Professional profile and workforce issues of nurse continence specialists in Australia

The Continence Nurses Society Australia is the national peak body for continence nursing in Australia. Its main role is to support the professional needs of its members. To learn more about the demographics of its members and workforce issues faced by members, an electronic survey was sent to all 283 members in late 2016. A response rate of 47% was achieved. A majority of respondents were from Victoria and New South Wales. The results showed that members were mainly female registered nurses with a bachelor degree and graduate certificate. A majority were aged 50 to 59 years and had worked in continence nursing for six years or more. The most common job titles were continence nurse consultant followed by continence nurse advisor. Workplace settings were mainly community health services, generally multidisciplinary environments. The results of the survey provides the organisation with insights into issues that threaten job security and changes to positions, the need to attract nurses to the specialty and protect specialist nursing roles as essential to maintaining the future of the continence nurse workforce in Australia.