Stoma Care Nurse

Stoma Care Nurses (also known as Colorectal and Stoma Care Clinical Nurse Specialists) provide specialist pre-operative counselling, surgical site marking, post-operative patient education, and long-term community follow-up for people who have had or will have a stoma (colostomy, ileostomy, or urostomy) formed following bowel cancer surgery, inflammatory bowel disease, bladder cancer, or emergency surgery. You are typically the named CNS for a caseload of stoma patients, providing continuity of care across the surgical admission, discharge, and community phases.

Pre-operatively you provide psychological preparation, site marking (a specialist skill with long-term consequences for the patient's quality of life), and education about living with a stoma. Post-operatively you teach patients to apply and change their stoma bags, manage complications such as prolapse, herniation, skin problems, and parastomal sores, and advise on diet, exercise, clothing, and intimate relationships. Community follow-up includes home visits, telephone clinics, and virtual consultations. You liaise closely with colorectal surgeons, oncologists, specialist nurses in oncology and tissue viability, and community nurses. The Royal College of Nursing Stoma and Affiliated Nursing Forum (RCN SAF) is the specialist nursing group, and the World Council of Enterostomal Therapists (WCET) provides international accreditation.

Over 100,000 people in the UK live with a stoma, with approximately 13,000 new stomas formed each year (Colostomy UK). Colorectal cancer is the fourth most common cancer in the UK, and surgical outcomes including stoma formation are directly affected by the quality of specialist nurse input. NHS NICE quality standards for colorectal cancer surgery mandate specialist stoma nursing input as a quality indicator.

NMC registration and specialist training — particularly surgical site marking competency — create a protected professional role that cannot be delegated to unqualified staff. The combination of pre-operative counselling, post-operative technical education, and long-term community management across a vulnerable patient group creates a depth of clinical and relational expertise that is consistently valued by surgical teams and patients alike.

Morning: pre-operative assessment clinic — three patients scheduled for bowel resection surgery next week. Site marking (ileostomy for one patient, colostomy for two) following stomal site assessment guidelines, full psychological preparation and education session, and answering detailed questions about life after stoma formation. Afternoon: ward rounds on the colorectal surgical ward — post-operative stoma care teaching for two patients discharged tomorrow, reviewing pouch application technique and confirming community nurse liaison. Phone clinic: three community stoma patient calls about bag fitting problems, skin soreness, and dietary concerns after discharge.