After stabilization, where is ostomy care education provided?

• A. Intensive Care Unit
• B. Medical-Surgical Nursing Unit
• C. Rehabilitation Unit
• D. Outpatient Clinic

Answer: (B)

Ostomy care education is taught once the patient is stable enough to learn and participate in hands-on skill practice. The medical-surgical nursing unit is where this education typically happens because it’s the setting where patients recover from surgery, receive ongoing nursing care, and prepare for discharge. Nurses on this unit can provide step-by-step bag changes, skin care, appliance management, and recognition of complications, and they can coordinate with wound-ostomy-continence specialists as needed.

The intensive care unit is focused on immediate stabilization and life-sustaining monitoring, so this teaching isn’t usually feasible there. A rehabilitation unit centers on restoring function and mobility, which may complement overall care but isn’t the primary place for initial ostomy instruction. An outpatient clinic can provide follow-up education and troubleshooting after discharge, but the essential in-hospital instruction aimed at readiness for discharge typically occurs on the medical-surgical unit.