This article will demonstrate how the Royal College of Nursing's (RCN's) Principles of Nursing Practice (2010) and the 6Cs (Cummings and Bennett, 2012a ; 2012b) can be applied to stoma care nursing. The multidimensional role of the stoma care nurse means that he or she is well placed to improve quality and standards in stoma nursing care. Stoma care nurses provide direct patient care and can play a vital part in helping patients with a stoma, a long-term condition, ensuring that their patients get the best possible care (RCN, 2010). The poster contained within this article was displayed at the Association of Stoma Care Nurses (ASCN) national conference in Harrogate in October 2014 and was voted the overall winner. The authors of the article and the poster are stoma care nurses working in the acute and community settings and, between 2013 and 2014, they completed the RCN's Clinical Leadership Programme (RCN, 2005). The NHS Plan (Department of Health, 2000) identified the importance of leadership and the necessity of remodelling the NHS around the needs of service users. With this in mind, using the Principles of Nursing Practice and the 6Cs within stoma care demonstrates development with a consistent focus on patient care.

Safeguarding is about the protection of the most vulnerable people in our society. This article presents a case history of the author's experience of a patient with a colostomy and high-output abdominal fistula, who was involved in a safeguarding alert. It explores the roles and responsibilities of nurses, regardless of specialty, to increase their awareness, understanding and knowledge of safeguarding, and the processes in place to protect the most vulnerable people they care for.