"To Clamp or Not to Clamp": Development of Patient and Staff Education on the Use of a Penile Incontinence Clamp

Purpose:

The WOC nurse in a Urology Clinic noticed the fellows, MDs, and nurses were giving male patients incontinence clamps in the prostate, incontinence, and pelvic floor disorder clinics.   Upon doing a literature search, the WOC nurse encountered an article where nurses were being sued for handing these out without any written education and realized that this clinic was at risk for this same omission in quality care.

Method:

The WOC nurse immediately contacted Patient Education to develop a patient education fact card on the use of the incontinence clamps. A task force of 2 WOC nurses, 2 nurses from the incontinence clinic, the incontinence MD, and patient education RN was formed. A draft with detailed instructions was sent to patient education. The photographer came to urology to take a photo of the clamp to help with the graphics and the team developed the fact card in 4 weeks.   Once the patient education fact card “How to Use your Incontinence Clamp” was approved, it was placed on the hospital patient education website. The WOC nurse educated the staff in the urology clinics, and in the beginning arranged to have printed handouts in the cabinet with the clamps with a reminder to give both to the patients. The WOC nurse also made sure this item was added to the clinic supply list for patient charge as each clamp costs $80.

Outcome:

The urology staff nurses, fellows and MDs, now routinely distribute the written education to the patients along with the clamps. This patient education fact card is now available in English, Spanish, and Russian. All new staff members are educated in its use, and no patients have been referred to the WOC nurse for inappropriate use of the clamp or skin damage.