Things You Don't Want to Hear During Your Surgery

Read this doc on Scribd: 21 Things You Never Want To Hear During Surgery

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December 2007 PRC Nursing Board Exam Results

I didn't know how to react when I've heard that Xavier University-Ateneo de Cagayan College of Nursing didn't have it's normal turn out of 100%. Ever since the opening of the College of Nursing, it had always garnered a 100% passing rate (well except for one time when it had a 99% passing rate). But never the less, Xavier University has once again proven that it's graduates are not to be looked down at. Nurses who graduate from Xavier University are certified to have the 3 C's: Competence, Commitment, and Compassion...

I am proud to announce that my school is the 2nd Best Nursing School in the Philippines as of the December 2007 PRC Nursing Board Exams. XU had a passing rate of 98% (still close to 100%) with 229 passers out of 233 examinees. I pity the 4 who failed because they not only carry the burden of failing but also the shame and the pressure of being the cause of XU's decreased passing mark... but we cannot blame them because the board exam is not easy. Imagine out of the 67,728 board takers, only 28,924 (or 43.42 percent) passed!

I am also proud that there are topnotchers from my school namely:

Top 6: Katrina Victoria Luceno Akut, Xavier University, 86.00 percent.
Top 8: Hernessa Torralba Hernandez, Xavier University, 85.60 percent.

There are also topnotchers from a sister school, Ateneo de Davao University! But I won't be amazed because it is Ateneo of course.

For more info and proof that I'm not making this whole up please visit this link: Inquirer

Or you can go to the official site of PRC: PRC Board Exam Results

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Beer and Fireworks = Bad Combination

This is just one of the many reasons why I don't drink and why I highly discourage anyone else from drinking. Beer makes someone lose their selves for a while. Beer is a very good CNS depressant so your thinking and good judgement are impaired. This is the reason why there are so many drunk people out there who does stupid things like murder, rape, theft, and just plainly making a fool of themselves by lying unconscious on street corners. Not to mention that most vehicular related accidents are caused by drunk drivers.

There are so many health risks that I could give you that is related to drinking.

• Increased risk of accidents
• strokes caused by bleeding
• medication interactions - including non-prescription drugs
• breast cancer - alcohol increases estrogen levels, which is a risk for premenopausal women
• birth defects - fetal alcohol effect (FAE) and low birth weight
• liver cirrhosis
  
• heavier drinking - many people, such as recovering alcoholics, can't maintain moderation

source: http://www.med.unc.edu/alcohol/education/benefits.html

Not to mention that drinking could actually lead to an alcohol induced neurosis or dementia. I'll blog about this in a separare blog.

So for alcoholics out there limit drinking. For those thinking of starting drinking, don't start.

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My Definition of Doom

Doom as defined by Answers.com is the following:

1. Inevitable destruction or ruin.
2. Fate, especially a tragic or ruinous one.
3. A decision or judgment, especially an official condemnation to a severe penalty.
4. Judgment Day.
5. A statute or ordinance, especially one in force in Anglo-Saxon England.

But in my own personal life, doom is my inability to manage my time effectively and mismanaging my priorities. So what happens next? My work and responsibilities piles up and I am unable to prepare for these responsibilities well enough resulting in massive and successive failures.

Time is not on my side here people. I still have a lot of things to do and I am panicking already. It's quite handy though that I have an excuse for being tardy and lazy. And this excuse is the nursing life is hard and difficult. This is even manifested by the great number of casualties in the college of nursing at Xavier Universirty...

But I have no one else to blame but myself... at least I'm not failing in medical-surgical nursing but I could have received a higher grade than C if only I studied. Anyway, it's too late for regrets now and I've gotten over it already. At least my RLE is a B-.

I have a lot of things on my mind that I want to blog right now but I just don't have the time so I'll go back to my studies now and I'll be sure to update my blog as soon as I can. Maybe this coming Saturday or so...

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The Proper Handwashing Poem by Ms. Ansay

I was searching the net for guidelines on proper hand washing when I stumbled upon a poem by a fellow nursing student, Ms. Danica Ansay, who studies at University of the East Ramon Magsaysay (UERM)., Here is a link to her poem: Proper Hand Washing!^_^

At first I was wondering why it sounds like a poem until I realized it is a poem. After reading the whole thing I was quite amazed how Ms. Ansay was able to incorporate the nursing procedure of handwashing into a delightful piece. The poem is very witty and funny. Why don't you read the poem for your self:

*Assuming that I did demonstrate the Hand Washing to you

Upon opening the door

You first stole me with your machong-machong body

Standing beside the sink located beside the door

Waiting for me, ay shit! Joke lang!

