SUNA joined the American Association for Homecare; United Spinal Association; Wound, Ostomy, and Continence Nurses Society; and Wound Ostomy and Continence Nursing Certification Board to develop a white paper to educate payers and state Medicaid programs on the types of intermittent catheter products and services needed to successfully manage an individual’s urinary retention needs in a home-based setting to improve patient experience, health outcomes, and reduce overall cost.

The following resources were first published in the March/April 2021 issue of Urologic Nursing. Click on the title to download the resource.

SUNA collaborated with the American Urological Association on the development of three white papers on optimizing outcomes for patients before, during, and following urologic surgery:

The Prostate Cancer Patient Guide is a comprehensive resource on diagnosis, treatment, side effects, and risk factors for patients and families with a history of prostate cancer. Developed by the Prostate Cancer Foundation, the guide is designed for any man newly diagnosed with or in treatment for prostate cancer, and for family members seeking information about prostate cancer patient navigation as well as their own short- and long-term risks factors for prostate cancer.

The Flexible Cystoscopy: Training & Assessment Guideline and Flexible Cystoscopy: Performance Criteria, Training & Assessment Logbook have become the universal training package in using a flexible cystoscope. Created by our British colleagues, the British Association of Urological Nurses (BAUN) and the British Association of Urological Surgeons (BAUS), these free evidence-based guidelines are available for download on the BAUS website.

Published in the May/June 2021 issue of Urologic Nursing, this article includes the results of a survey conducted to examine the role of the urogynecology nurse practitioner (NP) and highlights the need for the development of a current, distinct description of the subspecialty role. The article reports on the urogynecology subspecialty NP role, creates a basis that can be used when negotiating a new position or promotion, and provides insight into whether NPs who practice in this subspecialty are interested in a national certification examination to distinguish their expertise.

SUNA supports nurse practitioners (NPs) performing office-based cystoscopy procedures (with training as outlined by Quallich et al. [2019]) as a vital way to address the need for access to quality urologic care. SUNA also acknowledges that in the past, NPs have been safely trained on-the-job to perform cystoscopy, but feels that moving forward, training can proceed with a more uniform, standardized approach.