Clinical Skills Workshop
Bowel and Stoma Care Training for Support Workers and Nurses
A three hour, hands on workshop covering bowel care and stoma care in one session. Practical work with simulation equipment, taught by a senior specialist Registered Nurse, with a group assessment completed during the workshop.
Single session, full course
$ 500 per person
- 3 hours, completed in one session
- Hands on practice with simulation equipment
- Taught by a senior specialist Registered Nurse
- Group assessment included
Disability
Aged Care
Community Care
Bowel and stoma care training gives support workers and nurses the practical skill to manage both safely, in one workshop rather than two. ANATE’s session runs for three hours at our Revesby training centre and is built around doing the tasks, not watching them: applying and removing stoma appliances, working through suppository and enema administration on simulation equipment, assessing the skin around a stoma, and recognising the signs that mean stop and escalate.
What is bowel and stoma care training?
It is practical training for the everyday care of people whose bowel function has been altered, either because they need assisted bowel management or because they have a surgically formed stoma diverting bowel contents or urine into an external appliance.
The two are taught together because in practice the same worker usually does both, and the same person often needs both. A resident with a stoma still has a bowel routine. A client on a suppository regimen may go on to have surgery. Splitting the skills across two separate courses creates gaps at exactly the point where they meet.
The two are taught together because in practice the same worker usually does both, and the same person often needs both. A resident with a stoma still has a bowel routine. A client on a suppository regimen may go on to have surgery. Splitting the skills across two separate courses creates gaps at exactly the point where they meet.
What the workshop covers
Bowel function and complex bowel conditions
- Normal bowel function, and describing stool accurately using the Bristol Stool Chart
- Constipation, faecal impaction, faecal incontinence and diarrhoea
- Neurogenic bowel, and how a spinal injury level affects bowel control
- How diet, fluid intake, mobility and medication change bowel patterns
- Reading and following an individual bowel care plan
Stoma types, appliances and skin
- Colostomy, ileostomy and urostomy, and what changes between them
- Assessing a healthy stoma: colour, size, shape and height above skin level
- Measuring the stoma and cutting the flange to an accurate fit
- One piece and two piece systems, closed and drainable bags, and when each suits
- Accessories that solve real problems: barrier rings, pastes, powders, sprays, belts and convexity
- Peristomal skin assessment, emptying technique, wear time, disposal and odour management
Practical procedures and hygiene
- Administering suppositories as set out in the person’s plan, practised on simulation equipment
- Administering enemas as set out in the person’s plan, practised on simulation equipment
- A full stoma appliance change performed by every participant
- Hand hygiene, PPE, standard precautions and safe waste disposal
- Positioning, privacy, dignity and gaining consent every time
Risk, escalation and record keeping
- Autonomic dysreflexia: recognising it, why bowel care can trigger it, and what to do immediately
- Rectal bleeding, severe pain, vomiting, abdominal distension and other stop signals
- Signs of bowel obstruction and when to call for urgent help
- Stoma colour changes, retraction, prolapse, stenosis and parastomal hernia
- High output, dehydration risk and electrolyte warning signs
- Bowel charting, accurate documentation and effective handover
- Incident reporting and what counts as a reportable incident
- Working within your role, and knowing exactly where your limit sits
What this workshop does not cover
Being clear about the boundaries is as useful as listing the content, because enrolling in the wrong training wastes money and can leave someone believing they are authorised to do something they are not.
- The practical component is limited to stoma care, suppository administration and enema administration. Other bowel care procedures are not taught or assessed. If your role requires anything beyond the three listed above, contact our team before enrolling
- This is not nationally accredited training. It is not a unit of competency and does not lead to a Statement of Attainment
- The assessment is not a nationally recognised competency assessment. It is an assessment booklet and practical participation within a professional development workshop
Colostomy, ileostomy and urostomy are not the same job
Treating every stoma the same way is the single assumption behind most leaks and skin damage.
- Colostomy. Formed from the colon, usually on the left side. Output is thicker and less frequent, and the effluent is less damaging to skin, so changes are needed less often
- Ileostomy. Formed from the small bowel, usually on the right. Output is loose, constant, and contains digestive enzymes that break down skin quickly. A leak here becomes a skin injury far faster, and high output brings a real risk of dehydration
- Urostomy. Diverts urine. Output is continuous, so the appliance is drainable and usually connected to a night bag. Urine affects the surrounding skin differently and brings its own infection considerations
Peristomal skin is where most stoma care goes wrong
An appliance that leaks is rarely a faulty product. It is usually a fit problem, and the skin pays for it.
