Nasogastric tube tune-up: Surgical residents and med-surg nursing achieve proficiency in a standardized protocol after targeted education

Most small bowel obstructions (SBO) are managed via a nasogastric tube (NGT). In our facility we noted non-uniformity in NGT management between physicians and nurses. We compared skills in connection and troubleshooting of NGTs between surgical residents and nurses. A total of 37 surgical residents and 36 nurses completed the study with near equal scoring on connection of NGTs out of four (2.7 vs 2.78, p ​= ​.82), but residents scored higher on troubleshooting out of five (3.47 vs 1.8, p ​< ​.001). Nurses with ten or more years of experience (n ​= ​7) did significantly better on pre-intervention simulation compared to less experienced nurses (n ​= ​22) (6.29/9 vs 3.9/9, p ​= ​.014). Both nursing and residents had significant improvement in connection and troubleshooting after viewing an educational video. Targeted education leads to consistency in performance between the groups and may in turn lead to improved collaboration.