The Nurse Continence Advisor (NCA) role is an independent practice model for registered nurses focusing on conservative methods of managing incontinence. The NCA role was developed in England in the early 1970's and is now well established in most health districts. The NCA education program was developed in Ontario in 1995. The training of the first 37 NCAs was funded by the Ontario Ministry of Health to help address the problem of incontinence in the community Home Care Programs.

Following the initial training program, the NCA Distance Education Program was established as a continuing education certificate program at McMaster University School of Nursing. It is currently the only recognized university based program for educating nurse continence advisors. It was initially pilot tested in Ontario and is now offered across Canada. More than 200 nurses from across Canada are enrolled or have completed the NCA program. We now have NCA's in 9 provinces. In an effort to establish a standard of excellence in the role of the nurse continence advisor CNCA was founded in November 2000 and is affiliated with the Canadian Nurses Association as an Emerging Group.

CNCA is a National Association mandated to enhance the speciality of Nurse Continence Advisors (NCA) in Canada by promoting education, research, and clinical practice. The activities of CNCA are designed to enrich members' professional growth and development.

To view the articles of constitution, click here
To view the NCA Standards for Practice, click here