Once peristomal skin breaks down, a cycle starts: damaged skin will not hold an adhesive, so the appliance leaks sooner, which damages more skin. Breaking that cycle means finding the cause rather than changing the bag more often. Is the flange cut too large, leaving skin exposed to effluent? Has the stoma shrunk since surgery? Is the stoma flush or retracted, so output tracks under the wafer? Is the person’s abdominal contour uneven when they sit?
The workshop teaches that diagnostic sequence, because it is the difference between a worker who manages a stoma and one who just replaces bags.
Once peristomal skin breaks down, a cycle starts: damaged skin will not hold an adhesive, so the appliance leaks sooner, which damages more skin. Breaking that cycle means finding the cause rather than changing the bag more often. Is the flange cut too large, leaving skin exposed to effluent? Has the stoma shrunk since surgery? Is the stoma flush or retracted, so output tracks under the wafer? Is the person’s abdominal contour uneven when they sit?
The workshop teaches that diagnostic sequence, because it is the difference between a worker who manages a stoma and one who just replaces bags.
How people with a stoma get their supplies in Australia
Anyone caring for an ostomate should understand this, and almost no training covers it.
The Stoma Appliance Scheme is an Australian Government program that supplies approved stoma products free of charge to Medicare eligible Australians who have a stoma. It supports around 50,000 people and is delivered through 19 stoma associations across the states and territories.
To access it, the person joins a stoma association, provides a certificate from a medical practitioner or stomal therapy nurse, and receives an entitlement card. They then order monthly supplies from that association, choosing from the products on the Stoma Appliance Scheme Schedule. Extra supplies can be approved for travel or for people living in remote areas.
Knowing this matters in practice. A worker who understands the scheme can help someone order the accessory that would actually fix their leak, instead of accepting a poor fit because they assume the products are expensive.
The Stoma Appliance Scheme is an Australian Government program that supplies approved stoma products free of charge to Medicare eligible Australians who have a stoma. It supports around 50,000 people and is delivered through 19 stoma associations across the states and territories.
To access it, the person joins a stoma association, provides a certificate from a medical practitioner or stomal therapy nurse, and receives an entitlement card. They then order monthly supplies from that association, choosing from the products on the Stoma Appliance Scheme Schedule. Extra supplies can be approved for travel or for people living in remote areas.
Knowing this matters in practice. A worker who understands the scheme can help someone order the accessory that would actually fix their leak, instead of accepting a poor fit because they assume the products are expensive.
This workshop and stomal therapy nursing are different things
If you are looking to become a stoma nurse, this is not that pathway, and it is worth being clear about it.
A Stomal Therapy Nurse in Australia is a registered nurse who has completed postgraduate specialist study, such as a Graduate Certificate in Stomal Therapy Nursing or in wound, ostomy and continence practice, including supervised clinical placement. Those programs run over months and lead to a specialist role.
This workshop is practical skills training for the nurses and support workers who deliver bowel and stoma care every day, and who escalate to a stomal therapy nurse when something is beyond routine. Both are needed, and neither replaces the other.
A Stomal Therapy Nurse in Australia is a registered nurse who has completed postgraduate specialist study, such as a Graduate Certificate in Stomal Therapy Nursing or in wound, ostomy and continence practice, including supervised clinical placement. Those programs run over months and lead to a specialist role.
This workshop is practical skills training for the nurses and support workers who deliver bowel and stoma care every day, and who escalate to a stomal therapy nurse when something is beyond routine. Both are needed, and neither replaces the other.
Who should enrol
The workshop is written for the people who deliver or supervise this support day to day:
- NDIS support workers
- Aged care and residential care staff
- Community and in home care workers
- Registered and Enrolled Nurses working in disability, aged care or community settings
- Assistants in nursing and personal care workers
- Team leaders and clinical coordinators responsible for worker competency
- Overseas trained nurses learning Australian appliance systems and supply arrangements
Assessment and what you receive
An assessment is completed as a group activity during the workshop, alongside practical participation with the equipment. Both sit within a professional development workshop rather than an accredited unit, so this is not a nationally recognised competency assessment.
Participants receive a Certificate of Attendance. ANATE does not place an expiry date on it, so there is no renewal requirement set by us, though your own workplace may set its own refresher schedule.
The three hours can be recorded as continuing professional development towards your annual registration requirement.
Participants receive a Certificate of Attendance. ANATE does not place an expiry date on it, so there is no renewal requirement set by us, though your own workplace may set its own refresher schedule.
The three hours can be recorded as continuing professional development towards your annual registration requirement.
Why choose ANATE for bowel and stoma care training
Most bowel and stoma education available in Australia is online. Free e-learning published by appliance manufacturers is well made, and short paid online modules cover the theory adequately. Neither can put an appliance in your hands or tell you that the flange you just cut is four millimetres too wide.
