Abstract
Patients undergoing stoma surgery often experience significant problems，including skin disorders and psychological distress．Fifty years ago，medical professionals involved in stoma care started to address these problems．Numerous trial-and-error efforts have been made over the years．
Through participation in an ostomate meeting，the author came to realize that there is an urgent need to improve stoma care，and believes that the first priority is to improve nurses’ perceptions of stoma care．Three major areas that require improvements in terms of nursing education are 1）explanations for patients，2）care planning，and 3）knowledge and skills regarding prostheses．Stoma care education started in the 1980s．Concurrently，considerable advances in stoma care have been made in the areas of medical support，prosthesis technology，activities of the Japan Ostomy Association，
social system supports，and relevant legislation．Despite these changes，the importance of the quality of nursing remains the same．Nurses are responsible for good stoma care．
