Increasing physician‐perceived comfort about ostomies in pediatric inflammatory bowel disease: An interprofessional quality improvement project
Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: Introduction Pediatric inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a chronic disease with various treatments, including ostomy surgery, which is associated with stigma. Physicians' known discomfort in discussing ostomies can impact medical decision‐making and the timing of clinical conversation. This quality improvement (QI) work developed and tested interprofessional tools to increase physician‐perceived comfort in ostomy‐related discussions at pediatric‐IBD focused Learning Health Network site. Methods A multidisciplinary team of GI/IBD psychologists, ostomy nurses, and child life specialists developed tools designed to increase physician‐perceived comfort in ostomy discussions at an institution that participates in ImproveCareNow, a pediatric‐IBD Learning Health Network. Two Plan Do Study Act (PDSA) cycles were completed. PDSA Cycle 1 involved IBD attending physicians ( n = 4) for 8 weeks and PDSA Cycle 2 involved GI medical fellows ( n = 7) for 12 weeks. Each PDSA cycle involved (1) baseline information, (2) resource education, and (3) tracking of physician‐perceived comfort. Results For IBD attendings, average physician‐perceived comfort talking about ostomies increased from 68.8% to 83.3%. For GI medical fellows, average physician‐perceived comfort increased from 41.4% to 62%. Conclusions Ostomy surgery in pediatric IBD is a complex medical decision with notable stigma, demonstrating a pressing need to facilitate non‐stigmatizing and psychosocially mindful clinical discussions. This QI project demonstrated how interprofessional education and resources increased physician‐perceived comfort in ostomy discussions among IBD attendings and GI medical fellows at an ImproveCareNow site.
Source: Learning Health Systems
DOI: 10.1002/lrh2.70034
Institutions: Nationwide Children's Hospital, The Ohio State University
Language: English
Topic: Stoma care and complications
Subfield: Surgery
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $2,500
OpenAlex ID: W4413992614