The IAUN (Irish Association of Urology Nurses) Annual Educational Conference took place on the 6th of February at the Tullamore Court Hotel, bringing together urology nurses from across Ireland.
This key event in the nursing diary was attended by Edel Hill of our continence team. The event provided a full day of high-quality educational sessions focused on current best practices and emerging developments in urology and continence care. Speakers included specialist consultants in Urology, Advanced Nurse Practitioners and Clinical Nurse Specialists.
As the only community‑based, nurse‑led specialist continence–neurogenic service of its kind in Munster, the event provided the team with the opportunity to hear from expert speakers and engage in informative discussions relevant to clinical practice and created valuable networking opportunities to support professional development within urology nursing.
As part of Crann’s participation at the conference, the continence team prepared and presented two poster submissions: Establishing and Scaling a Continence Clinic for Neuro-Physical Disability and Advancing Competence in Clean Intermittent Catheterisation: Outcomes from a Five-Year Community-Based Training Initiative. The poster submissions were part of a national competition with representation from across the country, and we are delighted to announce that Edel was on hand to collect the certificate awarded for 2nd place.
The posters covered key areas of Crann’s work, and the IAUN conference provided Crann with a valuable platform to showcase our impact through our continence programmes as follows:
Establishing and Scaling a Continence Clinic for Neuro-Physical Disability outlines the journey Crann went on to establish a successful Continence Clinic. The poster reports that within Crann’s 2Gen Model of Care, the continence clinic delivers significant social value, evidenced by an SROI return of €3.68 for every €1 invested. Outcomes from attending the continence clinic included 68% of respondents reporting increased confidence, supporting greater independence, and 60% saw improved wellbeing, both physically & emotionally.
Families report reduced stress, improved quality of life, feelings of empowerment & inclusion – factors that support long-term health and reduce healthcare costs.
Advancing Competence in Clean Intermittent Catheterisation: Outcomes from a Five-Year Community-Based Training Initiative highlights the work Crann is doing to empower community-based professionals through tailored CIC training, enabling them to deliver expert care, promote independence, and address the unique catheterisation needs of children in inclusive communities. A snapshot from the poster highlighted that before training, 45% of participants rated their knowledge of the reasons and indicators for catheterisation as poor or fair (Fig. 4). Following training, this figure shifted markedly, with 93% rating their knowledge as very good or excellent, indicating substantial improvements in understanding when and why catheterisation is required.
Congratulations to Edel, Caroline and Eimear for this recognition.
If you are a person or family member living with a neuro-physical disability and would like to learn more, please visit https://cranncentre.ie/health-continence/
Community-based health-care professionals can visit our education page https://cranncentre.ie/professional-education/
