Feeding Tube Home Skills Program for Patients

The American College of Surgeons Division of Education Surgical Patient Education Feeding Tube Home Skills program teaches you how to give feedings and medications through a feeding tube and to care for the feeding tube and supplies. The program includes information on feeding tube, supplies needed and skills necessary to manage daily care.  The program demonstrates each step of the procedure and facilitates our best practices. You are encouraged to use the Feeding Tube Home Skills Kit along with the course. The skills kit contains practice equipment (syringes, tubing, feeding tube, medicine cup, gloves, and practice model), an instruction booklet with images, video, self-assessment checklist, and references for additional support. Visit the ACS website for more information or to order your Feeding Tube Home Skills Kit.

The Feeding Tube Home Skills Kit was developed by a team of surgeons, nurses and patients working with the American College of Surgeons Division of Education.

Learning Objectives

  • Describe the daily care needed for a feeding tube.
  • Name the basic equipment that is used for feeding tube care.
  • Describe the steps for feeding tube care including: flushing, giving medications, giving a feeding, changing the tube, and the dressing.
  • Identify how to manage common feeding tube problems including: skin irritation, tube blockage, preventing tube movement, or displacement.
  • Describe how to manage everyday activities including bathing, exercise, and traveling.

Course Outline

  • Understanding Your Enteral Feeding Tube.
  • Skills to Manage Your Feeding Tube
    • Mouth and Skin Care
    • Feeding through a Gastrostomy Tube
    • Giving Medication
    • Replacing the Gastrostomy Tube
  • Problem Solving and Emergencies
  • Home Management and Other Resources
  • Evaluation
  • Certificate of Completion

Target Audience

  • Patients who need a feeding tube
  • Caregivers managing a feeding tube in the home or nursing home
  • Anyone teaching families and caregivers feeding tube home care skills

Contact

If you have any questions about this course, please contact surgicalpatienteducation@facs.org.

For technical assistance, please contact learning@facs.org.

Course summary
Available credit: 
  • 1.00 Certificate of Completion
Course opens: 
04/01/2016
Course expires: 
01/31/2023

Feeding Tube Task Force

Debra Arnow, DNP, RN, NE-BC
Vice President, Patient Care Services & CNO
Children’s Hospital & Medical Center
Omaha, NE

Clint Bowers
Feeding tube patient

Jan Cannon-Bowers, PhD
Director of Research
USF Center for Advanced Medical Learning and Simulation
Orlando, FL

Teri Coha, APN, CWOCN
Pediatric Surgery
Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital
Chicago, IL

Janice C. Colwell, MS, RN, FAAN
Ostomy Care Services
University of Chicago Hospital
Chicago, IL

Maureen Emlund, RN, MSN, CPN
Clinical Simulation Manager
Dominican University
River Forest, IL

Lisa A. Gorski, MS, APRN, BC, CRNI, FAAN
Clinical Nurse Specialist
Wheaton Franciscan Home Health
Milwaukee, WI

Frederick L. Greene, MD, FACS
Clinical Professor of Surgery, UNC School of Medicine
Medical Director of Cancer Data Registry, Levine Cancer Institute
Charlotte, NC

Anne Marie Herlehy, DNP, RN, CNOR
Administrative Director, Perioperative and Cardiovascular Services
Alexian Brothers Medical Center
Elk Grove, IL

Sue Kozik
Mother of pediatric feeding tube patient

Dennis H. Kraus, MD, FACS
Director, Center for Head & Neck Oncology
New York Head & Neck Institute, North Shore-LIJ Cancer Institute

Arlet G. Kurkchubasche, MD, FACS
Associate Professor of Surgery and Pediatrics
Alpert School of Medicine, Brown University
Providence, RI

Daniel Teitelbaum, MD, FACS, ASPEN
Professor of Surgery
C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital, University of Michigan
Ann Arbor, MI

Surgical Patient Education Committee

Ajit K. Sachdeva, MD, FACS, FRCSC, Co-Chair
John M. Daly, MD FACS, Co-Chair
Eileen M. Duggan, MD
David V. Feliciano, MD, FACS
Frederick L. Greene, MD, FACS
B. J. Hancock, MD, FACS, FRCSC
Dennis H. Kraus, MD, FACS
Michael F. McGee, MD, FACS
Beth H. Sutton, MD, FACS
Michael J. Zinner, MD, FACS

ACS Surgical Patient Education Program

Director
Ajit K. Sachdeva, MD, FACS, FRCSC

Assistant Director
Kathleen Heneghan, PhD, MSN, RN, PN-C

Manager
Nancy Strand, RN, MPH

Program Administrator
Amanda Bruggeman

A Certificate of Completion/Certificate of Participation will be awarded for this course.

This activity is not eligible for CME or CE credits.

Available Credit

  • 1.00 Certificate of Completion
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You may enroll in the online course at no charge. You will be asked to register for the course and provide information to complete the registration process. You will not be charged a participation fee.