KEY POINTS
■ a nurse is often in an excellent position to help a patient navigate through his or her cancer journey
■ Urinary incontinence can be a distressing side effect of treatment that can drastically reduce a patient’s quality of life
■ Careful consideration of communication strategies will enable nurses to engage patients and their families in potentially difficult discussions
■ Such strategies are even more significant at a time when increasingly sophisticated treatments mean that cancer patients are likely to live with their diagnosis, undergo treatment and endure related side effects for a substantial period of time
■ Critical reflection can be used by nurses to evaluate their practice and make changes that will positively affect the care they provide in future