I mean waiting for the next student to demonstrate

the Proper Hand Washing

Suddenly after we sat,

I heard you call my name, Ms. Ansay!

OMG! I can’t believe I hear you call my stolen name

Walking towards the sink while stealing your sight

Preparing the materials upon preparing my heart

While starting the demonstration

I started to explain the meaning of Asepsis

As a freedom of my friendship with you

The purpose of Hand Washing is to prevent

the shyness I feel inside of me

And thus, I will now perform the Proper Hand Washing

First I will get a tissue to dry your tears and make you smile

Then I will open the faucet just enough to my satisfaction

Throwing the tissue away to the waste receptacle

Wetting my arms from elbow to fingers

Placing my hands lower than my elbow

I will get again another tissue to wipe my drool

while looking at you

Then throw again the tissue away from me

Rubbing the soap from palm to palm

Like kissing each other from cheeks to cheeks

Next is the interlace, then the dorsal part of my hand

Now the spider with my fingers rubbing my palm in circular motion

together with my eyes looking at your posture cephalocaudal

Then my fingers with five strokes each

while saying, ‘my-chu-va-chu-chu’

Lastly with circular motion rubbing my arms from wrist to elbow

Dreaming and wishing that you’re standing right next to me

holding my arms and together we will go to paradise

Now I start rinsing my arms from elbow to my fingers

Feeling the warmth of your hands embracing my coca-cola body

Picking the last tissue to dry my tears of loneliness

before saying goodbye

Throwing the tissue of my tears away from my sight

Getting the towel to pot dry my arms from hands to elbow

Wishing that you were the one who dries my tears

and makes me feel special

Preparing myself for the evaluation

A little spray of perfume and a touch of powder

I think is enough for him to notice me

Feeling nervous while standing in front of you

Listening to what you say and do

Rejoicing for what you’ve said

Giving thanks for passing me

And specially for your time and cooperation.

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Weekly Evaluation

This week of duty may perhaps be the most exciting and memorable as compared to all the other rotations. This may be because of the fact that this week is the last time that we will have to sleep late at night for the following day’s requirements, wake up early in the morning to prevent being late and incurring extensions, and be stressed out from the day’s duty. But it was quite sad that instead of rejoicing we were reprimanded because we were not courteous to the patients and staff nurses, I don’t really know much of this issue because I was late for the post-conference because I wasn’t informed that we were going to have the post-conference already.

This was my first time to handle three patients at a time. Thank God we didn’t have to administer meds for this day, or else it would be quite a mess. I have to prepare the meds, do a drug study with my PCI then CI, and then administer them, and finally document the procedure. I was also quite lucky that I didn’t have to take in the newly admitted patient into my care since we were already about to go home at the time she was admitted. I admit that there are still areas that I need to update myself and be more familiarize with like the IVF for example. I need to learn how to be more accurate in reading in reading my IVF levels and be more mindful of the input and output values of my patients.

For this rotation, I give myself 7 out of 10 with 10 as the highest. Although I wasn’t able to make any serious mistakes or errors in this day I am not satisfied with my performance and I know that I could still improve in the future.

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Why Am I Always Late?

$Aah! Is it me or do I really lack time management because once again I am late! Well at least this time I won’t get an extension because I’m only late for an assessment but still it’s so frustrating to be late. It’s also quite a shame because of all people, a nurse should never be late. It has been reiterated over and over again back in RLE 2 that a nurse should never be late because every minute is important for the life of the patient. Plus one should also think of the other nurse on duty that one should from her/his 8 hour straight duty. Darn it!

Well at least I wasn't late for the medical rotation. It was really great that my colleagues and I agreed to carpool to save money. We meet at Dunkin Donuts 30 minutes before our pre-conference so that we could then share a taxi and split the fare. It's also a good motivation too since I don't want anyone waiting for me... and I don't want people to make me wait... hahaha! I sound like Sasori of Naruto!

Anyway, lesson learned and I'll never be late again. Hahaha!

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Take the Stairs Instead of the Elevator

It's quite frustrating when the elevator doors are locked. Like my class is on the 6th floor and it's so tiring to climb those stairs especially when you're carrying my big and heavy Medical-Surgical Nursing book.

