Mapping Phase-Specific Supportive Care Needs to Inform Care Improvement in Temporary Ostomy Patients: A Qualitative...

To explore the experiences, evolving needs, key pain points, and service touchpoints of patients with temporary ostomies during the dual transition, and develop a patient journey map to guide nursing practice and enhance patient experience.

A descriptive qualitative study following the Standards for Reporting Qualitative Research (SRQR).

Between December 2025 and March 2026 in Shanghai, China, 19 patients with temporary ostomies were recruited. Data were collected via semi-structured interviews, analysed using framework analysis, and synthesized into a visual patient journey map.

Thirty-two initial codes were identified and, guided by the Fitch supportive care needs framework, synthesized into four dimensions and 16 subthemes. Mapped across four stages of the patient journey: (1) preoperative phase, characterized (survival-driven decision-making and limited understanding); (2) early postoperative phase, marked (tangible impacts and a knowledge-action gap in skill acquisition); (3) transitional care phase, (trial-and-error adaptation and lifestyle reconstruction); and (4) stoma reversal waiting phase, (tension between the desire for "normalcy" and uncertainty regarding bowel function). The visual patient journey map reconstructs the patient experience, highlighting stage-specific behaviours, emotions, needs, and key pain points from initial stoma creation to the stoma reversal waiting phase.

This study highlights the phase-specific supportive care needs of patients with temporary ostomies across the identified journey phases. The resulting patient journey map offers insights into key pain points, the progression of needs, and the complex interplay among behaviours, emotions, and service touchpoints. Future research and clinical practice could explore digitally supported follow-up systems, family-centered dyadic empowerment strategies, and front-loaded risk communication as potential avenues to enhance care.

Participants contributed to this study by sharing their lived experiences through semi-structured interviews. Three participants also participated in member checking to validate the interpretation of the findings and provide feedback to refine the final map.