Nursing2013 survey results Drug administration€¦ · tion administration via enteral feeding tubes. This survey was specifically geared toward best practices for medication de-livery

26 l Nursing2013 l December www.Nursing2013.com

Nursing2013 survey results

Drug administration by enteral feeding tube

Copyright © 2013 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. Unauthorized reproduction of this article is prohibited.

www.Nursing2013.com December l Nursing2013 l 27

By Peggi Guenter, PhD, RN and Joseph Boullata, PharmD, RPh, BCNSP

LAST SPRING, Nursing2013 conducted a survey in the jour-nal and online in cooperation with the American Society for Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition (A.S.P.E.N.) to explore nurses’ knowledge of evidence-based guidelines for medica-tion administration via enteral feeding tubes. This survey was specifically geared toward best practices for medication de-livery through an enteral access device and addressed how to prevent complications such as tube clogging, drug-nutrient interactions, and inadequate medication delivery. This article reviews the results of the survey, discusses best practices, and provides evidence-based rationales.

Challenges and opportunitiesTube occlusion is a frequent problem (20% to 45% of tubes become occluded during the life of the tube) often requir-ing tube replacement.1-3 Risk factors for tube occlusion include increasing tube length, decreasing tube caliber, inadequate water flushing, frequent medication delivery, and use of the tube to measure residual volumes.3

Appreciating the complexity of drug administration through a feeding tube and maintaining appropriate techniques may prevent tube occlusion and de-crease the risk of reduced drug efficacy or drug toxicity.

Medication administration in pa-tients receiving enteral nutrition (EN) includes implementing administration techniques that assure bioavailabil-ity without further complicating the patient’s overall care. Guidelines for administering medication via enteral feeding tubes are available,4-12 as are a

number of surveys of enteral drug administration prac-tices and techniques.13-19

Surveys suggest that practice differs significantly from guidelines, and several common practices could interfere with appropriate medication delivery.13-19 For example, pre-vious surveys suggest that only 5% to 43% of practitioners flush tubes before or between medications, only 32% to 51% administer drugs separately from one another, only 44% to 64% dilute liquid medication, and only 75% to 85% avoid crushing modified-release dosage forms. Some of these prac-tices may contribute to measurable adverse outcomes—tube occlusion, reduced drug efficacy, and increased drug toxicity

in particular.20

These studies were completed be-fore publication of A.S.P.E.N. Enteral Nutrition Practice Recommendations in 2009.21 This survey was conducted to determine whether nursing practice today is in line with current recom-mended guidelines.

What survey results revealEight hundred and twenty-three nurses from across the country responded to our survey. For a snapshot of this con-venience sample, see Respondent profile.

The following pages present respons-es to individual survey questions, cor-rect answers, and evidence-based ratio-nales. Correct answers are highlighted in red. The percent of responses for each answer is found at the end of the row. Numbers have been rounded. Per-centages don’t always add up to 100% because not every participant answered every question.

Respondent profileHere’s a snapshot of the 823 nurses responding to this survey.

Educational level• RN diploma, 11%• associate degree, 19%• bachelor’s degree, 40%• master’s degrees or higher, 15%• LPN/LVN, 10%• student, 2%

Years of nursing experience• over 15 years, 51%• 5 years or less, 33%

Primary clinical area• medical-surgical, 35%• geriatrics, 16%• intensive care/critical care, 15%.

Most respondents (62%) worked in hospitals, followed by long-term care/subacute care (19%), and home healthcare (7%). Most respondents (68%) don’t have a nursing specialty certification.

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1. How often do you care for patients with an enteral feeding tube?

Frequently 51%

Occasionally 35%

Rarely 14%

According to the latest available Nationwide Inpatient Sample (NIS) data, in 2011 over 269,000 patients received EN during a hospital stay.22 Approximately 5.8% of long-term-care facility residents in the United States receive EN; the prevalence is higher for residents with cognitive impairment (18% to 34%).23 Most patients with feeding tubes receive not only enteral formula, but also medications and additional hydration through the device.

