I had believed that tube feedings were among the things which could not be delegated. I guess, like everything else, it varies state to state. Given all the things that can happen, I'm not sure I would feel comfortable delegating tube feedings, even if it were legal.
Yeah, I was surprised, too, but apparently it's not uncommon in Hawaii....
i am temporarily living in ca while in rn school. we are doing our clinicals at a large and well known hospital which is also a level 3 trauma center. i was wondering this same question yesterday. a cna had seen me walk by and asked me to come into a room and help her change the diaper on an 82 year old patient. i agreed as we are allowed to help them if we have extra time.
i saw the cna press the “hold” button on the patient’s tube feeding (ng tube feeding). she then lowered the head of the bed to a flat position. once the diaper was changed she asked me to hand her oral care tools. i handed her the tools and walked out while she started to give oral care. i came back about 15 minutes later with another nursing student to do an accucheck on the patient. the poor patient was lying there with the head of the bed completely flat and the tube feeding running!! the cna never elevated the hob back to a 30 degree angle before hitting “run”. the 82 year old patient was aspirating something awful! we quickly assessed her lung sounds and heard crackles. i ran and got the rn and told her of what the cna did. she ran back to the room with me and she said we potentially saved the patient’s life. she was so grateful.
moral of the story: being that cna's are not trained in tube feedings, they should not be touching the equipment. i don't know what this hospitals policy is, but the cna almost killed the patient doing this. we had to meet for post conference immediately after this happened, so i don't even know what the repercussions were or if the patient is even ok. i go back to the hospital next monday and will try and find out more info.
The facility that I did my clinical rotation at allowed CNAs with additional training to do simple wound care and hang tube feedings. The place where I currently work does not. It really annoys me when CNAs give care and leave the bed flat when they're done. I came in for a 7-3pm shift and found a trach patient lying flat with the feed running. It was almost as if she was waiting for me to enter the room because as soon as I crossed the threshold she immediately began to aspirate.
at Kuakini they help w/ the tube feedings. they're the ones we've been instructed to go to if we need help w/ a clogged tube b/c they know it better than anyone else. might just be the floor we're on though. the staff (especially the CNA's) have been awesome so far. idk what we'd do without them. they've got so much knowledge to share.
Nurse!Nurse!Hello?
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I'm just curious whether the CNA's where you work are allowed to administer tube feedings, or if it is only done by the nurses. At my LTC/SNF, an advanced CNA is allowed to hang the tube feeding for the residents.
One CNA--who primarily does treatments like non-sterile dressing changes, ointments, etc.--is responsible for giving all the tube feedings in the facility. I'd like to know whether other facilities have a similar policy.
All feedback would be appreciated!