A Study of the Home-care Instruction Needs of Colostomy Patients
It was the purpose of this study to determine how well colostomy patients were prepared to undertake self-care at home. Related to this goal was the secondary purpose of preparation of a basic list of instructional needs of colostomy patients. Such a list should be useful in determination of content for colostomy self-care teaching programs in hospitals. The interview method was used in this study in order to ensure more complete returns. Twelve colostomy patients were interviewed using an interview schedule. These patients had had colostomy surgery within the last year in one of two hospitals used in the study. One of the hospitals was a county hospital and the other was a private institution. Permission for the study was obtained from the administrative officer and the executive board of each institution. Information about patients was obtained from the clinical record of each patient thought the cooperation of the medical records department of each hospital. Permission for the interview was obtained from private physicians as necessary. Permission was obtained from each patient prior to the interview. Each interview took place following the patient's discharge from the hospital and was done in the patient's home. The interview schedule was developed, and the patients were interviewed in their homes. The findings from the interviews were tabulated, analyzed, and interpreted. The main over-all conclusion which was drawn from this study was that the existing teaching programs in these two hospitals were quite adequate in meeting home-care information needs of colostomy patients. Patients designated three areas as the outstanding problem areas concerned with self-care. These were regulation of bowel movement, control of odor, and acceptance of the colostomy. In addition to these dietary management and regulation of physical activity were designated as areas in which the patient felt a lack of information at the time of discharge from the hospital. A list was prepared as a guide for coverage in a program for teaching colostomy self-care. While a secondary purpose of this study was to prepare this list of instructional needs of colostomy patients, some thought was given to instructional approaches also. Through patients' comments and reviews of literature recommendations for teaching were made. Conclusions were reached on a tentative basis because of the small number of patients used in the study. A large study of the same type is recommended.
Nursing, Public Health and Community Nursing, Colostomy -- education; Self Care
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