Post-discharge care for patients following stoma formation: what the nurse needs to know
Intended for healthcare professionals
Evidence & Practice    

Post-discharge care for patients following stoma formation: what the nurse needs to know

Jennie Burch Head of gastrointestinal nurse education, St Mark's Hospital, Harrow, England

Rationale and key points

This article discusses post-discharge care for patients following stoma formation. While the patient is taught the practicalities of managing the stoma appliance in hospital, this learning should be integrated into their daily life following discharge from hospital. Nurses are required to consider and address any issues that might affect the patient in the long term. These include changes in body image, adapting to having a stoma, preventing or treating complications associated with a stoma, and long-term follow-up.

Most patients manage successfully with their stoma following a period of adaptation.

Follow-up for patients with a stoma can occur over the telephone and/or face-to-face in the patient’s home or in the clinic.

There are several support groups in the UK that can be accessed by patients with a stoma.

Patients should seek advice and assistance from a stoma specialist nurse if any issues related to the stoma arise, such as leakage or sore peristomal skin.

Nursing Standard. doi: 10.7748/ns.2017.e10198

Correspondence

jburch1@nhs.net

Peer review

This article has been subject to external double-blind peer review and checked for plagiarism using automated software

Received: 23 June 2015

Accepted: 22 December 2015

Published online: 04 August 2017

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