Reflection on the role of the Specialist Children’s Bladder and Bowel Care Nurse, Alison Prince

June 2024

When I qualified as a registered children's nurse, I spent time working in acute settings and fast paced nursing environments. I was predominantly working with very sick children, however I often found myself supporting children with chronic bladder and bowel conditions. It was clear that their conditions had a significant impact on their daily lives for many of the children I looked after. The families of these children often said they had never had support for their conditions before hospital admission, and I found that on discharge there were limited services to refer them to for ongoing care.

In April 2024 I started to work as a specialist nurse in the newly formed Children’s Bladder and Bowel Care Team at CWPT. It is still in the early stages, but the service aims to provide tier 2 advice and services for children with bladder and bowel conditions in Coventry and Warwickshire including continence care. This service is delivered through structured clinic appointments, school visits and home visits.

The role has really challenged me, including independent clinical decision making, complex care planning and problem solving. The role includes providing holistic care and tackling environmental barriers on a regular basis. I have also had the opportunity to strengthen my relationships with general practitioner services, school nursing services and specialist community paediatricians.

The Specialist Children’s Bladder and Bowel Care Nurse position means I can make a direct impact on my patients condition and ultimately to improve their lives. Bladder and bowel conditions unfortunately have some stigma attached to them. I believe my role can challenge this stigma and attempt to reduce it. The correct bladder and bowel treatment can improve both a child’s physical and emotional well-being and I hope that my role means that children can bloom and thrive when their bladder and bowel needs are met and managed well.

I have a particular special interest in bladder and bowel education, including toilet training from birth and the improvement of school toileting provision. I hope that my specialist nurse role will encourage others to reduce in the stigma associated with bladder and bowel conditions to improve our children’s lives in the local community.

In the future I am looking forward to the service expanding and having greater capacity so we can reach more children and their families in Coventry and Warwickshire. 1 in 12 children in the UK have a bladder or bowel condition and I feel privileged to be trusted with caring for those who live in Coventry and Warwickshire.