Harm from misplaced nasogastric tube
Patients are continuing to be harmed from misplaced nasogastric (NG) tubes due to misinterpretation of chest x-rays (CXRs). This is despite a number of national safety alerts over the last decade and its inclusion as a never event. The learning from a recent incident has been shared by the ICU involved, and is available to read here.
Units must ensure that all staff who interpret CXRs for NG tube placement have completed competency based training and use the recommended four-point criteria.
An online training package is also available at eLearning for Health (
https://portal.e-lfh.org.uk).