2. How often do you add medications directly to the enteral nutrition formula?

Frequently 11%

Occasionally 10%

Rarely 6%

Never 72%

3. If you add medications directly to the enteral nutrition formula, which of the following do you routinely add?

Antibiotics 31%

Gastrointestinal medications 59%

Electrolytes 35%

Other 43%

Guidelines for medication administration include the recommendation: “Do not add medication directly to an enteral feeding formula.”21 Although combining medication with an EN formula may be convenient, a couple of major concerns should be noted. Foremost, data that support compatibility and stability are required before considering combining drugs with each other or with EN. The physical and chemical interactions between a medication and EN may alter properties of the drug and the nutrients, leading to risk for feeding tube occlusion, altered drug bioavailabil-ity, and/or distorted gastrointestinal (GI) function.20

A number of drugs have been studied and reveal in-compatibility and instability with mixing in EN.24-29 In fact, 96% of incompatible drug-EN mixtures result in tube occlusion with very few cleared by water flushes.26 Com-patibility is influenced by factors related to the drug (pH, alcohol content, mineral content, viscosity, osmolality) and the EN formula (type and concentration of protein, fiber content, mineral content).11 The widely used closed enteral feeding systems would require a break in sterility to add a drug, which poses another serious concern.21

Although 72% of respondents say they “never” add med-ications to EN, 21% do so “frequently” or “occasionally.” This represents a significant proportion of nurses engaging in the risky procedure.

4. Do you hold (stop) feedings while administering medication through the same enteral tube?

Yes 95% No 5%

5. Do you flush the enteral tube before administering medication through it?

Yes 89% No 11%

Guidelines for medication administration include the recommendation: “Prior to administering medication, stop the feeding and flush the tube with at least 15 mL water.”21 A cleared feeding tube helps ensure delivery of the total dose of medication to the patient through this access device.

Residue from the EN formula and from previously administered drug products adhere to the lumen of the feeding tube. The amount will vary with the medication, EN formula, and feeding tube. Flushing of the tube has been shown to decrease the incidence of tube occlusion.30 Although most respondents (89%) know to flush the tube before administering a medication, 11% do not.

6. Do you flush the enteral tube after administering medication through it?

Yes 98% No 2%

Guidelines for medication administration include the recommendation: “Flush the tube again with at least 15 mL water, taking into account patient’s volume status. Repeat with the next medication (if appropriate). Flush the tube one final time with at least 15 mL water.”21 Flushing water through the feeding tube helps to ensure the delivery of the entire drug dose to the distal end of the tube and ultimately to the patient. Additionally, the flush reduces drug residue within the tube lumen so that the tube is again cleared before the EN feeding is restarted. The lowest necessary volume needed to clear the tube is recommended for neo-nates, pediatric patients, and fluid-restricted patients.21

In this survey only 2% of the respondents reported that they fail to flush after giving medications.

7. If you flush the enteral tube before and/or after drug administration, which of the following do you use?

Always Never Depends on the patient

Sterile water 26% 34% 40%

Tap water 70% 10% 20%

“Normal” saline (0.9% sodium chloride)solution

4% 67% 29%

Other 3% 83% 14%

The flush fluids respondents specified as “other” included filtered water, cranberry juice, or ginger ale.



Guidelines for medication administration include the recommendation: “Sterile water is recommended for use in adult and neonatal/pediatric patients before and after medication administration.”21 Purified or sterile water is the preferred fluid for flushing feeding tubes and diluting medications for enteral administration.31 This is based in large part on the fact that microbial contaminants and chemical contaminants are present in the drinking wa-ter supply.32,33 These may include endocrine-disrupting compounds (for example, bisphenol A and some pesti-cides that interfere with hormone systems), personal care products (such as sunscreen and insect repellant), and pharmaceuticals.

Sterile water is also recommended for flushing all enteral tubes in immunocompromised and critically ill patients, especially when the safety of tap water can’t be assured.34

Water is as good as or better than other fluids (such as juice or soda) at maintaining tube patency.35,36

Although nurses are generally knowledgeable about the need to flush the tube before and after administering medi-cations, most use tap water instead of sterile water. Only 26% ”always” use sterile water to flush before or after medi-cation administration and 70% say they “always” use tap water. This is especially concerning for institutional practice.

8. When giving two or more medications via an enteral tube, do you give each medication separately or mix them together before administering?

