Frankie Bates (Canada – ICS Education Committee) and Joanne Dean (Australia – ICS Nursing Committee) presented courses about conservative holistic nursing approaches for incontinence management at nursing conferences in 3 different cities in mainland China in September 2019.
Last year’s courses were so well received that the ICS Nursing Committee was invited back again this year by the Chinese Urological Association of China. Education topics covered the role of the ICS/Nursing Committee, faecal incontinence, evidence-based practice, advanced practice nursing, incontinence-associated skin damage (IASD), epidemiology of urinary and faecal incontinence, pelvic organ prolapse and incontinence in frail older persons. A workshop followed each day of presentations. Workshop topics presented by Frankie and Joanne were focused on urinary catheters and containment products. These workshops were great hands-on sessions and popular with the nurses attending.
Over 100 delegates from the First Affiliated Hospital, Sun-Yat Sen University in Guangzhou, attended the ICS course on the 21st-23rd September. The nurses worked primarily in the urology department.
Approximately 120 delegates from the 1st Hospital of China Medical University in Shenyang attended on the 25th-26th September. Nurses worked with urology and stoma outpatients and urology inpatients. Frankie and Joanne participated in a tour of the extremely busy outpatient department following the workshop; as the largest hospital in the region and situated in the northernmost part of China, the 1st Hospital of China Medical University provides care to thousands of patients each day.
The final course was in Hefei, a large city close to Shanghai. About 135 nurse delegates attended from The First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University. Frankie and Joanne toured the urology and renal wards where the staff explained the role of their largest regional hospital and the health issues that patients present with; currently there is a high level of bladder cancer and renal calculi. Due to remote locations limiting access to primary health care, patients are presenting with late stage disease in many cases and so, unfortunately, have often more complex needs.
The workshops were of particular interest to the nurse delegates. Despite having very limited access to catheter and containment products for community use, the nurses were very interested to know what was available internationally and the indications and use of each product.
Delegates were very interested to know about ICS and evidence-based assessment/management of urinary and faecal incontinence. In all cities, staff were keen to learn, showcase their clinics and research and engage with the ICS speakers. The ICS speakers also welcomed the opportunity to network and share information with the Chinese nurses and appreciated the wonderful hospitality of their hosts.