My Scope of Practice: A Champion “Found” by Incontinence Care

If we are facing in the right direction, all we have to do is keep on walking. —Buddhist saying

  When Tamara Dickinson, RN, CRN, CCCN, BCB-PMD, recently accepted the Rodney Appell Continence Care Champion Award from the National Association For Continence (NAFC), she felt vindicated. While Tamara was in nursing school, she submitted a project on the importance of being involved professionally. The theory behind her work was that everyone in nursing should strive to be as active and as knowledgeable as possible. She unexpectedly received a poor grade. Now acknowledged as an outstanding role model, Tamara has shown the merit of not only her writings, but also her laudable approach to continence care.   Tamara attended a nursing diploma program in her hometown (Memphis, TN) and following her graduation in 1990, she began working in spinal cord injury rehabilitation, her introduction to bowel and bladder complications. After a brief stint in the surgery unit at a children’s hospital, she began working in urology. Initially, she began doing urodynamics at the university hospital and soon became a member of the Society of Urologic Nurses and Associates, creating what she believes was the foundation that would lead to her most recent accolade. It wasn’t long before Tamara implemented biofeedback for bowel issues and helped develop a Continence Care Services department, where she served as the nurse manager until she, along with her husband, followed the urologist with whom she had been working to Fort Worth, TX to become the director of the continence center for a large urology practice in the Arlington-Fort Worth area.

  In 2002, Tamara went to the University of Texas (UT) Southwestern Medical Center, where she was a Senior Research Nurse in the urology department. Today, Tamara works in ambulatory services at UT Southwestern, coordinating research studies involving incontinence and voiding dysfunction.

  Tamara gives a great deal of credit to her colleagues — a talented team of men and women. “In the research division, we have a nurse administrator, two research nurses, and an administrative assistant,” says Tamara. “In addition to my research responsibilities, I also perform and oversee urodynamics for our department and see patients for pessary fitting and management as well as pelvic floor therapy. Pelvic floor therapy involves behavioral modifications as well as training in proper use of pelvic floor muscles for strengthening and/or downtraining. I work closely with two urologists who specialize in incontinence, one focusing on female urology and the other on neurourology. Additionally, we have two fellowship positions that facilitate training urologists who choose to subspecialize in this area.” Tamara says that working in clinical research and clinical practice offers her the best of both worlds.

  Tamara’s daily responsibilities reflect her exposure to the various dimensions of incontinence. She is Board-certified in continence care nursing through the Wound, Ostomy and Continence Nursing Certification Board (WOCNCB) and in urologic nursing through the Certification Board for Urologic Nurses and Associates (CBUNA). Tamara is also certified in biofeedback for pelvic muscle dysfunction through the Biofeedback Certification International Alliance (BCIA). “I am very fortunate that even though I am not an advanced practice nurse, I have a tremendous amount of input into the decisions and care of our patients with pelvic floor dysfunction,” she says. “I have worked hard over the years to become involved professionally and have been considered an expert in my field for some time. The staff and faculty I work with here at UT Southwestern appreciate my expertise and that appreciation is evident when I my opinions are heard.”

  Tamara’s successful career is a testament to the notion that anything is possible when you do what you love for a living. “Urology is something you spend what seems to be only a few minutes on in nursing school, but it’s a fascinating specialty full of subspecialties,” she says. “I took my first job doing urodynamics because I wanted a Monday through Friday daytime job, but urology has really become ingrained in me. I didn’t find incontinence work — incontinence work found me, and for that I am grateful.” Tamara’s recent honor signifies her expertise and her dedication to patients affected by incontinence, a worthy foundation for her scope of practice.

This article was not subject to the Ostomy Wound Management peer-review process.