I see many young and older men with complaints of overactive symptoms of urgency and frequency. The older men may have benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) and the younger men seem to have no underlying pathology. Whatever the cause, these are distressing symptoms that affect the quality of life for all of these men. Drug therapy is usually recommended at first with behavioral therapy added usually as an afterthought. But based on a recently published research in JAMA by Burgio and colleagues, clinicians should consider a more effective stepped approach to combination overactive bladder (OAB) therapy by first recommending behavioral therapy.1
Diane K. Newman, DNP, ANP-BC, FAAN is an Adjunct Professor of Urology in Surgery, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania and Co-Director of the Penn Center for Continence and Pelvic Health. She is the author of several books. The most recent is as lead editor of the 1st edition of the SUNA Core Curriculum for Urologic Nursing and of Clinical Application of Urologic Catheters, Devices and Products.
Nurse-Driven CAUTI Prevention: Saving Lives, Preventing Harm and Lowering Cost. Key Practice Strategies to Reduce CAUTI: 1) Fewer Catheters Used, 2) Timely Removal and 3) Insertion, Maintenance, and Post-Removal Care. Informed by Guidelines for Prevention of Catheter-Associated Urinary Tract Infections (CDC, 2017).
This guide and the appended tools are designed to support implementation of evidence-based practices and elimination of catheter-associated urinary tract infections (CAUTI) in your hospital unit.
