Development and Validation of the Role Profile of the Nurse Continence Specialist

Although nurses have specialized in the management of incontinence, bladder, bowel, and pelvic fl oor dysfunction for more than 30 years, there is a lack of awareness and underutilization of their role. This article describes a 6-year project to defi ne, characterize, and validate a role profi le of the Nurse Continence Specialist. Data collection used a 2-phase, mixed-methods design. Phase 1 of the project resulted in a draft Nurse Continence Specialist role profi le and Phase 2 led to validation of the draft profile. The result was a broad consensus about what constitutes the specifi c skill set for Nurse Continence Specialist specialization within nursing.