What's even more frustrating is when you find the first floor elevator closed, the second floor elevator closed, the third floor elevator closed, the fourth floor elevator closed, the fifth floor elevator open! What?! Like I'm going to the sixth floor! Might as well take the stairs...

But despite all of my frustrations I finally got over them and realized that it's actually really better to take the stairs because it's a form of exercise which I really need since I have a sedentary lifestyle.

I just have to make sure though that I won't be late for my class. So I got to go now, I still have to take the stairs to my room...

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I signed up for PayPerPost!

I am so happy that I signed up for PayPerPost! As said by the name I get to post about anything that I want but still get paid for it. How cool is that? It was quite easy to get approved as long as your blog is legitimate and doesn't have pornography and such.

What I like about PayPerPost is it's very user-friendly website where you can easily select sposored topics and then post. You can also download a Firefox toolbar that you can use to easily keep tract of your earnings and so that you can easily log-in to your account.

I wonder what I will do with my earnings? Buy more nursing books or a new stethoscope perhaps? Or I could donate my money to some charitable institutions. With PayPerPost you can actually do both. You can easily donate through PayPerPost by simply selecting which institution you would like to donate to as shown below:

(Click the Image to Enlarge)

Isn't PayPerPost great? Why don't you sign up and let's blog together about things that we love but still get the chance to earn money or donate for a good cause!

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On Memory Enhancers

Tomorrow is our semi-finals exams and I bet I'm going to be really busy again cramming (hahaha)... but I bet cramming would only work if I had photographic memory but fortunately I don't. For years now I have been searching for a way to improve my memory because as a nursing students I have a lot of stuff that I need to memorize like normal level of hemoglobin or different drugs used to treat a disease and all of that stuff.

I have tried using memory enhancers like glutaphos but it doesn't seem to have worked for me. Well I did pass pharmacology with all those drugs and their classifications (thank God!) but I don't think that taking glutaphos has helped me pass pharma. In fact, whenever I take glutaphos I just sleep and I don't even get to study.

Anyway, glutaphos is just a vitamin supplement that contains vitamin B12 (as they call brain-food) and such. So why waste on money and risk damaging my liver when I could take Vitamin B12 from normal sources like meat, dairy products, and eggs. And glucose is the best brain energy provider and I can't agree less. I just love eating chocolates when I study!

So in the end, there is no short-cut to get a better memory without facing some consequences. Drugs may give temporary solutions but it will take something in return from our body because like any other drugs, there are bound to be adverse reactions.

So for me, eat healthy and sleep early... but where does studying go? Good question...
Nothing beats studying weeks before and reading ahead I guess.

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Weekly Evaluation: Medical Rotation

This week was a full of firsts for me. It was my first time to have ever go on duty at Madonna & Child Hospital and it was my first time to have been under my current clinical instructor and practicing clinical instructors for this rotation.

Although everything was new to me, I was able to adapt and carry out my nursing responsibilities. I was also blessed to have been assigned such wonderful patients who were very cooperative and very welcoming. I really did not feel awkward as I stayed in their rooms for the whole day as their student nurse. I was also quite glad that I didn't have to chart any nurse's notes (because it takes so much time, not to mention effort ^_^) and all that was required of us was a sample nurse's notes.

For this week I had two patients. A 6 day old baby girl with septicemia neonatorum and a 51 year old woman with pneumonia. I am glad that they are not that toxic and that they are already getting well.

For both case, it is important to note the presence of a bacterial infection. So basically the medications that I have administered had a common factor, which of course is being an antibacterial medication.

The baby girl had to have continuous phototherapy because she had jaundice caused by hyperbilirubinemia. I of course had to protect the eyes by securing an eye shield. I'm glad that the baby's vital signs were all normal during my shift. I am very edgy when I am with babies (especially newborns) because they are so delicate and one false move from me like failing to regulate the IVF properly could cause serious complications like hypervolemia and cardiac overload.

For my patient with pneumonia, I made sure to position her in a moderate high back rest to promote proper lung expansion and I taught her deep breathing and did chest physiotherapy after nebulization to promote removal of secretions.

So all in all this week was a very productive week for me. To add to my enjoyment is the fact that I wasn't late for this week of duty! Yeay me! I made sure to have set my clock at least 1 hour before the pre-conference and I agreed to carpool with my dutymates so that I would have more reasons to wake up early. ^_^

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Being A Nurse

Being a nurse isn't about grades.
It's about being who we are.
NO book can teach you how to cry with a patient.
NO class can teach you how to tell a family that their parents have died or are dying.
NO professor can teach you how to find dignity in giving someone a bed bath.
A nurse is not about the pills, the IV's and the charting.
It's about being able to LOVE people when they are at their WEAKEST moments and being able to forgive for ALL their wrong and make a difference in their lives today.
NO one can make you a nurse...

