Extending the role of the stoma care nurse

Abstract

Recently, there has been a great deal of interest, argument and debate regarding the extension of nursing roles and the development of nurse practitioner roles in particular. Much of this argument has centred around whether nurses are seeking to gain professional standing by taking on doctors' tasks, but little is heard about the potential benefits to patients and the possibility of developing new patient support services. In this article, the author looks specifically at the area of stoma care and outlines potential advantages and disadvantages to role extension.