Conference Proceedings - School of Nursing & Midwifery - Trinity ...

School of Nursing & Midwifery, Trinity College Dublin: 8 th Annual Interdisciplinary Research Conference
Transforming Healthcare Through Research, Education & Technology: 7 th – 9 th November 2007
Conference Proceedings
One of the best ways the clinicians can support their patient
through this illness experience is by the provision of information.
Being well informed is one way of enabling individuals to retain or
regain control of their lives. The study has identified discrepancies
in the amount and quality of information received, highlighting the
importance of assessing the quality and content of communication
of information at various stages in the illness. The participant has a
right, not a duty to hear bad news (Buckman, 1992) and it is,
therefore, essential to assess the patient to identify the extent of
information required.
Elimination
Given the diagnosis of colorectal cancer and the nature of the
surgery performed, elimination issues were understandably one of
the main physical symptoms to dominate this post-discharge
period. For some they imposed physical restrictions and isolation,
whilst other participants were struggling to come to terms with a
'new normality’.
‘I came out (of hospital) on the Tuesday and on Wednesday I still
hadn’t been, and the Thursday and I was beginning to feel oh golly,
you know, what if it has fallen apart, how do I know if it has fallen
apart? I have no idea how to tell whether it is working or not. And
I was really getting anxious at one stage and thought I wonder if I
ought to phone somebody and say, you know, I haven’t done
anything yet, and it was about that time that I suddenly shot out
into the loo and discovered that it all worked. And the relief was
immense’ (2).
It is getting a lot better and today, it was ok, I have had a motion. I
don’t, except on two or three occasions when I have quite a
significant movement, I don’t ever feel as though I have eliminated,
as though I have cleared my bowel, so I hope we get to that stage’
(13).
‘What they did, when they discharged me, they gave me
paracetamol and codeine, which will constipate. And that’s exactly,
what happened. So when I came out of hospital I was constipated.
Now my engineering background tells me, that if I put stress on a
joint, especially if it’s a new joint and realising if you’ve got a ball of
faeces going through this point, I would be double worried, a
because things weren’t settling down. And B realising that there’s
going to be stress on this joint’ (4).
For some individuals coping with elimination issues was a struggle,
not least because they found it very embarrassing to discuss such a
personal issue as bowels.
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