ANATE’s workshop is delivered by a senior specialist Registered Nurse, and runs in a simulation lab stocked with stoma products and models so every participant can complete the practical work while the trainer watches and corrects technique on the spot. The consumables used come from a range of common suppliers rather than a single brand, which matters because the products your workplace stocks are unlikely to match any one manufacturer’s catalogue.
Bowel and stoma are covered together in one session rather than sold as two, which is how the work actually presents.
Teams building a broader clinical skill set often pair this with our HLTHPS006 Assist Clients with Medication course, since bowel care plans frequently involve prescribed aperients, and our pain management course.
ANATE’s workshop is delivered by a senior specialist Registered Nurse, and runs in a simulation lab stocked with stoma products and models so every participant can complete the practical work while the trainer watches and corrects technique on the spot. The consumables used come from a range of common suppliers rather than a single brand, which matters because the products your workplace stocks are unlikely to match any one manufacturer’s catalogue.
Bowel and stoma are covered together in one session rather than sold as two, which is how the work actually presents.
Teams building a broader clinical skill set often pair this with our HLTHPS006 Assist Clients with Medication course, since bowel care plans frequently involve prescribed aperients, and our pain management course.
Frequently asked questions
Three hours, completed in one face to face session at ANATE's Revesby training centre.
One. Both are covered in the same three hour session, because the same worker usually delivers both and the skills overlap heavily in practice.
Yes. An assessment is completed as a group activity during the workshop, alongside practical participation. Because this is non accredited training, it is not a nationally recognised competency assessment.
No. It is a professional development workshop rather than a unit of competency, so it does not lead to a Statement of Attainment. ANATE also delivers nationally accredited training, including the HLTAID011 first aid course and HLTAID009 CPR course.
Stoma appliance changes, suppository administration and enema administration, all using simulation equipment. Procedures outside those three are not taught or assessed, so contact us first if your role requires something else.
Yes, NDIS support workers are among the main groups who attend. Check with your own provider about what their internal requirements are for the specific participants you support, since that sits with your organisation rather than with the training.
A senior specialist Registered Nurse with clinical experience in bowel and stoma care.
Every participant does the practical work. The session runs in a simulation lab stocked with stoma products and models, and covers stoma care, suppository administration and enema administration.
All three, with the differences between them treated as a main topic rather than a footnote, because output type changes almost every practical decision in stoma care.
Usually because of the fit rather than the product. A flange cut too large exposes skin to output, a flat appliance cannot seal a retracted stoma, and skin that is not completely dry stops the adhesive bonding. Working back through those causes systematically is one of the core exercises in the session.
You need to be a registered nurse and then complete postgraduate specialist study, most commonly a Graduate Certificate in Stomal Therapy Nursing or in wound, ostomy and continence practice, which includes a supervised clinical placement. The Australian Association of Stomal Therapy Nurses is the professional body for the specialty. This workshop is practical care training and is not part of that pathway.
Yes. Several appliance manufacturers publish free ostomy e-learning, and it is genuinely useful for background knowledge. What it cannot do is watch you fit an appliance and correct you, or teach you across brands rather than within one product range. Most participants find the two work well together.
Not automatically. NDIS eligibility depends on whether a person has a permanent and significant functional impairment, and having a stoma alone does not usually meet that test. Separately, stoma products are supplied free of charge through the Stoma Appliance Scheme to Medicare eligible Australians with a stoma, regardless of NDIS status.
No. ANATE does not set a validity period on the Certificate of Attendance for this workshop. Some workplaces set their own refresher schedules, so check what your organisation requires.
Cancellations made at least 14 days before the session are refunded. Inside 14 days no refund is available, because seats are limited and holding one keeps another person out. Payment confirms and guarantees your place.
At ANATE's training centre, Unit 18/4-10 Selems Parade, Revesby NSW 2212.
Course details
Course
Bowel and Stoma Care
Price
$500 per person
Duration
3 hours, one session
Delivery
Face to face at our Revesby centre
Address
Unit 18/4-10 Selems Parade, Revesby NSW 2212
Covers
Bowel care, colostomy, ileostomy, urostomy
Trainer
Senior specialist Registered Nurse
Certificate
Certificate of Attendance, no expiry
Assessment
Group assessment during the session
CPD
3 hours
Course type
Non accredited workshop
Upcoming dates
TBC
Dates to be confirmed
Contact us for the next session
One workshop, both skills
Bowel care and stoma care are usually sold as two separate courses, which means two enrolments, two absences from a roster, and two sets of fees for a worker who needs both. This workshop covers them together in a single three hour session, taught by nurses who do this work clinically.
Learn it with the equipment in your hands
Book your place in ANATE’s bowel and stoma care workshop. Three hours, face to face at Revesby, with an assessment booklet included.
Acknowledgement of Country
ANATE acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of the lands on which we work and operate. We pay our respects to Elders past, present and emerging, and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples today.
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