Title: What’s in Your Wallet? Utilizing the UOAA Ostomy and Continent Diversion Patient Bill of Rights, Nurses Can Act as Influencers for Ostomy Patients

There are approximately 725,000-1,000,000 ostomates in the US with an estimated 100,000 surgeries annually. United Ostomy Associations of America (UOAA) receives hundreds of calls from ostomy patients struggling to find adequate help as a result of poor quality of care and lack of education. There are not enough ostomy nurses and outpatient ostomy clinics to meet patient demand.

To empower patients to be self-advocates and drive change, UOAA revised the “Ostomy and Continent Diversion Patient Bill of Rights” (PBOR) and formally adopted them in 2017. For patients, these rights outline what they should expect to receive during all phases of ostomy care.

Since adoption, endorsements have been received from the Wound Ostomy Continence Nursing Certification Board (WOCNCB), Society of Urinary Nurses Association (SUNA) and Wound Care Education Institute (WCEI). Amplification of the PBOR message continued with publication in The Phoenix Magazine, UOAA New Patient Guide, WOCNow, and more.  It has also been dropped into ostomy courses for students in WOC and OMS certification programs.

The purpose of this project was to raise awareness and increase utilization of the PBOR among ostomy nurses with the objective to reinforce through education that this is a tool to promote best practice in all health care settings. An accompanying tool, “Inspire Excellence”, was created for nurses to help them understand how to utilize the PBOR. Use of the PBOR will ultimately improve patient satisfaction and quality of life.

Outcomes are being measured by: the number of patients and clinicians who have received the PBOR, which to date is over 21,000, downloads of PBOR resources from the UOAA website, and amounts distributed at professional conferences.

Nurses can support the PBOR by carrying the wallet size version as a daily reminder that they are co-collaborators and advocates with their patients in creating needed changes.