North Pacific Surgical AssociationStoma creation: does onset of ostomy care education delay hospital length of stay?

BackgroundBalancing patient safety with hospital length of stay (LOS) and associated cost is critically important. Subjectively, we have observed that patients undergoing ostomy creation early in the week have a shorter LOS.MethodsWe retrospectively reviewed LOS based on day of the week the operation was performed.ResultsWe reviewed 180 patients undergoing minimally invasive surgery with planned ostomy. Group 1 underwent surgery on Monday to Wednesday (n = 77), Group 2 on Thursday (n = 49), and Group 3 on Friday (n = 54). The average LOS for Group 1, 2, and 3 was 6.2, 4.9, and 7.2 days, respectively. The average number of visits with ostomy nursing for Group 1, 2, and 3 was 2.7, 1.8, and 2.3, respectively. Day of initial ostomy nursing visit was significantly correlated between the delay to initial visit and LOS with Group 3 delayed most.ConclusionsPatients with the longest delay to initial nurse visit had the longest LOS, with Friday operations being most delayed. A contributing factor may be absence of ostomy teaching over the weekend.