Extra time for quality care with digital continence care AUTHOR Susanne B. Andersen, Project Manager Nurse Continence care is an essential part of the daily routines in care institutions. Not only is continence care time- consuming, it is not unusual that changes, leakages, and other tasks related to continence care take up about 80 minutes per resident per day. What if some of this time could be used for other care activities, and the hours spent on manual checks or changes of bedding and clothing could be more or less eliminated? Less skin irritation and UTIs Experiences with digital continence care have shown that the number of residents suffering from different types of continence-related skin irritation or UTIs (urinary tract infections) can be reduced. The increased time in a dry product improves the health and well-being of the residents, and saves time previously used for extra skin care. According to thorough testing of ABENA Nova with MediSens, digital continence care saves time, reduces the workload, and frees up time for more quality time with the residents. This paper elaborates on the opportunities of digital continence care based on the practical experiences from several care institutions that have tested and implemented ABENA Nova with MediSens. A good night’s sleep and right sized products The digital continence products eliminate unnecessary checks and changes during the night, ensuring that residents get a good night’s sleep without disturbances. At the same time, the digital aids help caregivers select the right sized products during day and night adjusted for individual needs as regards choice of clothing, freedom of movement, urination patterns, etc. The benefits of digital continence care There is a growing interest in digital care solutions that can help ease daily caring tasks and free up time and resources for more quality time with residents. Digital continence care can relieve some of the physical strain of daily work, free up time for other care tasks, and provide valuable insights on good continence care. Digital continence care offers a number of benefits: More quality time with the residents ABENA Nova has been proven to save on average 39 minutes per day per user. This time can be spent on more quality time with the residents. Furthermore, digital solutions enable caregivers to provide effective and discreet continence care, which leads to improved well- being of the residents. Less stress and strain in daily work The automatic tracking of saturation levels enables caregivers to take timely action, preventing leakages and time-consuming and straining changes of clothing and bedding. Changings can be planned to fit both resident and caregiver. This optimized changing process may reduce the number of conflicts with residents, who are displeased with the whole process of having to change clothes or bedding. Planning of good continence care from day one Digital continence care optimizes the daily routines, but it is also a valuable tool when new residents arrive. The digital aid tracks urination patterns, and this information can be used to quickly set up personalized care routines, including good toileting habits. Personalized care, no leakages Digital solutions allow caregivers to deviate from fixed changing rounds, replacing these with personalized continence care adapted to the individual’s urination and sleep patterns. Manual checks are no longer necessary and leakage episodes are reduced, allowing a more dignified and discreet care. A chance to discuss and renew continence practices Digital continence care provides new perspectives on daily practices and requires new ways of working. Instead of routine actions, the new practices stimulate dialogue in the team and with residents and their families – a chance for improvement and uniting around the best possible care solution. 2020 2 of 4 Caregiver
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