In the UK, one in five people live with some form of urinary incontinence and one in ten live with some form of bowel issue. The likelihood of a nurse caring for a patient with a pre-existing continence issue in any healthcare setting is therefore relatively high. Hospital admission carries an increased risk of patients developing functional incontinence, which might occur due to a missed baseline continence assessment on admission or because of the patient’s presenting illness and can result in a temporary loss of mobility and independence. For hospital nurses, starting a conversation with the patient regarding their continence status early in their admission, and encouraging them to talk about any bothersome continence issues, is essential for the delivery of person-centred care. Continence is ‘everybody’s business’ and the author details some nurse-led initiatives that have been implemented to raise the standards for continence assessment in hospitalised patients.