The Pouch Half Full: Promoting Positivity Through Creative Resources

Quality of life (QOL) is not well defined, but “encompasses social conditions such as relationships with family, friends, spirituality, or religion, and social constructs such as freedom, equality, and justice within the individual’s society” and the patient’s satisfaction with these conditions (Pittman, Kozell, & Gray, p. 255). The creation of an intestinal ostomy (urostomy, colostomy, or ileostomy) can have a major impact on the QOL of a patient. Patients with ostomies often express concerns about body image; fears about odor and leakage; and anxiety about travel, return to work or school, and intimacy and sexual intercourse all of which encompass aspects of quality of life (Pittman, et al., 2009). At our large 1000+ bed urban hospital, the WOC nurses recognize the impact that an ostomy takes on QOL. In response to this, we have developed the following creative ways to shed a positive light on living with an ostomy: starting an ostomy support group, creation of an ostomy newsletter, development of a hospital based website with links to resources, celebration of World Ostomy Day through an informative table in the hospital lobby, and creation of bulletin boards and other visual aids in the Ostomy Clinic. The outpatient Ostomy Clinic is decorated with educational materials to be used as visual aids in an effort to make the clinic a more positive and welcoming place. Patients often express feeling comfortable, calm, and at ease in clinic in both the pre-operative and post-operative setting. The goal is to create a comfortable zone for patients, and to send home the message that life can go on with an ostomy.