Nurses’ Knowledge and Practices about Administration of Medications via Nasogastric Tube among Critically Ill Patients

Administering medication via enteral tube is predominantly a nursing responsibility across countries. It is important to identify what nurses actually know and do when giving enteral medication for critically ill patients to ensure patient's safety and prevent complications. The aim of this study is to assess the nurses’ knowledge and practices about administration of medications via nasogastric tube (NGT) among critically ill patients at Cairo University Hospitals. Sample consists of sixty bedside male and female nurses who are working in the different Critical and Intensive Care Units. Descriptive/exploratory research design was utilized in the current study. This study was conducted at the different Critical and Intensive Care Units at El-Manial Specialty Hospitals affiliated to Cairo University. Three tools were utilized to collect data pertinent to the study; Nasogastric medication administration nurses' knowledge questionnaire schedule, Nurses' opinionaire sheet and Nasogastric medication administration observational checklist. The nurses were interviewed for answering the knowledge questionnaire schedule and opinionaire sheet then each nurse was observed during administration of medication via NGT for three different times using nurses' observational check list. The mean of the three observations was calculated. Findings of this study shows that the majority of the studied sample were females, married and having diploma qualification as well, more than two third of them their age ranged between 26 – 45 years. More than half of them had more than 10 years of experience. All of them were having an unsatisfactory level of knowledge and practices. Results of the present study indicated that there is a gap between nurses' knowledge and practices as compared to the standard guidelines about medication administration via nasogastric tube. The study recommended that enrichment of the Critical Care nurses at El-Manial Specialty Hospital knowledge and practices related to administration of medications via nasogastric tube according to the standard guidelines will be helpful to ensure patient safety and provide cost effective care. Also replication of this study on larger probability sample at the different geographical location at Egypt is highly recommended. Keywords: Nasogastric tube – administration of medication via nasogastric tube – critically ill patient – nurses' knowledge – nurses practices