Always give separately 38%

Depends on the medications 47%

Depends on the patient 2%

Always give together 13%

Guidelines for medication administration include the recommendation: “Avoid mixing together medications in-tended for administration through an enteral feeding tube given the risks for physical and chemical incompatibilities, tube obstruction, and altered therapeutic drug responses.”21 When more than one drug is scheduled for administration at the same time, they must be given separately.

This is analogous to avoiding mixing I.V. drugs together before administration without data on compatibility and sta-bility, even though they end up together in the bloodstream. Drug-drug interactions from mixing liquid medications or especially from crushing two or more medications together has a high potential for changing molecular structure or resulting in altered physicochemical properties.37 This prac-tice also has the potential to create a new drug entity with unknown characteristics. Predicting problems with stability when a drug is prepared for enteral feeding tube administra-tion is difficult enough without complications iinvolving other drugs and excipients (the non-therapeutic ingredients required to formulate the product).

In this survey, 62% of respondents mixed medications at least some of the time, if not always.

9. When you give two or more medications via an enteral tube, do you flush the tube between medications?

No 24%

Yes, with sterile water 19%

Yes, with tap water 55%

Yes, with other fluid 2%

Guidelines for medication administration include the recommendation: “Flush the tube again with at least 15 mL water taking into account patient’s volume status. Repeat with the next medication (if appropriate).”21 The flush of water through the feeding tube after administering one drug helps to ensure the delivery of the entire dose and re-duces drug residue within the tube lumen so that the tube is again cleared before the next medication is delivered, reducing the risk of tube occlusion.30 Purified or sterile wa-ter is the preferred fluid for flushing feeding tubes between medications, in part because of contaminants found in tap water.31-33

When giving two or more medications via an enteral tube, only 19% of survey respondents flush with sterile water between medications, and 55% flush with tap water. Nearly 25% never flush with any solution between medica-tions, contributing to the risk of adverse outcomes.

10. Which type of oral tablets do you crush and administer via enteral tube? (Check all that apply.)

Immediate-release 95%

Extended-release 10%

Sustained-release 11%

Enteric-coated 11%

11. Which type of hard gelatin capsules do you open and administer via an enteral feeding tube? (Check all that apply.)

Immediate-release 93%

Extended-release 12%

Sustained-release 13%

Guidelines for medication administration include the recommendation: “Liquid dosage forms should be used when available and if appropriate. Only immediate-release solid dosage forms may be substituted. Grind simple com-pressed tablets to a fine powder and mix with sterile water. Open hard gelatin capsules and mix powder with sterile water.”21

Drug dosage forms include solids (capsules, tablets) and liquids (solutions, suspensions). Most solids are immediate-release products (compressed tablets, hard gelatin capsules) that contain the active drug molecule mixed with inactive ingredients. Immediate-release prod-ucts are designed to release the drug within minutes of reaching the stomach following oral administration. But more and more drugs have been introduced as modified-



release products (enteric-coated, extended-release, sustained-release).

Drugs manufactured for oral administration are de-signed specifically for the healthy GI tract. Destroying the carefully designed delivery mechanisms by opening or crushing solid dosage forms will alter the drug’s per-formance in the GI tract, influencing bioavailability. Least affected are the immediate-release solids, so this is the only solid dosage form recommended for feeding tube administration. Enteric-coated, extended-release, and sustained-release tablets and capsules should never be crushed or opened and therefore can’t be administered by feeding tube.38

Besides altering drug properties, crushing enteric coat-ings increases the risk of tube occlusion because coating particles tend to clump together in water. When crushed, extended/sustained-release products rapidly release large amounts of drug at one time, resulting in erratic blood lev-els, potentially toxic levels, and even fatalities.39

12. Do you dilute crushed medications and powder from opened capsules before administering them?

No 4%



Yes, with another fluid 2%

13. Do you dilute liquid medications before administering them?

No 48%



Yes, with another fluid 1%

Guidelines for medication administration include the recommendation: “Dilute the solid or liquid medication as appropriate and administer using a clean oral syringe (≥30 mL in size).”21 To be sure that the full dose of medication is delivered through the distal end of the feeding tube, the drug powder or viscous liquid needs to be diluted.24 Liq-uid drug products contain thickeners and sweeteners that increase their viscosity and osmolality. Dilution improves drug delivery.40-42

High osmolality medications contribute to GI intoler-ance and diarrhea. In some cases, these liquids may require dilution with 150 to 250 mL of water, making them less attractive dosage forms than solid immediate-release forms that are administered in 15 mL of water for feeding tube administration.

