the scope of ICU, many patients are bed-ridden and often develop or come with an already present condition of incontinence (Bardsley, 2018). Nurses are required to assist patients whenever it is needed and maintain them to a proper state of personal hygiene (Bardsley, 2018). Nevertheless, incontinence is an inconvenience to all parties, as it takes away important resources of the ICU and can be potentially dangerous to the patient due to a decreased quality of personal hygiene, dehydration, and psychological issues associated with helplessness and the necessity to rely on other people for mundane biological processes.
The intervention to be developed in the scope of this assignment will deal with the prevention and care for patients with bowel and urinary incontinence in the ICU. The intervention will aim at the practical aspects of ensuring that patients have all the necessary precautions in place and to prevent non-incontinence patients from developing the conditions for the duration of their stay. This project will be a community-based intervention targeting present ICU patients as well as discharged individuals in the locality. Successful prevention of bowel and urinary incontinence will significantly improve patient health and reduce the amount of workload on nurses working in the hospital.
References
Bardsley, A. (2018). Assessment, prevention and treatment of faecal incontinence in older people. Nursing Older People, 30(6), 39-47