|
A team of nurses create a drain pouch to make things easier for breast cancer patients
 SOME female cancer patients stay at home after breast surgeries because they do not want to go out with a surgical drain inside their clothes.
Comprising a tube and small bottle for draining blood and fluid, the drain is usually at the side of the patient’s body for about seven to 10 days after surgery. A safety pin secures the drain beneath the clothes and it can also be in the pocket of the blouse or pants.
Last year, a team of breast care nurse clinicians in National Cancer Centre Singapore (NCCS) came up with the idea for an affordable, safe, durable, water resistant, light-weight and washable drain pouch.
It is compact, easy to wear and remove, and it can be worn in different positions. It has a strap which can be adjusted to the body frame.
The pouch, with non-allergic and non-abrasive padding material, can be worn like a waistband, a string bag, or a chain from the neck.
It can be worn in the shower and during sleep. There is no pin that can accidentally prick patients, especially the elderly folk with poor eyesight.
“We hope to make the life of women cancer patients more comfortable,” says Ms Mabel Tan who is in the team of breast care nurse clinicians who developed the drain pouch.
“We hope it will improve the patients’ functionality and psycho-social status. Some patients with surgical drains dare not go out of their homes.
“They do not want to be embarrassed if people notice the drain pinned inside their clothes.
“Some patients say the drain pouch is like a money pouch and they can also put in things like their MRT cards.
“Patients can wear the drain pouch to go to markets and socialise with their friends. There is no need for them to stay at home.
“We will keep our costs low to make the drain pouch affordable.”
The drain pouch is secure and comfortable, says Madam Zaherah Mohd Saleh, a customer service officer, who used it earlier this year.
This creation is an example of how breast care nurse clinicians can improve things for patients.
Ms Tan says: “We can re-examine our practices by implementing evidence based nursing to improve the standard of clinical care and safety for patients and improve their functionability, psychosocial health and comfort.”
The Ministry of Health and NCCS are funding the cost of the work on the drain pouch.
Clinical trials assessing the level of patients’ satisfaction with the drain pouch or the practice of using a pin to secure the surgical drain, will be completed by the end of September this year.
The trials are a joint project, which also involves breast care nurses in Singapore General Hospital and the staff of SingHealth.
If the trials show that more patients are satisfied with the drain pouch, it will be manufactured and its design will be patented.
The benefits of the pouch will be shared with other hospitals and health care institutions here, Ms Tan says.
She adds: “We are thinking of making different sizes of the drain pouch, including those for 24-hour infusion pumps with chemotherapy drugs and for non cancer patients with big surgical drains.”
|