Sterile water or 0.9% sodium chloride (sterile saline) are preferred diluents for most drugs to meet United States Pharmacopeia standards.21,31 Tap water should be avoided in many cases because, as already noted, it may contain pathogenic microorganisms, pesticides, pharmaceuticals,

and h eavy metals that may interact with the administered drug.31

Nearly half of respondents don’t dilute liquid medica-tions at all before administering via enteral tube. Among those who dilute liquid medications, 38% dilute with tap water and only 13% dilute with sterile water.

14. Do you hold continuous enteral feeding for at least 1 hour around dosing of any of the following? (Check all that apply.)

Levofloxacin 26%

Phenytoin 50%

Warfarin 22%

Other 38%

Medications respondents specified as “other” included synthroid, famotidine, and ciprofloxacin.

Guidelines for medication administration include the recommendation: “Restart the feeding in a timely manner to avoid compromising nutrition status. Only hold the feeding by 30 minutes or more when separation is indi-cated to avoid altered drug bioavailability.”21

A small number of medications, such as some fluoro-quinolones and other antimicrobials, antiepileptic drugs, levothyroxine, and warfarin, are known to interact suffi-ciently with EN in the GI tract to reduce bioavailability. In these cases, a period of 30 to 120 minutes–depending on the drug–may be needed prior to restarting EN.20,21

Feedings should be held for at least 60 minutes for the drugs listed in the survey question.20,21 This is analogous to administering drugs orally on an empty stomach. Holding feeding for a sufficient amount of time is more of an issue for patients receiving continuous EN. Scheduling these drugs for administration during intermittent feeding regi-mens is much easier.

15. Does the pharmacy provide you with ready-to-administer enteral drug products already prepared in an oral syringe labeled for the patient?

Always 8%

Often 24%

Rarely 32%

Never 36%

Currently there is no “correct” answer to this question, as pharmacies dispense medications in various ways, even within the same institution and for the same patient. The ideal process would be for the pharmacy to always provide patient-specific, unit-dose, ready-to-administer enteral drug products in oral/enteral syringes.

If the pharmacy dispenses a liquid medication in a sy-ringe, it should be in an oral or enteral syringe. It should be properly labeled with, at a minimum, patient identifiers, drug name and dosage, and expiration date.



Nurses must communicate with the pharmacist when a patient is to receive a drug through a feeding tube and again when the tube has been relocated or removed. Senti-nel event medication errors have occurred when oral or GI medications have been drawn up in I.V. (rather than oral) syringes and then inadvertently given I.V.43

The 36% of respondents who report that they never have ready-to-administer medications are susceptible to in-creased risk of wrong-route medication errors. In addition, these nurses may spend inordinate time preparing medica-tions, a task better left to the pharmacy.

16. What are your source(s) for information on medication administration? (Check all that apply.)

Institutional policies and procedures 79%

A comprehensive, current drug reference 73%

Pharmacy colleagues 70%

Nursing colleagues 57%

Product inserts/prescribing information 43%

Website(s) 31%

Other 6%

Nurses clearly draw their medication administration information from various printed, electronic, and staff sources. It’s reassuring that 70% of respondents include pharmacists as an information source. In a 1997 survey of critical care nurses, respondents cited clinical experience (57%), coworkers (22%), and nursing school (13%) as their sources of medication administration knowledge.15

Long-term care nurse survey respondents reported using similar sources.18

Always consult with an adult or pediatric pharmacist for patients who receive medications coadministered with enteral nutrition. The pharmacist can help you determine whether a drug or its dosage form is appropriate for ad-ministration depending on the tube type and location of its distal end.20 For example, administrating a drug through a jejunostomy tube will bypass a major drug administration site, the duodenum.

