How Nurse Navigation Programmes Help Stoma Patients: What a 2026 Randomised Trial Found

After stoma surgery, most patients leave hospital with a care plan, a supply of pouches, and an appointment to follow up. What they also need, and what is not always consistently provided, is a person whose role is to accompany them through the adaptation process: someone who tracks how the stoma is functioning, identifies problems before they become complications, reinforces self-care skills as they evolve, and is available when questions arise between scheduled appointments.

This is the idea behind nurse navigation programmes. A 2026 randomised controlled trial set out to test whether this structured, ongoing nurse-led support actually changes outcomes for stoma patients, and the results support the approach.

The Trial

Published in BMC Gastroenterology on 3 July 2026, the study by Yilmaz T et al. was designed as a multicenter randomised controlled trial with repeated measurements, using a pretest-posttest design (Yilmaz T et al., BMC Gastroenterology, 2026 Jul 3). Seventy-four patients who had undergone intestinal stoma surgery across five hospitals in southeastern Turkey were enrolled between March and December 2021 and randomised into an intervention group receiving the nurse navigation programme and a control group receiving standard care.

The trial used four validated instruments to assess outcomes: the Stoma Complications Evaluation Form, the Stoma-Related Problems Form, the Ostomy Adjustment Inventory-23 (OAI-23), and the Stoma Quality of Life Scale. These covered the full range of outcomes relevant to stoma patients in the months after surgery: physical complications, practical stoma-related difficulties, psychological and social adjustment, and reported quality of life.

The trial was registered on ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT05809661), though the registration was retrospective.

What the Trial Found

The central finding was straightforward: patients in the nurse navigation group showed statistically significant improvements compared with those receiving standard care on both stoma adjustment scores and quality of life scores. The programme also reduced the incidence of stoma complications.

The study's conclusion, in the authors' own words, was that "the nurse navigation programme not only increases the quality of life and stoma adjustment in patients with stoma but also reduces stoma complications."

That three-part finding is worth dwelling on. Stoma adjustment refers to the psychological and practical process of incorporating the stoma into daily life, something that does not happen automatically or at the same pace for all patients. Quality of life, as measured by the Stoma Quality of Life Scale, captures how the stoma affects the broad fabric of daily experience. And complication reduction has direct clinical significance: peristomal skin problems, output issues, and equipment failures are among the most common reasons stoma patients seek urgent healthcare support in the first year after surgery.

Demonstrating measurable gains in all three areas through a single, structured care intervention is a meaningful result.

What a Nurse Navigation Programme Involves

In this trial, the nurse navigation programme consisted of structured, scheduled contact with patients following discharge, providing education, problem-solving support, and practical guidance tailored to where each patient was in their adjustment process. The aim was not simply to be available when patients called, but to be proactive: following up, identifying difficulties, and supporting patients to develop competence and confidence in managing their stoma before problems escalated.

This approach is distinct from the routine stoma nurse appointment that most hospitals offer in the immediate post-operative period. It involves ongoing, systematic contact across the first weeks and months of recovery, rather than a one-off or crisis-driven engagement.

The NHS notes that stoma nurses provide ongoing support following surgery, including advice on stoma bag management, dietary adjustment, and concerns about relationships and body image, and that patients can contact their stoma nurse whenever questions arise after leaving hospital (NHS: Ileostomy Recovery, NHS.UK). What this trial adds is randomised evidence that structuring and intensifying that engagement, through a defined navigation programme, produces better outcomes than standard care.

How to Read These Findings

This was a single trial of 74 patients conducted in one region of Turkey, which limits how broadly the findings can be generalised. Healthcare systems differ in the resources available for nurse-led support, and the specific content and format of the navigation programme may influence how well the results translate to other settings.

The trial registration was retrospective, which is a methodological limitation that reduces the weight that can be placed on the result compared with a prospectively registered trial.

These caveats matter. They mean the finding is directionally useful but not yet settled science. Larger, prospectively registered trials in a wider range of settings would strengthen the evidence base considerably.

At the same time, the intervention tested here is low-cost, broadly feasible, and unlikely to cause harm. The direction of the evidence supports it, even if its magnitude and generalisability remain to be confirmed at scale.

What This Means If You Have a Stoma

The gap between what stoma patients need after surgery and what they routinely receive is a documented problem. Early complications go unrecognised, self-care skills develop inconsistently, and many patients navigate the first year with limited structured support.

This trial provides randomised evidence for a targeted solution. It does not settle the question of exactly how nurse navigation programmes should be structured or how resource-intensive they need to be to produce benefits. But it does support the case for systematic, structured follow-up as a meaningful component of stoma care, not an optional addition to it.