Ostomy Essays

Ostomy Essays Ostomy Essay Ostomy Essay November 27, 2007 My Experience Wearing an Ostomy Bag At the beginning of this assignment my first reaction was to not wear the ostomy bag and write a paper on why I did not want to wear it. But when I sat down and thought about I could not think of a single good reason why not to wear it. Working in nursing homes and hospitals you take care of a lot of patients with ostomy bags and you wonder what life would be like if that were you but just like that the thought is gone and you can’t imagine it. Cutting out the stoma size on the sticky paper was harder than I thought it would be, the paper is tuff and hard to cut in a straight circle. The chocolate pudding and applesauce that was inserted into the bag helped make the experience even more realistic. After having my ostomy bag placed on by one of our instructors I kind of forgot about it. Luckily I had on a large white shirt so nobody could see the imprint of the bag. Once I left school I had some errands to take care of and decided that I would just have to go to the grocery store with the bag in place. While walking threw the grocery store I noticed that the bag had a little gas and was starting to grow. Buy the time I reached the check out counter my white shirt was covered in chocolate and applesauce. Wearing the ostomy bag was a good learning experience. I feel that all nursing students should have to wear one. It gives you the opportunity to walk in your patients shoes. The next time I have a patient with an ostomy bag or any type of assistive device, I will be able to reflect back on my experience and have more empathy for what the patient is going threw.