Bedside procedures

How to check nasogastric tube placement

Other platforms explain it with text and video. In VMS you practice it on the patient.

Nursing (NCLEX)
Practice it in VR with Blocky

Check placement before every feed or medicine.

Step by step

  1. Check the mark

    The external length should match the record. [1]

  2. Look in the mouth

    Coiled tube? [1]

  3. Aspirate

    pH 5.5 or less suggests the stomach (per policy). [1]

  4. X-ray

    Gold standard after first placement. [1]

  5. Patient

    Cough, breathlessness or low saturation: stop. [1]

  6. Record

    Method and result. [1]

Common errors

Practice it in VMS

In VMS 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.

Sources

  1. Open RN, Nursing Skills 2e (Chippewa Valley Technical College) (CC BY 4.0)
  2. OpenStax, Clinical Nursing Skills (CC BY 4.0)

Steps adapted from Open RN, Nursing Skills 2e (Chippewa Valley Technical College) and OpenStax, Clinical Nursing Skills, licensed under CC BY 4.0. VMS is not affiliated with these organizations. Updated: 2026-10-11.