The Effect of Nasogastric Tube Feeding Educational Interventions on Critical Care Nurses' Knowledge and Performance

Background: Critically ill patients have complex nutritional needs to meet the metabolicresponse to critical illness. The nutritional support for critically ill patients is an importantdeterminant of their survival and recovery. Critical care nurses are the primary onesresponsible for feeding the patients in intensive care units. Therefore, their knowledge andperformance are important for providing adequate nutritional support for their patients andprevent malnutrition complications. Aim: The current study aimed to assess the effect ofnasogastric tube feeding educational interventions on critical care nurses' knowledge andperformance. Method: A quasi-experimental one-group with pre and post-test design wasused with a convenience sample of 60 critical care nurses working in four intensive care unitsaffiliated with a university hospital in Egypt. The data were collected by using two tools:'nasogastric tube feeding knowledge questionnaire' and 'nasogastric tube feeding observationchecklist'. Results: Statistically significant differences were noted in the total mean scoresof nurses' knowledge and performance of nasogastric tube feeding before and after theeducational interventions. Improvement of participant nurses' knowledge and performancewas markedly noted one month after education, however, a decline in knowledge andperformance was evident after three months. Conclusion and Recommendations:Educational interventions can improve nurses' knowledge and performance of nasogastrictube feeding, and this will be positively reflected on patients' outcomes. Therefore, werecommend organizing continuous educational activities for critical care nurses to keep themup-to-date and competent.