Nursing care for the colostomy from the perspective of patients

Present situation This bachelor thesis deals with nursing care of colostomy, namely from patients' point of view. The theoretical part focuses on the anatomy of colon and rectum. The chapter Stoma explains this term. The thesis also contains chapters dealing with the history of stomas and the history of their treatment. It is useful to know what the care looked like in the history and what it looks like now to gain comprehensive insight. The part dedicated to the indication of colostomy application is important as well, because there is not just one reason but more. The necessity of surgery is logically linked to the indication. Another chapter thus deals with pre- and post-surgery care and also mentions the differences from "normal" pre surgery preparation. Poor post-surgery care may lead to various complications of stomas particularly early complications in the post surgery stage. Later complications are mostly caused by poor care after longer time from the operation. This is why the proper education by a stoma nurse is necessary. One of the next chapters, stoma nurse and her role deals with the main tasks of a stoma nurse. Stoma aids also form an inseparable part of colostomy treatment. This aids are divided into a one-piece system and a two-piece system, and various accessories are also worth mentioning. There are of course small differences in replacement of the one-piece and the two-piece system, which are mentioned in the chapter replacement of the one-piece system and the two-piece system. Proper nutrition and water intake are important part of colostomy treatment. This chapter explains proper and improper habits and food. The last chapter of the thesis deals with the clubs of ostomists as these are able to help a patient cope with the stoma. Goals of the thesis and research questions Goal 1: To find the differences between the nursing care provided by a stoma nurse and a nurse from a standard ward. Goal 2: To find how a patient copes with colostomy treatment after being released to home care. Research question 1: What activities does a stoma nurse perform within colostomy care? Research question 2: What activities does a standard ward nurse perform within colostomy care? Research question 3: What problems does a patient face in colostomy treatment in home environment? Research question 4: What knowledge was a patient given before being released to home care? Results The results have shown that the main role of a stoma nurse is based on patient education. A worrying finding was that there had been insufficient education before the operation. As for the nutritional information, each patient was informed to different extent, some were not informed at all. The information on complications seems to be sufficient, the nurse informed the patients on the basic possible complications. The standard ward nurse most often redressed the post-surgery wound within colostomy care and asked about pain and administered painkillers. As of direct colostomy care she changed the pouch or the flange. The respondents however often mentioned that she was not experienced enough in their responses. When the nurse changed the pouch, she always check whether the colostomy was draining, how much stool was in the pouch, she checked and treated the colostomy surrounding and the colostomy itself. The standard ward nurse did not teach the patient any new skills, only the stoma nurse taught them. None of the respondents has faced any serious complications yet. Respondents of higher age have problems with cutting the hole in the flange. Before the end of hospitalization all the respondents were provided with comprehensive information on colostomy treatment and the nurse checked whether they do it properly. All the respondents were also given contact