JUST YOU

This is a very nice message that our beloved clinical instructor, Ma'am Asne, has given us. It really has made an impact on me. Truly, being a nurse is not easy. The job itself is stressful but you also have to deal with patients who are in pain and who needs understanding even if they mistreat you out of their frustrations of being sick. It's very demanding indeed. But I will try my best to meet the expectations of a nurse who is compassionate, competent, and committed to my career and vocation. I pray to God that He may give me the strength to move on even if my body and mind are almost at it's limit...

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My New Acer Aspire 4310 Laptop!

For many days, or rather weeks, I have been going on and on about laptops and I have been obsessed with laptops to the point that I couldn't concentrate on studying.

But after several weeks and with one swipe of a Citibank Credit Card, presto! My new Acer Aspire 4310 Laptop:


Picture Credits goes to: http://komku.blogspot.com/2007/10/acer-aspire-4310-and-3dmark03.html as I am very lazy to take a picture and upload photos of my laptop anyway, they look the same.

You might be wondering why I didn't get the Acer Aspire 4315 or the Asus X51R... anyway the Acer Aspire 4315 is actually phased-out in the Philippines and the 4310 is way better as it has a built in web camera and microphone perfect for web video conferencing! Here are the specs:

Operating System - Windows XP (thinking of upgrading to Vista...)

Processor - Intel Celeron® M Processor (1.73 GHz, 1MB, 533 FSB)

Chipset - Mobile Intel® 943GML Express Chipset

Memory - 1.5 GB DDR2 RAM

Display Screen - 14.1" WXGA TFT Crystalbrite LCD, 1280 x 800 pixel resolution

Video Type - Intel Graphics Media Accelerator (GMA) 950

Video Memory - 224 Shared Memory

Hard Disk - 80 GB SATA HDD

Optical Drive - Built-in Super Multi Double Layer Drive

Weight - 2.6 kg

Dimension - 344 (W) x 246 (D) x 37/42 (H) mm

Network Interface - Built in 56K Modem, Built in 10/100/1000 Gigabit LAN

Wireless LAN - Built-in Acer Invilink Wireless LAN ( 802.11b/g)

Card Reader - Built in 5 in 1 Card Reader

Battery Type - 6 Cell Battery, 44.4W Li-ion battery pack

Battery Life - 2.5 hour Battery Life
Actual battery life may vary, depending on usage and configuration.

Although the Asus X51R is better than the Acer Aspire 4310 (here is my post about the Asus X51R laptop: http://vincentbautista.blogspot.com/2008/02/asus-x51r-series.html) my mom got me an Acer because of it's great promo: 0% Interest!

Anyway I am very happy with my laptop and despite it's humble Intel Celeron 1.73Ghz speed, it's still fast enough to meet up with my multitasking and stuff, so in short I love my laptop! ^_^

It is fast enough to play some games like SIMS 2 and Red Alert 2 so I have no problem, non at all. The battery life is actually good. The speaker is not that good but I won't be using my laptop for playing music at parties so it's ok.

Over all, I give it an 8 out of 10 because it's functionality and ease of use (lots of quick access buttons, I love it!) plus it's very affordable price of Php 30,000 makes it an ideal laptop for students like me. I can really use this laptop as a student nurse for my research and case presentations. This laptop is actually very good for presentations with LCD projectors because it's compatible with any LCD projector, I actually have used this laptop for 2 presentations.

This laptop is a great buy people!

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The Making of the Case Presentation

Who ever thought that I could also be a control freak and an organized systematic person. It was quite amazing how I made up a Daily Plan of Activities for Saturday, Wednesday, and Thursday. I was quite glad that my group mates were cooperative and had had the same passion "uwag" like my self in the making of our case presentation (CP).

There was someone though that wasn't able to come because of some serious reasons but I do hope that this person was telling the truth and didn't absent himself for nothing unimportant.

Anyway, I have a positive feeling for the good outcome of our case presentation. I'll just post the contents of the CP here when it's already finished.

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School and Student Nurse Rivalries

It really can't be helped. There will always be school rivalries and student nurse rivalries. The rivalry would always stem from the debate of which school is better.

