Surgical nurses' perceptions of patients' needs post-stoma surgery

Abstract

The aim of the study was to explore surgical nurses' perceptions of patients' needs post-stoma surgery. A descriptive and non-experimental, cross-sectional design was used in the study. Twelve female surgical nurses from two surgical wards were chosen by means of convenience sampling. Face-to-face semi-structured interviews comprising of both close-ended and open ended questions were the main means for data collection. The data was analyzed quantitatively by means of descriptive statistics. Graphs and tables were used to illustrate the findings. Furthermore, content analysis was used to analyze the qualitative data. By investigating the nurses' perceptions, proposed changes were suggested in order to provide better quality of care towards the post-operative stoma patients. Results in the study indicate that the female surgical nurses' perceptions of ostomates' post operative needs seems to be parallel to those of the stoma patients themselves. On the other hand, there were a small number of dissimilarities when perceptions were compared to whether the needs of ostomates' were being attended to on the surgical ward. All of the participants stated that the physical, psychological and social needs were imperative for the post-operative stoma patient. Furthermore, results show that quite a few nurses expressed that they did not consider all aspects of ostomy care such as sexual health information-giving, teaching and counseling as being part of their nursing role on the ward, stating that this was the role of the Stoma Care Nurse. This suggests some degree of role ambiguity amongst the participants. In addition this may propose that nurses may not have the necessary knowledge, skills and confidence in assisting and dealing with the post-operative needs of stoma patients. However, several nurses suggested that certain aspects of ostomy care need improving upon, allowing for better quality of care thus attending to most, if not all, of the post-stoma patients' needs. The results are limiting to the small scale study, however they have highlighted several nursing implications. Recommendations for practice and education including post-graduate education and preparation for improving the nurses' teaching skills and information-giving related to sexual health information and research were highlighted. In addition, specialized courses in stoma care and counseling programs for all surgical nurses was recommended, allowing nurses to have up-to-date knowledge on stoma care. Furthermore, proposals for research including a research study using a larger-scale with an improved tool tested for reliability and validity, allowing for more generalizability of the results amongst the Maltese surgical nurses was emphasized at the end of this study.