Nursing Care Guidelines for Reducing Hospital-Acquired Nasogastric Tube–Related Pressure Injuries

Background Nurses certified in wound, ostomy, and continence monitored an increasing incidence of hospital-acquired pressure injury of the nares due to medical devices, specifically nasogastric tubes, in a metropolitan hospital. A majority of these pressure injuries occurred in patients in the intensive care unit. The organization lacked formal guidelines for preventing such injuries. Objective To decrease the incidence of nasogastric tube–related hospital-acquired pressure injury. Methods The organization’s process improvement model, comprising steps to define, measure, analyze, improve, and control, guided the project. The incidence rate of nasogastric tube–related hospital-acquired pressure injury before the intervention was determined for calendar year 2015 and compared with data obtained after the intervention, for calendar year 2016. An interprofessional team created, implemented, and evaluated the effectiveness of evidence-based guidelines and surveillance strategies for preventing nasogastric tube–related hospital-acquired pressure injury. The team implemented guidelines using the simple mnemonic “CLEAN”: correct tube position, stabilize tube, evaluate area under/near tube, alleviate pressure, note date and time. Results The incidence rate of nasogastric tube–related hospital-acquired pressure injury (0.13 per 1000 patient days in 2015) decreased 100% (0.0 per 1000 patient days in 2016) after the guidelines were implemented in the organization. This rate was sustained for a full year, after which it increased slightly because temporary and new staff lacked knowledge of the guidelines. Conclusions The creation and implementation of clear and specific guidelines for assessing and securing nasogastric tubes successfully reduced nasogastric tube–related hospital-acquired pressure injury.