With the numerous nursing schools that are sprouting in the Philippines we can't help but ask wether the quality of education and the standards of teaching are maintained. That is why nursing schools should really prove that they are not one of those mediocre nursing schools existing.

Of course it has been a well known fact that Xavier University (XU) is a well respected and reputable Jesuit institution not only in the Philippines but in abroad as well. That is why other schools can't help but compare itself to XU because the standards and curriculum of the XU - College of Nursing (XUCN) is an acceptable measure of excellence. I can't help but reiterate the well known fact that ever since the XU College of Nursing opened, it had always produced batches of nurses who always pass the PRC board exams 100%.

This fact threatens other schools that is why they resort to dirty tactics to defame and destroy the reputation of XUCN, which of course they never succeed in.

That is why there is always an uneasy feeling when two schools have their duty together because criticism and backstabbing will never be avoided.

But it is unfortunate though that our clinical instructor had to reprimand us from our so-called behavior of feeling superior than other student nurses because it is quite ironic that we feel superior in the ward but actually are inferior in the classroom when faced by several hard medical-surgical nursing concepts.

I just hope that my batch and I could live up to the expectation of being an Atenean nursing student. Because if we can't then we better consider transferring schools and that would be a VERY TRAUMATIC experience... huhuhu...

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Injured Finger!

Ah! I injured my finger! Ouch! Like it's so hard to encode right now... huhuhu but I'm still trying to function normally.

I won't allow this impairment to hinder me from doing my ADL's or activities of daily living huhuhu.

It does really hurt. I can rate the pain with a 2 out of 10 pain scale with 10 as the highest. I already applied ice to prevent further hematoma and inflammation and also to desensitize the pain fibers.

I won't drink Mefenamic acid or any analgesics for that matter because I fear that my body would adapt to it and it wouldn't be effective when I really need pain killers.

I do hope that my finger heals soon. Oh yeah my finger got injured because it got stuck in a folding chair as I was about to get of the van. Darn it, what bad luck!

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The Student Nurse is Sick

Ok, I can't believe that I'm sick again. I was just in the hospital last December 30 to January 2 and now I'm fearing that I might be admitted in the hospital for the same reason: tonsillitis or pharyngitis.

It's either one of the two because my doctor really didn't inform me of my medical diagnosis but I'm sure that it's either of the two. I have a long history of tonsillitis so I'm not anymore surprised if I get Rheumatoid Heart Disease.

For those who don't know what tonsillitis or pharyngitis is here's a quick overview:

Pharyngitis and tonsillitis are infections in the throat that cause inflammation. If the tonsils are primarily affected, it is called tonsillitis. If the throat is primarily affected, it is called pharyngitis. A person might even have inflammation and infection of both the tonsils and the throat. This would be called pharyngotonsillitis. These infections are spread by close contact with other individuals. Bacterial infections are more common during the winter. Viral infections are more common in summer and fall.

I'm not sure though if my sore (yeah I have one near my uvula and it's painful) is caused by a virus or bacteria. Either way my doctor gave me this medical management:

• Clindamycin (300 mg BID PO) - is a lincosamide antibiotic that is used to treat the infection causing my pharyngitis/tonsillitis
• Mefenamic Acid (500 mg TID PO) - an analgesic that is prescribed for the pain

And for my nursing management (I added this one ):

• Warm saline gargle BID (that's twice a day)
• Good oral care
• Increase fluid intake and rest

I would like to add a pathophysiology of my disease condition but I guess that it would be over-doing it right? I have a few ideas though why I got infected:

• There are times that I fall asleep with out brushing my teeth
• I have a tooth decay near the tonsils
• I'm genetically predisposed to tonsillitis/pharyngitis - a very unlikely reason hahaha

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Medical-Surgical Nursing Book as a Sleeping Aid

Moving at the speed of Nursing... This slogan seems so ironic in my case. I am guilty of sometimes using my medical-surgical (MS) book as a sleeping aid. I can't help it sometimes, I realized that reading MS could stimulate me to sleep.

I know that this is a bad habit so I'm trying to break it. I really should pull myself together because there's only a few weeks left before finals and I'm still unprepared and my quizzes are very low.

It would be a miracle if I passed MS at all. But I would make up for my wasted time by studying more: this is my promise.

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Practicing Clinical Instructors

For me, Practicing Clinical Instructors (PCI's) are just students. They aren't really clinical instructors. They are still learning to be one. They should admit that they aren't fit enough to be called a nurse yet because they still are student nurses.

