Abstract
BackgroundData on nurses’ adherence to standard protocol on nasogastric (NG) tube feeding remain scanty in Ghana even though patients in critical medical conditions are routinely managed using this procedure. This study explored self-rated adherence to standard protocols on NG tube feeding among professional and auxiliary nurses and the perceived barriers impeding compliance to these standard protocols.MethodsThis is a descriptive analytical cross-sectional study among professional (n = 89) and auxiliary (n = 24) nurses in a major referral hospital in one of the ten administrative regions in Ghana. Four-point Likert scale was used to ascertain the level of adherence to standard guidelines on nasogastric tube, ranging from 4 “Very large extent” to 1 “Very little extent”. Wilcoxon Mann-Whitney test and univariate ordered logistic regression tests (proportional odds models) were performed to determine the odds of higher self-ratings among professional and auxiliary nurses.ResultsOverall, the odds of higher self-ratings on adherence to standard nursing protocols on NG tube feeding was higher among auxiliary nurses than professional nurses (OR = 2.76, p = 0.031) after adjusting for age, gender, education and years of work experience. Key barriers to adherence to standard protocols on NG tube feeding were: limited opportunities for in-service trainings and insufficiency of NG tube feeding protocols on the wards.ConclusionThere is the need for more routine in-service trainings for nursing staff to update their knowledge on NG tube feeding. Hospital management should also make current nursing protocols available to nurses to guide their practice alongside routine onsite supervision of nurses.
Highlights
Data on nurses’ adherence to standard protocol on nasogastric (NG) tube feeding remain scanty in Ghana even though patients in critical medical conditions are routinely managed using this procedure
A greater proportion of the female distribution was among auxiliary nurses (83%) as compared to 53% in the case of professional nurses (p = 0.007); a greater proportion of the Adherence to standard protocols in NG tube feeding
The findings showed that self-ratings on adherence to standard nursing protocols were lower among professional nurses than their auxiliary counterparts who apparently had less exposure to workshops on NG tube feeding and other related career development opportunities
Summary
Data on nurses’ adherence to standard protocol on nasogastric (NG) tube feeding remain scanty in Ghana even though patients in critical medical conditions are routinely managed using this procedure. Patients are unable to feed as they ought to due to a weakened state or other pathological conditions. Conditions such as pharyngeal tumours block passage of food into the gastrointestinal tract demanding feeding through NG tube. NG tube feeding, which is a type of enteral tube feeding, involves the delivery of nutritionally complete feed via a tube into a gut [2]. This feeding approach is used for patient who are unable to meet their nutritional requirements orally due to reasons stated earlier. This study focused mainly on nasogastric route of feeding because it is commonly used in Ghana
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