Brunner & Suddarth's Textbook of Medical-Surgical Nursing 14e (Hinkle 2017) - Principles and Practices of Rehabilitation Related

Review Brunner & Suddarth's Textbook of Medical-Surgical Nursing 14e (Hinkle 2017) - Principles and Practices of Rehabilitation related questions and content

A female patient, 47 years old, visits the clinic because she has been experiencing stress incontinence when she sneezes or exercises vigorously. What is the best instruction the nurse can give the patient?

  • A. Keep a record of when the incontinence occurs.
  • B. Perform clean intermittent self-catheterization.
  • C. Perform Kegel exercises four to six times per day.
  • D. Wear a protective undergarment to address this age-related change.
Correct Answer: C

Rationale: For cognitively intact women who experience stress incontinence, the nurse should instruct the patient to perform Kegel exercises four to six times per day to strengthen the pubococcygeus muscle. Keeping a record of when the incontinence occurs or accepting incontinence as part of aging are incorrect answers because they are of no value in treating stress incontinence. Women with stress incontinence do not need clean intermittent catheterization. Protective undergarments hide the effects of urinary incontinence but they do not resolve the problem.