With an increasing prevalence of a wide range of urological conditions in the UK, including both benign and malignant conditions, the management of these conditions should not be underestimated. Urological conditions require a significant amount of clinical resource and dedicated workforce. However, these are challenged by public spending cuts and workforce losses due to retirement, burn-out and the cost-of-living crisis.
It would be easy to feel despondent about a career in healthcare, let alone urology, were it not for the unique challenges urological nursing has to offer. With exciting times ahead, nurses can make a real difference to the care of urology patients, with an increasing number of diagnostics, treatment and patient management becoming nurse led.
As the number of patients increases and the clinical resources are stretched further, nurse led services represent a cost-effective, patient-centred solution. You have only to join us at BAUN Conference to see the range of creative and novel strategies that nurses, and other healthcare professionals have devised as solutions to such problems.
Quite rightly, cancer care tends to draw the spotlight in terms of public spending, research, and government edict. However, less headline-worthy yet equally significant urological conditions such as urinary incontinence do not draw the same funding or media attention urging sufferers to seek help.
So much non-cancer health burden goes unnoticed and un-championed, with particular reference to continence. The impact of this systematic neglect inflicts enormous avoidable suffering on the person and mounting financial costs both to them (in terms of buying extra pads, loss of earnings etc.) and also society (avoidable skin damage requiring intervention, NHS prescriptions and falls).
And so, we Urological and Continence nurses have a unique opportunity to make a big difference to our patients by getting involved with national profile-raising campaigns and fundraisers. We can achieve success by lobbying parliament for better funding and better awareness of all urological issues from improving cancer pathways to providing bins in male toilet facilities.
Becoming a Urology nurse provides you with the opportunity to make a change on a national level as well as during the individual patient encounter. BAUN is your platform to reach organisations outside your immediate employer, put you in touch with fellow like-minded professionals and build the strength-in-numbers required to impact the national healthcare agenda.