Colostomy irrigation: a job worth doing

Abstract

Although colostomy irrigation has been around for many years, there seems to be some reluctance among stoma care nurses (SCNs) to offer irrigation as an option for patients to manage their colostomy. By gaining an insight into the common practices of ostomates that have established colostomy irrigation, the authors hoped to increase SCNs' knowledge of the practical process of irrigation. In turn, the authors also hoped to increase SCNs' confidence in promoting irrigation. The authors' own experience of teaching irrigation has brought positive feedback; however, they felt they needed supporting evidence from a wider cohort of patients to suggest that irrigation does have a positive impact on quality of life. Results from the authors' short piece of work was overwhelmingly positive and the authors hope that, by sharing these results, more SCNs will be encouraged to offer irrigation.