Update report: EAUN SIG Continence

An important milestone was the inaugural meeting of the SIG Continence, organised by our Finnish nursing colleagues, led by Tanja Martin. This provided the EAUN with an opportunity to introduce the work and vision of the SIG Continence group and also to explore future collaboration. Our short introductory video highlighted the value of connecting nurses working in continence and urological care across different European healthcare systems. We focused on sharing clinical expertise, educational resources and examples of good practice, while identifying common challenges in continence care, and not forgetting the excellent EAUN Guidelines which are available to everyone. Healthcare systems are different in every country but many of the challenges facing patients and nurses are remarkably similar. There was particular interest in encouraging greater engagement and continuing a positive relationship with the EAUN SIG Continence to creating opportunities for Finnish nurses to contribute their expertise to future educational and collaborative initiatives. At the heart of the EAUN is something very simple – ‘nurses learning from nurses’, and we work continuously as every small step helps to raise the profile of continence nursing and ultimately improve outcomes for our patients.

I had the pleasure of meeting Christina Hicks, President of the Society of Urologic Nurses and Associates (SUNA), at the SUNA conference in Kentucky last year. During our discussions, Christina warmly encouraged nurses from the EAUN to attend and participate in future SUNA conferences, helping to strengthen collaboration and the exchange of knowledge between our nursing organisations.

I am therefore delighted to report that Therese Kelly and Eva Wallace have had their paper accepted for presentation at the SUNA UroLogic Conference in Las Vegas (US) from 22-25 October 2026. The presentation focuses on improving patient safety and outcomes associated with urinary catheterisation.

“Catheter confidence: Enhancing patient safety in urinary catheter care – Getting It Right First Time”

Urinary catheterisation is one of the most frequently performed medically invasive procedures in healthcare. With an estimated 100 million urinary catheters used worldwide each year, this equates to approximately 274,000 every day, 11,400 every hour and 190 every minute. Despite its routine nature, catheterisation is not without risk. Inappropriate catheter use, incorrect insertion or poor catheter management can result in significant but potentially avoidable patient harm.

“Getting It Right First Time” will focus on:

• Appropriate indications for catheterisation and questioning whether a catheter is really necessary
• Selecting the right catheter for the individual patient, including consideration of catheter material/coating, tip, size and length
• Safe insertion technique and recognition of a difficult catheterisation
• Preventing urethral trauma and inadvertent balloon inflation in the urethra, including the role of the Trans Urethral Catheter Safety Valve (TUCSV) as an additional patient-safety measure
• Correct catheter maintenance and prevention of complications
• Timely removal – recognising that every additional catheter day may expose the patient to further risk
• Accurate documentation
• Continuing education, training and competency assessment

Importantly, the presentation also reinforces the role of the nurse in questioning unnecessary catheterisation, recognising risk, preventing avoidable harm and advocating for safer patient care. The acceptance of this presentation provides an excellent opportunity for the EAUN to share European nursing expertise internationally, while further developing our relationship with SUNA. It also supports a consistent, evidence-based approach to urinary catheter care and highlights the important contribution nurses make to patient safety, harm prevention and getting catheter care right first time.

If a catheter is necessary, as nurses our responsibility is not simply to insert it - it is to ensure the right catheter, for the right patient, for the right reason, inserted safely and removed at the right time.

The EAUN is a partner in REVEAL-OAB: ‘Real-world Experiences and Voices Exploring the Actual Lived Burden of Overactive Bladder, led by the EAU Patient Office.

This multi-country, mixed-methods project is exploring the impact of OAB beyond the traditional clinical symptoms of urgency, frequency and incontinence. It seeks to understand how OAB affects everyday life, including sleep, work, relationships, emotional and social wellbeing and a person's freedom to live and plan their life.

The project involves participants across eight European countries, with data collection commencing in August 2026 and continuing to December 2026. The findings are expected to be presented at EAU27 in Amsterdam in March next year, with further publication and patient-centred dissemination planned.

EAUN involvement is particularly important in ensuring that the nursing perspective is represented. Nurses frequently hear the patient's story beyond the clinical symptoms and play an essential role in education, self-management, shared decision-making and supporting realistic, patient-centred treatment goals. REVEAL-OAB encourages us to move beyond asking: “What is the matter with your bladder?” to also asking: “What matters to you?” Tell us how an OAB diagnosis impacts on your daily life. It will be interesting to see the results of the research in Amsterdam.

The Urge to Act campaign continues to raise the profile of continence health at European policy level. The campaign calls on policymakers to recognise the burden of continence problems and improve prevention, diagnosis, care, treatment and supportive interventions across Europe.

A particularly important milestone was the meeting in Brussels on 24 June 2026, “Unseen, uncounted, unaddressed: The case for continence health in EU policy.” The event brought together policymakers, patients, carers and healthcare professionals to highlight that urinary incontinence frequently coexists with other chronic conditions but remains overlooked.

Representing the EAUN nursing voice within this initiative provides an opportunity to highlight the everyday impact of continence problems seen by nurses and the importance of prevention, early identification, specialist services, education and equitable access to all.

The scale of the issue supports the need for continued advocacy. The economic burden of urinary incontinence in the EU was estimated at €69.1 billion in 2023, demonstrating that continence health is not simply an individual clinical problem but a significant societal and healthcare issue.

These activities demonstrate the growing reach of the EAUN SIG Continence, from developing relationships with nurses at national level, to education and patient safety, European research and engagement at policy level. The SIG collaboration brings nurses together. 

• Getting It Right First Time translates evidence into safer practice
• REVEAL-OAB ensures we understand the patient's lived experience
• Urge to Act helps bring that evidence and experience to the European policy table

Our challenge now is to continue connecting these areas and ensure that the nursing voice and the patient voice are heard together.

The SIG Continence will continue to promote collaboration, education, evidence-based practice and advocacy across Europe, keeping the person living with continence problems at the centre of everything we do.

From bedside practice to European policy, nurses have an important role in making continence care safer, more visible and more person-centred.