Aim of the study. To reveal the psychological problems of patients with a stoma in the preoperative and postoperative periods.
Methods. Analysis of scientific literature and quantitative research. A quantitative research was conducted to reveal the psychological problems experienced by patients with a stoma in the preoperative and postoperative periods. It also aimed at revealing the opinion of nurses about the psychological problems experienced by patients with a stoma in the preoperative and postoperative periods. Patients and nurses were provided with anonymous questionnaires. The study included patients with a stoma (N = 34) in one of the largest cities hospital X and nurses who were caring of them (N = 30). A descriptive statistics was used for analysis.
Results. The majority of patients agreed that they had felt fear before the operation, and this was noticed by all the nurses in the study. Nearly half of patients agreed that after surgery they feared they would not be able to cope with a stoma, and almost all nurses agreed. Most patients agreed that they experienced the lack of information and psychological discomfort. However, the patients disagreed that they had felt lonely and unsup-ported after surgery. The patients noted the lack of theoretical knowledge about stoma care after surgery.