17. Does your institution have a nursing policy and procedure for medication delivery through an enteral feeding tube?

Yes 76%

No 7%

I don’t know 17%

A large majority of nurse respondents acknowledged that their institution has a nursing policy and procedure for medication delivery through an enteral feeding tube. In a nationwide survey published in 1997, only about one-third of nurse respondents were aware of printed guidelines and only about 5% used them as their primary source.15 In another survey, about 70% of nurses were aware of printed

guidelines but just 17% cited them as their primary infor-mation source.18 It’s encouraging that nurses today are more aware of institutional policies on this medication delivery process.

18. How often do you consult with a pharmacist when you’re unsure about medication delivery?

Never <1%

Rarely 11%

Often 39%

Always 46%

I don’t have access to a pharmacist 3%

In this survey, most (85%) respondents consult either of-ten or always with a pharmacist when they’re unsure about a medication. It’s been demonstrated that fewer medication errors occur when pharmacists and nurses collaborate on medication delivery. In one study of an interdisciplinary ap-proach, clinicians reduced the number of medication errors and tube occlusions by holding training sessions for nurses, promoting practice guidelines, establishing a database of oral-enteral dosage forms, and having pharmacists offer patient-specific recommendations.44

19. What nursing actions do you take when you encounter a clogged feeding tube? (Check all that apply.)

Flush with warm water 91%

Flush with another fluid 53%

Use an unclogging device 35%

Remove feeding tube 35%

Other 31%

Clogged or occluded feeding tubes often result from protein-based formulas coming in contact with gastric acid and/or medications. Routine water flushes are vital to prevent tube occlusions. A completely occluded tube is an urgent problem preventing the patient from receiving es-sential nutrients, hydration, and medications.

The first thing the nurse should do is assess if the tube is kinked or compressed in any way. Attempt to draw back with a syringe and then attempt to flush the tube with warm water. If that doesn’t work, follow institutional proto-col for occluded feeding tubes.

Actions to mitigate the occlusion can include chemical or physical declogging regimens.45,46 If these are unsuccess-ful, the tube may need to be removed and replaced.

Over 50% of respondents stated that they flush with another fluid. Most reported using a carbonated beverage such as cola, ginger ale, or lemon-lime soda; some used cranberry juice. Investigators have shown the superiority of water over cranberry juice in flushing feeding tubes. No data shows that carbonated beverages are more effective than water as a flush solution or as a declogging solution.47



Some studies demonstrate that a sodium bicarbonate-pancreatic enzyme solution can be effective in opening oc-cluded feeding tubes.48

Thirty-five percent of respondents also mentioned use of a declogging device. Several of these chemical or mechanical devices are on the market. It’s important to have and follow an institutional nursing protocol for using these devices.

DiscussionThe key findings from this survey include the following, discussed in terms of major best practice recommendations.• Never add medications to EN formula. Although 72% of respondents say they “never” add medications to EN, 21% still do so “frequently” or “occasionally.”• Never mix medications before administering them. Medi-cations should never be mixed together for administration, but only 38% “always” give meds separately and 47% think it depends on the patient.• Flush the tube before and after medication administra-tion, and also between drugs when giving two or more at the same time. Although most respondents (89%) know to flush the tube before administering a medication, 11% do not. When giving two or more meds via an enteral tube, only 19% flush with sterile water between drugs; 55% flush with tap water; and 24% don’t flush at all.• Use sterile water, not tap water, to flush the tube and dilute medications. Although nurses are generally knowl-edgeable about the need to flush the tube before and after administering medications, most use tap water instead of sterile water. Only 26% ”always” use sterile water to flush before or after medication administration; 70% say they “always” use tap water.

Nearly half of respondents don’t dilute liquid medica-tions at all before administering via tube. About 38% dilute with tap water; only 13% dilute with sterile water.• Only immediate-release oral medications should be given via enteral tube. Most respondents know that only immediate-release oral capsules and tablets should be opened or crushed and given via enteral tube. But 25% say they open extended release or sustained release hard gelatin capsules and administer them via enteral tube.• All medications, both liquid and solid, should be diluted before administration.

Nearly all respondents say they dilute crushed medica-tions and powder from opened capsules before administra-tion, but only 22% dilute them with sterile water, versus 72% with tap water. Nearly half (48%) don’t dilute liquid medications before administration.

