Sponsored by Coloplast
Within the post-operative environment, nurses are already doing a significant amount to support patients in learning to manage their stoma and prepare for discharge. However, given the pace and pressure of this phase, it can be difficult to fully understand how these interactions are experienced by patients in the moment, or what is actually retained once the immediate situation has passed.
This raises an important question — how can we make the support we already provide more effective in shaping not just recovery, but the patient’s ability to understand, engage with, and take ownership of their care, particularly when time is limited and attention is divided?
This session explores how early post-operative interactions shape patient understanding, confidence and involvement in their care, recognising that timing, context and readiness all influence what is taken in and what may be missed — and ultimately, what shapes life immediately post-surgery.
Drawing on the lived experience of both patients and nurses, the session considers how the same interaction can be experienced differently depending on the situation. The patient perspective explores what it feels like to receive information and guidance during a time of vulnerability, highlighting what supports understanding and what can feel overwhelming or difficult to process.
The nurse perspective reflects the realities of practice, where competing priorities and the need to focus on the here and now shape how care and support are delivered, often requiring rapid judgement about what matters most in the moment.
Building on these perspectives, the session explores how shared decision making and patient empowerment can be supported within everyday practice, not as an additional task, but as part of what nurses are already doing. Through expert insight, it focuses on small, intentional shifts in communication and approach that can strengthen patient involvement and support confidence from the outset.
By recognising the complexity of the early post-operative phase and building on what nurses are already doing well, this session aims to support small, practical shifts that can shape life “beyond survival” in meaningful ways. The focus is not on adding more to practice, but on making existing interactions more effective, enabling patients to feel more prepared, more involved and more confident as they move towards discharge — and as they begin to navigate life immediately post-stoma formation.
