Bowel care: implementing changes toward quality improvement.
This article describes the challenges accepted by two healthcare teams at the Hampton Veterans Affairs Medical Center, which impacted significantly upon the practice of nursing. The first healthcare team developed a medium size glycerine suppository ("glycerine bomb"), which was determined to be more effective than the bisacodyl in oil base suppository. The second team evaluated the effectiveness of a suppository of choice ("Magic Bullet") which was approved for use and replaced the "glycerine bomb." The need for a formalized protocol for a bowel care program was identified, developed and implemented. A bowel care program quality improvement monitor was developed to evaluate the effectiveness of the protocol. With continuous monitoring, we are challenged to evaluate our findings and restructure our interventions.