Kavita nominated for award for neobladder support group

St John of God Murdoch Hospital Continence and Stoma Therapy Nurse Kavita Sharma has been nominated for an award after she created a support group in mid-2018 to provide positivity and hope for neo bladder patients.

15 Jan 2020

15 January 2020

Neo-bladder procedure is a major procedure and requires a two-week stay in hospital. Patients often experience weakness of the bladder and leakage, which will likely last a lifetime.

Kavita founded the neo-bladder support group when she saw a gap in the ongoing support of patients. While stoma groups were well-established, neo bladder patients did not have the same level of services and often suffered their condition alone.

She approached her patient John, who supported her idea of creating a 'living with neo bladder' group. With his coordination and support, Kavita was able to grow the attendee numbers to 20 in just over one year. The peer to peer group meets quarterly and the attendees are all male.

Meetings feature a guest speaker or educational topic. Recent speakers include Oncologist Dr Sanjay Mukhedkar, physiotherapists and a sexual health specialist.

Some of the benefits of the support group that Kavita recognises are a sense of comradery amongst members, a more clearly defined sense of hope and changing the sense of loss to that of positivity around successfully overcoming their cancer diagnosis.

Having education and meeting previous neo bladder patients that are living well 10 or 15 years beyond their procedure gives the men encouragement to move forwards.

“Patients often don't retain much of the information from their clinical appointments so having opportunity to ask questions in an informal setting is critical," Kavita said.

She provides assessment, treatment and advice for any patient that is having continence issues, whether they are pre-existing or newly identified issues. Kavita also works with Perth Urology Clinic, which is a private clinic at the Murdoch campus.

She is a partner and advocate for her patients and acknowledges the holistic journey of those in her care.

Kavita has been nominated for a WA Nursing and Midwifery Excellence Awards award. The winners will be announced later in 2020. Good luck, Kavita!