This quality improvement project is a successful example of an interprofessional clinical nurse specialist-led initiative that impacts patient/family and organization outcomes through the identification and implementation of evidence-based nursing practice.

There is sufficient research-based evidence to conclude that intestinal ostomy surgery exerts a clinically relevant impact on HRQOL, and that nursing interventions can ameliorate this effect. While a small number of instruments exist, including several that have proved valid and reliable in the research setting, no instrument has yet been adapted for routine in the clinical setting.