The Development of a Validated Checklist for Nasogastric Tube Insertion: Preliminary Results

Nasogastric (NG) tube insertion is known to result in complications. Validated checklists are central to teaching and assessing procedural skills and may result in improved health care quality. The results of the first step of the validation of an NG tube insertion checklist are described. A comprehensive literature review of articles published on NG tube insertion did not yield a checklist validated by the Delphi method. A modified Delphi technique, involving a panel of 9 interdisciplinary, interinstitutional experts, was used to develop an NG tube insertion checklist. The internal consistency coefficient using Cronbach’s α was .80. Developing a 19-item checklist for teaching and assessing NG tube insertion is the first step in the validation process. For this checklist to become further validated, it should be implemented and studied in the simulation and clinical environments.