Jennifer Giannettino, MSN, NP-C, is a nurse practitioner who has worked for many years with the Department of Surgery with a focus on patients recovering from lower GI tract procedures. She runs the outpatient ostomy clinic and enterostomal therapy program.
In the clinic, Giannettino provides routine follow-up care for those who have had a urinary or fecal ostomy—a surgery to create a stoma, or hole, through which waste can leave the body. She provides pre-operative education to patients who need ostomies, and postoperative follow-up, focusing on appliance management as well as care of the peristomal skin and conditions that can develop around a stoma after surgery.
In conjunction with the Department of Colon and Rectal surgery, Giannettino is working on the development of the Yale New Haven Health Enterostomal Therapy Program, which will include patient care with the goal of creating satellite ostomy clinics across the Connecticut shoreline, as well as providing education and support for patients and their families, and continuing education for staff at short-term rehab centers and visiting nurse associations.
“I worked in colon and rectal surgery for many years in the inpatient setting,” Giannettino says. “I came to understand that these patients need more specific specialized care and assistance in managing their temporary or permanent stomas. I love helping these patients find resolution to ostomy issues and find comfort when they return to their normal lives. A stoma should not interfere with a person’s capacity to resume their usual activities.”