But it really annoys me when some PCI's think that they are far more superior than us and that they are equals with our clinical instructor. But I beg to differ. They still have a lot to learn before they can be a CI.

There are PCI's thought that are very approachable and respectful. They treat us as equals rather than subordinates and they never say side comments that are not only useless but degrading too.

That is why I'm never happy when PCI's are around because they are just there to nag us around to do our jobs.

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Wheezing In the Abdomen?!

I was really frustrated when I heard from my duty mate that a student nurse from another school interrupted their assessment.

It would have been ok if he just stopped with what he said, "Excuse me what are you doing here, that's my patient (in Cebuano)". If I were only there I would have replied, "I never knew that you were the patient's owner." We already asked permission from the nursing station if we could re-asses our patient for our case presentation and we were not on duty so we weren't "stealing" his patient.

Anyway I really got pissed of when my duty mate told me that he just grabbed the stethoscope and insisted that he takes the bowel sounds instead implying that we were dumb and didn't had the needed skills to auscultate the bowel sounds.

But look who's dumber now Mr. SN of "Fun"? I was on the verge of looking for this guy and giving him a piece of my mind when my duty mate verbalized what he said, "The patient has wheezing in the abdomen!"

I immediately had fits of laughter. Like what?! Come again? Wheezing in the stomach? Oh really? Because if we would review our respiratory system wheezing would be a high-pitched whistling sound associated with labored breathing. Wheezing occurs when a child or adult tries to breathe deeply through air passages that are narrowed or filled with mucus.

I wonder if Mr. Wheezing really auscultated the stomach or the lungs because as I know wheezing is a breath sound, how on earth would it become a bowel sound?

So MORAL LESSON Mr. Wheezing from "Fun": Don't ever think that you are better than us in skills or whatsoever because we all are still learning and XU Nursing students have the skills and KNOWLEDGE to match whatever your school might boast of. And, don't underestimate us if you can't even differentiate that wheezing is a respiratory sound and not a bowel sound!

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There's A First Time For Everything

Never in my wildest dream would I expect to be late in my duty days!

And sadly my worst fear came true...

My duty would start at 5:45 AM and I woke up at 6:15 AM! Imagine that! I was 30 minutes late for my first day of duty at the surgical ward. Being late brought about a weird feeling. I woke up feeling tired and sleepy because I stayed up until 4 am to finish my requirements. At first I didn't think that I was late. I looked out my window and told myself, "Hmm... it's finally morning..." and then I suddenly realized that I had duty and I couldn't help but mutter the words, "Oh God, all the angels, and saints I hope that I'm not late!" Yeah right! I wish!

I was lucky though that a taxi just passed by my boarding house when I went out and boy the adrenaline rush didn't feel good at all. I was worried and I was sweating... and oh boy... I didn't take a bath.

My duty mates were already taking down their endorsements when I arrived. I was a mess and I expected my clinical instructor to shout at me or something but strangely enough he was very cool tempered, lucky for me.

Although I got 8 hours extension (which hopefully I won't have to serve) the day was quite good. I promised my self that I wouldn't be late for the next day but guess what, I was late. But I caught up to the pre-conference during the second day so it was ok.

So this time, I promise myself to always finish my requirements as early as possible and I should sleep early too so that I could still wake up!

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NGT Feeding

It was quite amazing to have actually been able to feed someone through a nasogastric tube (NGT). To those who don't know what a nasogastric tube is, it is a tube that is inserted in the nose that passes at the back of the mouth, through the esophagus and opens directly into the stomach.

Tube feedings are given when a person is unable to eat or tolerate enough food and/or oral supplements to meet his/her nutritional needs.

It's quite easy to feed a patient via NGT. Just make sure that the tube is patent and is correctly positioned in the stomach by injecting air and auscultating (listening with the use of a stethoscope) the right upper quadrant of the abdomen for a whooshing or gushing sound. If there is the sound then pour the nutrient mixture or "bolus" into the asepto syringe and allow the bolus to flow through the tube. Just remember to kink the tube when opening or adding a bolus to the syringe to prevent air from entering the tube and causing stomach distention. And to finish the feeding, flush the tube with 30cc or 30 ml of water.

There's nothing hard with NGT feeding. It's just that your arms would really ache especially if the bolus would flow very slowly because it's too viscous or the patient requires frequent feedings.

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