Advances in neonatal care : official journal of the National Association of Neonatal Nurses
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For neonates receiving intensive care, nasogastric tube feeding is essential. Since nasogastric tube placement techniques are not well standardized and common verification methods can be unreliable, placement errors may lead to unsafe situations. In mechanically ventilated neonates and neonates on continuous positive airway pressure, malpositioning of the nasogastric tube may prevent excess air within the stomach to escape. In this study, we aimed to relate tube position to amount of air. The hypothesis was: the better the position of the tube, the smaller the amount of air in the stomach. ⋯ Nasogastric tubes were malpositioned in nearly half of cases, and substantial or excessive air was found in more than one-third of cases. The hypothesis-the better the position of the tube, the smaller the amount of gastric air-was not confirmed by the data. However, a significant relationship was found between tube size and gastric air.
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To explore barriers that NICU nurses face when attempting to optimally manage newborn pain. ⋯ A knowledge-practice gap still exists within newborn pain management. Increased caregiver education remains a necessity, but strategies that address resistance to change practice within healthcare settings must also be considered.