Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Chapter 46: Bowel Elimination
Chapter 46: Bowel Elimination
• Bowel incontinence
• Constipation
• Risk for constipation
• Perceived constipation
• Diarrhea
• Toileting self-care deficit
• Body image, disturbed
Planning
• Goals and outcomes
– Client sets regular defecation habits
– Client is able to list proper fluid and food intake needed
to achieve bowel elimination
– Client implements a regular exercise program
– Client reports daily passage of soft, formed brown stool
– Client doesn’t report any discomfort associated with
defecation
• Setting Priorities
• Collaborative Care - WOCN
Implementation
• Health Promotion: establish routine
– Promotion of normal defecation
• Sitting position
• Position on bedpan – see pg. 1196
• Privacy
• Acute Care
– Meds
– Cathartics and laxatives
– Antidiarrheal agents
– Enemas
Types of Enemas
• Cleansing enemas
– Tap water
– Normal saline
– Hypertonic solutions
– Soapsuds
• Oil Retention
• Carminative – Mag, gylcerin and water;
relieves gaseous distention
• Medicated enemas – Kayexalate
Implementation Cont’d.
• Enema administration
– “Enemas till clear”
– See pages 1200-1202
• Digital removal of stool – last resort
– Can cause irritation to the mucosa, bleeding
and stimulation of vagus nerve
• Inserting and maintaining a nasogastric
tube
NG Tubes
• Levine or salem sump tubes are most common for
stomach decompression or lavage
• See pages 1204-1209 for insertion procedure
• Connected to intermittent suction (LIS)
• Air vent should NEVER be clamped, connected to suction
or used for irrigation
• Not a sterile technique
• Care of pt. with NG
– Comfort
– Frequent mouth care/gargling
– Maintain patency of tube
– Turn client frequently to allow for adequate emptying
Continuing and Restorative Care
• Care of ostomies
• Irriating a colostomy
• Pouching ostomies (see pages 1211-1215)
• Nutritional considerations with ostomies
• Bowel training
• Proper fluid and food intake
• Regular exercise
• Hemorrhoids
• Skin integrity
Evaluation
• The effectiveness of care depends on how
successful the client is in achieving goals and
outcomes
• Optimally the client will be able to have
regular, pain-free defecation of soft-formed
stools
• It is necessary to ask questions so
establishing a therapeutic relationship is VERY
important
• Nursing interventions may be altered if
necessary