When compared to previous nursing surveys on medica-tion administration, this survey shows that overall knowl-edge and translation to practice has improved in several areas but remains unchanged in others. Many more respon-dents now flush the tube before and between administra-tion of medication (76% to 89% in this survey, versus 5% to 43% in the past). Unfortunately, however, most are still using tap water for flushing.

Many more nurses now include a pharmacist as a key source of information than in the past (70% to 85% in this survey versus 6% to 12% in past surveys). But many nurses are still mixing medications together (38% versus 32% to 51%), not diluting liquid medica-tions as they should (51% versus 44% to 64%), and preparing modified-release medications for tube ad-ministration (25% versus 15% to 25%).

Practice recommendations and procedures for giving drugs through an enteral access device49

Use only oral/enteral syringes labeled “for oral use only” to measure and administer medication through an enteral feeding tube. Consult with an adult pharmacist or pediatric pharmacist for patients who receive medications coadministered with enteral nutrition. Never add medication directly to an enteral feeding formula. Also follow these additional guidelines to safely administer medication via an enteral feeding tube.

1. Verify tube tip placement by checking for stomach or small intestine contents, X-ray, or another accepted method. Auscultation alone isn’t acceptable.

2. Turn off the enteral formula pump or administration bag.

3. Flush the tube with at least 15 mL sterile water to check tube for patency and to flush residual feeding formula through. (Modify flush volumes throughout as needed for infants, children, and patients with fluid restrictions.)

4. Don’t mix together medications intended for administration through an enteral feeding tube because of the risks for physical and chemical incompatibilities, tube obstruction, and altered therapeutic drug responses. Instead, administer each medication separately through an appropriate access. Liquid dosage forms should be used when available and if appropriate. Only immediate-release solid oral dosage forms may be substituted.

5. Immediate-release tablets should be ground to a fine powder and mixed with sterile water before administration. Hard gelatin capsules should be opened and the contents mixed with sterile water. Draw up liquid medication with an oral-enteral syringe.

6. Dilute the solid or liquid medication as appropriate and administer using a clean oral syringe (≥ 30 mL in size). Note: Dilution/flush should be less for pediatric doses (minimum 50:50 volume) and at least 5 mL when fluid is not restricted.

7. Connect the syringe to the side medication port on tube end if available.

8. Gently administer each medication individually through the tube, flushing it with 15 mL sterile water between each medication (taking into account the patient’s volume status).

9. Flush the tube with at least 15 mL water following the last medication.

10. Reconnect and turn on the feeding formula unless contraindicated. Restart the feeding in a timely manner to avoid compromising nutrition status. Hold the feeding by 30 minutes or more only when a lengthy separation is indicated to avoid altering drug bioavailability.



Best practices for medication administrationDocumented procedures and guidelines for medication administration through an enteral feeding tube with clear step-by-step instructions can assist caregivers in optimiz-ing therapeutic response to the medication and preventing complications such as tube occlusion. As discussed earlier, important concepts to consider include tube size and tube tip location. See Practice recommendations and proceduresfor giving drugs through an enteral access device for practical guidelines.

Optimizing medication safety and effectiveness in pa-tients receiving EN requires administration techniques that assure bioavailability without further complicating the pa-tient’s care and condition. Follow the guidelines for admin-istering medication via enteral feeding tubes discussed here to minimize adverse events and support optimal patient outcomes. ■REFERENCES1. McClave SA, Sexton LK, Spain DA, et al. Enteral tube feeding in the intensive care unit: factors impeding adequate delivery. Crit Care Med. 1999;27(7):1252-1256.

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Peggi Guenter is the Senior Director for Clinical Practice, Advocacy, and Research Affairs for the American Society for Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition, Silver Spring, Md. Joseph Boullata is Professor of Pharmacology & Therapeutics at the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing, and Clinical Pharmacy Specialist in Nutrition, Hospital of the University of Pennsyl-vania’s Clinical Nutrition Support Services, Philadelphia, Pa.

The authors and planners have disclosed that they have no financial relationships related to this article.

DOI-10.1097/01.NURSE.0000437469.13218.7b


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