NG Tube Placement in Lab

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Hi guys! I just went to our welcoming reception this morning and I found out that we are going to practice IV, blood draw, injections and NG tube with our partners. I'm starting the program next week and I'm not looking forward to the NG tube part. Can anyone tell me how that is done and do you have any tips on how to do it correctly. I know that we will be trained first before doing it on ourselves but I just want to get a little insight from those of you who have done this before. I'm getting pretty nervous about this one:eek: . I need some advice please. Thanks a lot!

I was just curious...do lpn's put in ng tubes, or just rn's?

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Ok,now Im freaking out.I had a gastric bypass 3 years ago.How the heck would I do that?

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i was just curious...do lpn's put in ng tubes, or just rn's?
i think it depends on your state's scope of practice. i believe whether or not lpn's are allowed to do it or not differs from state to state.
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I'm glad I'm not in that class! No way anybody is ever going to an NG tube in me while I'm conscious, ever.

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Specializes in Med-Surg.

Now, if the instructors wanted to volunteer..... I can see that..... (:rolleyes:)

LOL, great idea Chris! They'd have an up close personal view as to how you're really doing with the procedure wouldn't they?! :rotfl:

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Specializes in ER, PACU.
I was just curious...do lpn's put in ng tubes, or just rn's?

Like someone else said, I guess it varies from state to state, but it also depends on what the hospital policy is and what unit that the LPN works on. I know it is certainly within the scope of practice for an LPN to give meds and feedings through an NG tube. I would think that there would only be certain units where nurses would actually place the tubes, like in ER or ICU, usually in med/surg the patient comes out of the OR with the tube from what I remember from clinicals, but that may differ too depending on the unit. I have noticed that in some hospitals only doctors put in NG tubes, and some allow nurses to do it. We do them in ER as part of our standing orders for certain patients, but on the floor they do not do them. I guess it all depends? For those who havent done it and want to..you are not missing much :chuckle

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I hope that your trainer has full medical backgrounds on your fellow students. Because of Bariatric bypass Or worse Severe Apnea that could be fatal.

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Specializes in Pediatrics, High-Risk L&D, Antepartum, L.
What is this college thinking!!! Doing invasive procedures on people who don't need them! This is tantamount to abuse (well maybe not that bad) but this is ridiculous!

My thoughts exactly. I have dropped a lot of ng tubes and would NEVER drop one on somebody who didn't need one. My daughter has a feeding tube and had an ng for 6 months, she has a g now. If my school wanted me to do this on another student I would refuse.

I just can't believe they would think this is okay.

That being said dropping them on my daughter was no big deal...just do it and don't sweat it.

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That's a good one!:rotfl: I'll make sure to do that on my turn. The only problem is I don't know what a 14 gauge tube is:chuckle .

But seriously, how do you check for placement. That's one of my concerns since I found out about this. I know we'll be taught that but do you have any tips on that. I found an article in the web about wrong placement and it ended up in the lungs and that scared me. That was one of the reasons why I'm seeking advice here.

Anyway, thanks a lot guys for your input.

gem

We were taught in our Foundations class (and someone please correct me if I'm wrong) that you check for placement of the NG tube by aspirating for stomach contents. You also need to check for the pH of the contents (must be 4.0 and below) and then you send the patient off to x-ray to make sure the tube is indeed in the stomach prior to administering any tube feedings. I just can't see how your school is going to do this on students that really don't need it AND is able to show you the correct placement.

I've read the OP and there is no way I'll let someone do a NG tube on me. In fact, I hate needles and I will not allow someone to poke on me or do an IV on me unnecessarily. Whenever I go get my Depo shot, my vagus nerve kicks in big time. I have such a hard problem getting my blood drawn because my veins are so small. I just can't get blood drawn from my arm, it's always from my hand.

My school said they don't use the students as real patients due to the liability part of it. So, we use dummies and I prefer that, especially for those of us who have never worked in the medical field before.

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Specializes in Adult and Pediatric Vascular Access, Paramedic.

ummm.. Are you sure your are not just doing NG tubes on a dumby??? Doesn't sound right to me...

Sweetooth

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What is this college thinking!!! Doing invasive procedures on people who don't need them! This is tantamount to abuse (well maybe not that bad) but this is ridiculous!

I agree; I'm pretty surprised as well!

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This is a rather old post. I'm not sure whatever happened with the lab but yikes... that sounds freaky to me!

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