Continence for women: Evaluation of AWHONN's third research utilization project

Objective: To develop an evidence-based protocol for initial evaluation and treatment of urinary incontinence and to design procedures that would facilitate the protocol's implementation into clinical practice. Design: Descriptive report of the Association of Women's Health, Obstetric and Neonatal Nurses (AWHONN) Continence for Women Project. Setting: Twenty-one public, private, and other women's health sites. Participants: Women in ambulatory care settings (N = 1474) provided demographic statistics. Methods: The protocol was developed, sites were selected, site coordinator training was provided, data collection was facilitated by project-specific teleforms, and the overall process was evaluated by the science team. Main outcome measures: Site representation, patient representation, site coordinator feedback on the training program, and site coordinator experience during project implementation. Results: The process yielded a representative mix of site and patient diversity appropriate for testing of the protocol. Site coordinators felt well-prepared to implement the protocol and experienced increased professional satisfaction because of therapeutic benefits achieved for patients and positive collaboration with physicians. Conclusions: The Continence for Women Project demonstrated the potential for developing and testing evidence-based protocols for clinical practice when the resources of an organization such as AWHONN and the research community are combined.