The faculty of my nursing program made us all put NG tubes down each other so we could get first hand experience at it and also have a better understanding of what the patient has to go through. It was very valuable experience.
And my mentor, a real poineer of nursing, taught me that if I just lifted the tip of the patient's nose a little bit, it made the NG catheter tip slip past the sinus and into the nasopharynx a little easier. It wasn't completely without discomfort, but there was a definite difference.
Slipping a NG tube down an unconscious patient has a lot of risks- the biggest one is trauma to the larynx and bronchi due to going down the wrong tube. The best way to do it is with the patient wide awake, sitting bolt upright, and swallowing a glass of ice water as the tube is advanced to keep the epiglottis closed over the trachea.
They tried everythign to get those stinkin things down- nothing worked- my stomach was full of blood & when it came out all over the doc, it was quite foul- He immediately called some of the better NG tube placerers & still they couldn't get it down- I told them "Just give me epicac & I'll vomit-" they didn't like that idea and called in the best NG-er they had- still no go- I Begged them to knock me out- finally they agreed to half knock me out & it went down better but still not without a struggle- Ever had it crunch cartiledge? Or whatever that crunching sound is? Not pleasant! Feels like your nose is being broken- SLOWLY! I'd seriously rather have them cut my leg open and rub salt in it than go through that again! I dunno why- but my front tooth is now numb- has been since last March when all this happened.- sorry- haven't had very pleasant experiences in hospitals- I've had to have quite a few surgeries & always had the tube after the surgery but never remember them putting it in- musta been when I was knocked out or at least almost entirely knocked out
Christian news and commentary at: sacredscoop.com ...