More than 40 the RMH staff members participated in the Great Stoma Challenge 2024!
Could you imagine living with a stoma pouch? For more than 47,000 Australians (including many of our patients), this is their reality.
Stomas may be required if a patient has any surgery that involves the removal of the bowel or bladder. A stoma is an opening on the body where the bowel is bought out onto the abdomen and a pouch attached to the surrounding skin to contain the diverted urine or faecal material.
Luckily, our stomal therapy team do a fantastic job with helping patients make the transition to a stoma pouch, and have seen many, many people lead rewarding lives with a stoma. For Stomal Therapy Awareness Week this year, the RMH stoma team encouraged staff to take part in The Great Stoma Challenge - which involved wearing a stoma pouch for up to 72 hours.
Stomal Therapy Nurse Liz Edebohls said the team offered this opportunity for staff to experience what it’s like for our patients who undergo the transition to a stoma and needing to wear a pouch.
“Transitioning to a stoma pouch can be a difficult time for our patients, so we encouraged staff members to wear one for three days to gain an understanding of some of the challenges of having one,” Liz said.
“They were asked to wear the pouch for as long as they could up to three days, which is generally how long a patient would wear a pouch before changing for a new pouch.” More than 40 the RMH staff members signed up to take part in the challenge, including nurses, doctors and pharmacists.
All staff members' stomas were only a temporary tattoo and their pouch was filled with a gel, not faeces or urine, however organisers of the challenge endeavoured to give staff members the most accurate experience.
Most staff members were able to complete their day-to-day routine without any problem; including Urology nurse Julia, who said she was able to complete her regular exercise.
“I was able to go on my regular run twice and attend hot Pilates with the stoma bag attached to me,” Julia said.
“The only issue I found with it on was showering and remembering to dry the outside and underneath properly,” she said. Pharmacist Rima said that while she doesn’t interact with the stomal team usually, she was intrigued to find out about what wearing the stoma bag was like.
“I was interested to see what wearing a stoma bag is like, so I could relate to our patients through what can be a challenging time,” Rima said.
Liz said the most common theme that has come from the Challenge is that it helped start a conversation.
“We heard from the staff involved that their fellow colleagues, families, friends and sporting groups were very curious of the stoma pouch, asking questions and showing incredible support,” Liz said.
“While it helped our staff understand what it’s like to wear a stoma pouch, it’s also sparked some discussion in the community, which we hope will also help reduce stigma around stomas and the care they require.”
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