Question

The nurse is preparing to administer an intermittent bolus feeding to a client with a NG tube. When testing the pH of sampled fluid to confirm placement of the tube, the result is 7.7. The nurse's next action should be:

1) Remove the gastric residual, measure the volume, then reinstill the contents
2) Instill 30 mL of air to ensure the tube isn't lodged against the stomach wall
3) Call the provider with the results if the pH test and order an x-ray
4) Attach the feeding syringe and instill the prescribed volume of formula slowly

Answer 1

If the pH of fluid sampled from an NG tube is 7.7, the nurse should contact the provider and order an x-ray to confirm tube placement before administering a feeding.

Step-by-step explanation:

The nurse is preparing to administer an intermittent bolus feeding to a client with an NG tube and needs to confirm the correct placement of the tube. When using pH testing to confirm placement, a result of 7.7 is indicative of possible incorrect tube positioning, as gastric pH typically ranges from 1 to 5.5 when proper tube placement in the stomach is achieved. In this case, the next action for the nurse should be to call the provider with the results of the pH test and order an x-ray to ensure the correct placement of the NG tube before proceeding with feeding.