ABSTRACT
The need to offer nutritional support to children and young people is commonplace for health professionals. This article explores the use and indication of nasogastric tubes (NGT) in children and young people, before explaining the process of inserting NGTs and the ongoing management of this method of nutritional support.
Subject(s)
Enteral Nutrition , Intubation, Gastrointestinal , Nutritional Support , Adolescent , Child , Enteral Nutrition/nursing , Humans , Intubation, Gastrointestinal/nursing , Nutritional Support/methods , Nutritional Support/nursingABSTRACT
ABSTRACT: Gastric tube feeding is a common and valuable intervention for patients in a variety of care settings. While tube feeding can save the lives of patients for whom oral feeding isn't possible, intolerance to tube feeding is a potential complication. This article discusses risk factors for feeding intolerance; the assessment of signs and symptoms of feeding intolerance; the various means of assessing gastric emptying, including the practice of monitoring gastric residual volume (GRV); the controversy surrounding GRV monitoring in assessing feeding tolerance; and the special considerations for monitoring feeding tolerance in acutely and critically ill adults with coronavirus disease 2019. The author, a nurse researcher with extensive experience in the area of enteral feeding, briefly summarizes recommendations and guidelines for enteral feeding published by national and international health care organizations between 2015 and 2020, and offers her perspective on best nursing practices for monitoring food tolerance in adults.