How to give an enteral tube feeding
Other platforms explain it with text and video. In Making Synapses you practice it on the patient.
Tube feeding is safe when placement is confirmed and the head of the bed stays up.
Step by step
Check order and placement
Formula, rate, tube placement. [1]
Head of bed
At least 30 to 45 degrees during and after. [1]
Flush
Water before and after, as ordered. [1]
Start
Connect, label tubing, set the pump rate. [1]
Monitor
Nausea, distension, diarrhea, glucose, weight. [1]
Change
Tubing and formula per policy. [1]
Common errors
- Flat patient.
- Not flushing.
- Missing aspiration signs.
Practice it in Making Synapses
In Making Synapses you do this on the patient, not on paper: every step goes on the checklist with a score, and in Teach mode Blocky tells you what comes next.
Making Synapses cases that train this skill
- Neonatal jaundice
- Ischemic stroke
- Stroke in the field
- Bronchiolitis in an infant
- Heat stroke
- Patent foramen ovale
19 Making Synapses cases train this skill: open the case library
Sources
- Open RN, Nursing Skills 2e (Chippewa Valley Technical College) (CC BY 4.0)
- OpenStax, Clinical Nursing Skills (reference)
Steps adapted from Open RN, Nursing Skills 2e (Chippewa Valley Technical College), licensed under CC BY 4.0. Facts and steps also follow OpenStax, Clinical Nursing Skills (reference). Making Synapses is not affiliated with these organizations. Updated: 2026-10-11.